José Canseco swears he knew Shohei Ohtani would be the next member of MLB’s 40-40 Club from the moment he first watched Ohtani take batting practice as a rookie, back in 2018.
What Canseco admits he didn’t see coming six years ago was the L.A. Dodgers’ star pitcher becoming the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, a feat Ohtani accomplished with a monstrous performance in Miami Thursday, finishing the game six-for-six with three home runs, 10 RBI, and two stolen bases, to put him at 51-51.
On Wednesday, with Ohtani nearing the mark, Sportsnet reached out to Canseco — a maker of history himself as the first to reach 40-40, in 1988 — to find out what he thought of Ohtani’s impending milestone, and to talk about his own experience in that realm. In a phone conversation from his home in Las Vegas, Canseco not only spoke about Ohtani’s otherworldly talent and relived his own glory days, he also broke down what he feels is an “immature” MLB rule, estimated how many bases Rickey Henderson would’ve stolen if he played today, and assured us he’s still hitting dingers at the age of 60.
SPORTSNET: Have you been watching every Ohtani at-bat lately?
CANSECO: I have been watching it now and then. You know, barring injuries, he’s going to be the first 50-50 guy. So that’s very exciting.
I saw him play — they came in to play against Oakland, it was his rookie year. I think we were doing some anniversary for the Oakland A’s of the ’89 World Series, so he was there. I was on the field, watching him take batting practice and he was in the cage.
Did you talk to him?
No, I was just watching them. I didn’t want to bother anybody. But I was standing right next to him. One thing I realized: Oh my God, the guy is 6-foot-4 — my height — but he was a lot lighter, by 20, 15 pounds. Then I realized, wow, he’s got extremely smooth power, the ball is going to go up easily, it’s going to feel like nothing.
Then I watched him run. I go: Wow, at six-foot-four, people don’t realize that tall guys like us, we don’t look like we’re running [fast], but our strides are extremely long. So, he was covering a lot of ground when he was running bases. The first thing I thought is, “This guy is going to be our next 40-40 guy.”
You called it.
Absolutely. My God, with that power, left-hand hitter, could steal bases. But then, of course, everything changed to the base runner’s benefits where the bases are bigger now. And then the other thing I don’t like, which is kind of ridiculous — like, Major League Baseball goes overboard now and then, they’re just kind of very immature when it comes to rules and regulations. I can remember Rickey Henderson and myself, when we were stealing bases, [the pitchers] used to throw over three, four, five times, just to wear us down — it was ridiculous in the first place. In the second place, it was pickoff opportunities.
Nowadays, obviously, you throw over twice, you don’t pick the guy off after the third time, he gets a stolen base. [The play registers as a balk; MLB instituted the rule in 2023.] I mean that is of course a big advantage to base-stealers and baserunners. And the bases are larger, so that means less area you have to cover. So that is two big advantages.
Can you imagine how many bases Rickey Henderson would’ve stolen? Guys can’t throw over three times, so you’ve got a stolen base? You’ve got to add on maybe 20-25 per cent on average just because of that rule alone.
But when I saw [Ohtani] I thought, my God, this guy could be the next 40-40 guy because he has the power, he has speed — and, you know, now it’s not just 40-40, he’s on his way to 50-50.
How tough was it for you to reach that 40-40 milestone in ’88?
Well, being the first player to actually attempt it and going into spring training actually saying I was going to do it, of course that’s a lot of pressure. But you know me as a baseball player back then, I didn’t believe in pressure. I didn’t understand what pressure was. I think pressure is something you put upon yourself. I think it’s just a safety net in case you fail, to say, ‘You know what, I succumbed to the pressure.’ There’s no such thing. You just work extremely hard and apply your ability.
But going to spring training saying, ‘I’m going to do the 40-40’ when it’s never been done in 100-and-something years back then was something people thought was great. And I said, ‘What is so great about it?’ Even though back then, of course, it’s way more difficult to steal bases than it is today, I didn’t think it was a big deal. I thought it had been done before. But I knew after I did it, several players now psychologically were going to attempt to do it because now it could be a great feat. [The 40-40 club is now six players deep: The founder Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Alfonso Soriano (2006), Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023) and Ohtani (2024).]
I always knew you would see the 50-50 player, especially now when it’s more conducive to stealing bases. The mathematics are there. You can actually do it more. More players are hitting 40, 50 home runs. So, to be 40-40, it’s not a big deal anymore because you can steal more bases. But when you look, there are probably a handful of players that could do the 50-50 because of today’s stolen base structure.
For example, Aaron Judge. People don’t know this about Aaron Judge but he’s extremely fast. He could be in the 50-50 club easily. But he’s got a huge contract, they don’t want him hurt, so he doesn’t steal bases. He’s 6-foot-7, 280 pounds, but could Aaron Judge in today’s structure steal 50? Easily. That’s a given. For me, Aaron Judge could easily do a 50-50 back-to-back-to-back-to-back years. But of course, they’re not letting him run because they are protecting him.
But remember: Aaron Judge is a centre fielder. That makes him fast. Aaron Judge was a football player. He’s extremely fast. People don’t notice that about him as much.
What was the moment like for you when you stole that 40th base?
I had my 40th home run off Bret Saberhagen at Oakland, so I had the home runs first. And then I had 38 stolen bases. We had a series, I think it was in Milwaukee, I stole number 39, and I think a lot of people had mentioned, you know, kind of off the cuff, ‘José, why don’t you wait and steal the 40th base in front of your home fans in Oakland?’ And in the back of my mind [I’m thinking], ‘My God, what happens if I twist an ankle? If I get hurt, can’t play anymore and I come up short?’
I decided, I think in my second or third at-bat to actually steal the base. But my first attempt, I guess I got so nervous that my mind told my body to go, but my body didn’t go. I wanted to steal, but I kind of shut down instantly. I said, ‘Whoa.’ So that’s what happens when in baseball, in an instant of a flash, you either don’t believe in yourself, you contradict yourself, [or] you don’t apply what your ability actually enables you to do. Then the next hit, I had to talk myself into going [laughs], and then I got the 40th stolen base.
But remember, the main thing is, if you read my book, Juiced, it was real simple: When my mom was braindead in the hospital, she had never seen me play professional baseball. In 1984, I promised her I was going to be the best player in the world. And if you read the book through, that’s when I encountered steroids. That’s when I started using steroids, the whole combination, PEDs.
I finally fulfilled the promise to my mom in 1988, when I became the first 40-40 player. Now I was MVP, was rated the best player in the world. So, it was more pertaining to a promise I made to my mom. That was the end game: I completed the promise I made to my mom, instead of the 40-40 — I mean, they kind of worked hand in hand. But the main thing for me is the promise I made to my mom, it came true.
That must’ve felt incredible.
It was. Fulfilling the promise to my mom, doing something that had never been done before. It really was a perfect storm.
Did you celebrate it?
You know, I celebrated it by really taking a breath and — it was weird; it was kind of supernatural — saying, ‘Mom, I did it for you. It’s done.’ [She had passed away.]
And I think nobody really knows who I am. Nobody knows my mind, my character, my intelligence level. But I think people who are close to me realize one thing: When I say something, it’s done. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I tend to be kind of a perfectionist, so I tend to do things when I say I’m going to do something.
Why don’t people know who you are? Why don’t they know your character?
Well, because the media has portrayed me a certain way. And, you know, I used to deal with a lot of people, especially in Major League Baseball, and I was always portrayed in an unfavourable light, for whatever reason. The way I looked — 6-foot-4, 240, 250 pounds, could run a 4.3 [second] 40 [yard dash], hitting the baseball 600 feet — I was always extremely intimidating.
I remember one time my identical twin brother, he looked at me and he said to me, which I’ll never forget — now, this is coming from my genetic clone. He stands next to me and he says to me, ‘José, you don’t realize how intimidating you are.’ And I looked at him I said, ‘Well, what about you? You’re my identical twin brother.’
So, coming from a man that’s my equal physically to say that to me, I kind of thought about it and I realized that, yes, I walk around even today at 60, 6-foot-4, 260 pounds, I look like I’m 45 years old. I wonder how people visualize me or look at me. Is my structure, the way I speak, the way I walk, the way I move, the way I do things, intimidating to people? And I think it is. I think physically it is. Intellectually it is. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
What do you want people to know about you that they don’t know already?
Nothing at all. [Laughs.]
You do less media these days. Is that a conscious choice?
Absolutely.
How come?
Well, obviously we all know that society’s damaged. We’re going down the wrong track here. I think there’s a major problem that you have: If you give anyone and everyone a social platform or a verbal platform, we have problems. So that talk, I think we’re heading to disaster. I think we have a lot of psychologically damaged people. Structure, societies, environments, political structure — you can see it all; it’s very in front of your face. And the problem is that we’re beyond stopping it. I think it’s almost gotten to a point where someone’s going to hit a restart button very soon, and you can be the judge of what that accomplishes.
Well, thanks for taking this call. What would you say to Ohtani if and when he accomplishes the 50-50 feat?
He’s an amazing player. He’s an anomaly. He’s the face of baseball. I’ve never seen a player who could do the things he does. And also, he potentially can be historically the only player to win an MVP and a Cy Young in the same year. I’ve never even heard of that. He can win the triple crown and win the Cy Young in the same year. That’s impossible but he’s the only person that has, I think, the mental capacity and the physicality to accomplish those feats.
Do you still play?
Baseball? No, I’m 60 years old! [Laughs.]
Well, you could still play.
I play softball and golf. And I am, at 60 years old, the longest hitter in softball in the world. By far.