JOSE CANSECO
Born: 7-2-64 Height: 6'4 Weight: 240 lbs
Bats: Right Throws: Right Position: Right Field
Team: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Career Highlights
- 1982: Drafted in the 15th round by the Oakland Athletics.
- 1985: Minor league player of the year, went from AA Huntsville to
Oakland. Batted .333 with 36 HR and 127 RBI in 118 games in AA and AAA
Tacoma. Hit first major league HR on September 9 off Texas.
- 1986: Rookie of the year with 33 HR (4th), 117 RBI (2nd), and 63
Extra Base Hits (9th).
- 1987: Sixth in AL in RBI with 113 and was 2nd in the league in GWRBI
(17). Second on the A's (next to McGwire) in HR with 31 and improved
his Avg from .240 to .257. Finished with 35 doubles (10th).
- 1988: First unanimous MVP since Reggie Jackson in 1973. Became the
first player in major league history to hit 40 HR (42)
and steal 40 bases (40) in the same season. Led the majors in HR, RBI
(124), and Slg Pct (.569). Led the AL in Extra Base hits (76) and was
2nd in Runs (120) and TB (347), 4th in SB, 6th in Hits (187) and On Base
Pct (.391), and 9th in Avg (.307), up 50 points from 1987. Of his 42
HR, 27 tied the game or took the lead. Hit 3 HR in one game on July 3
at Tor. Reached 40/40 club Sept 23 when he stole 2nd off Milwaukee.
Hit a grand slam in his first ever World Series at bat, but went hitless
the rest of the series.
- 1989: Missed the first half of the season with a broken wrist, but
returned for the final 65 games and still hit 17 HR and 57 RBI. Hit 5
HR in his first 9 games back. Also hit .339 w/ runners in scoring
position. Was headed for 42 HR and 142 RBI in 162 games. In game 4 of
the ALCS in Toronto, became the first player to hit a HR into the 5th
deck, 500 ft away (Mark McGwire became the 2nd player to do that in
1996). Hit .357 in the World Series sweep against the Giants and
homered in game 3.
- 1990: Back injuries ruined a chance at 50/50 or 60 HR. Had 20 HR to
Cecil Fielder's 22 HR and was batting .330 in early June when he went on the DL
with a dislocated disk in his back. After he got off the DL, he took the HR
lead from Fielder at 35, but re-injured his back and only hit 2 HR the
rest of the year (Fielder hit 51). He still finished 3rd in the league
with 37 HR and a .543 Slg Pct and 4th in RBI with 101, the 4th time in 5
years he got 30 HR and 100 RBI. Hit a Home Run (his only hit) in the
World Series against Cincinnati.
- 1991: Tied Cecil Fielder for the ML lead in HR with a career-high 44.
Finished 2nd in RBI with 122 and led the majors in HR per AB with a HR
every 13.0 AB. He tied for 2nd in the AL in Runs (115) and was 3rd in
Slg Pct (.556), 4th in EBH (77) and 7th in TB (318). Had 34 HR and 87
RBI in his last 100 games. It was the 5th time in 6 years that he hit at
least 30 HR and had at least 100 RBI.
- 1992: Again was bothered by back and shoulder problems and hit 26 HR
and 87 RBI in 119 games. Traded to Texas for Ruben Sierra, Jeff Russell,
Bobby Witt, and cash on August 31.
- 1993: Got his 1000th career hit May 2 vs Milwaukee. Became the
first player since Ted Williams to get 750 RBI in his first 1000 games.
Pitched the 8th inning in a 15-1 loss at Boston on May 29 and injured
his elbow. Missed the last 3 months of the season. Finished with 10 HR
and 46 RBI in just 60 games.
- 1994: Returned to form, hitting 31 HR (4th) and 90 RBI in 111 games
in the strike-shortened season. Batted .282, his highest avg since
1988. Hit his 250th career HR April 20 at Toronto. Had 3 HR, the
second one went 493 feet, a career high 8 RBI, and went 5-5 June 13
against Seattle. Was traded to Boston for Otis Nixon and Luis Ortiz
after the season.
- 1995: Made his debut with the Red Sox as a DH. Played 12 games
before going on the DL for several minor injuries. Tied Red Sox record
of HR in 5 straight games on August 21-25. Had a career high 16-game
hit streak from August 10-25, in which he hit 31-68 (.456) with 9 HR and
20 RBI to raise his avg from .271 to .315. Went hitless for a game, the
set a new career high with a 17-game hit streak (Aug 27-Sept 15). Hit
his 300th career HR on Sept 11 at Baltimore, becoming the 70th player to
reach that milestone. He did it in less games (1235) than everyone except
Ralph Kiner and Babe Ruth (and now Mark McGwire). He didn't homer in
his last 10 games, finishing with 24 HR and 81 RBI and a .306 batting
avg in just 102 games.
- 1996: Became only the second player in Red Sox history to have two
consecutive months with 10 or more HR (Jimmie Foxx, 1938) when he hit 11
HR in May and another 10 in June. Named AL Player of the Week June 3-9
with 4 HR, 11 RBI and a .385 AVG. Had 28 HR, 83 RBI, and a .308 AVG
in only 86 games when he got injured in early July. At the time, he was
battling with former Bash Brother Mark McGwire and Brady Anderson for the
Major League HR lead. Returned for 10 games starting September 17, but
had only 1 RBI and no HR. Finished with 28 HR, 84 RBI, .289 AVG, and
career highs in slugging pct (.589), on-base pct (.400), production
(.989) and at bats/HR (12.9). Canseco also got his 1000th career RBI,
becoming the fastest player since Ted Williams to 1000 RBI.
- 1997: Was traded back to the A's for pitcher John Wasdin, reuniting
him with Mark McGwire. Hit only 23 HR and 74 RBI in 107 games before
getting injured in early August and missing the rest of the season.
Batted a career low .235.
- 1998: Signed with Toronto in the off-season meaning that he would play
81 games in his favorite stadium to hit in, the Skydome. He met his #1
goal of staying healthy for a full season for the first time since 1991.
Played in 151 games, hitting a career high 46 homers. He had 9 HR in
both May and September, and never had less than 6 HR in any month.
Despite a subpar 107 RBI, he moved into the top 100 in career RBI.
Canseco also stole 29 bases, the most he had stolen since his 40-40
season, just missing another 30-30 year! His average, however, remained
low at .237.
- 1999: Signed with Tampa Bay, his 4th team in 4 years. Canseco came
out of the gate fast with 10 HR and a .663 SLG in April, both team
records. That included his 400th career HR, making Canseco the 28th
member of the 400 club. He reached 400 HR in fewer games than anyone
but McGwire and Ruth. He continued his torrid pace by hitting 9 HR and
slugging over .600 in May and June as he led the AL in HR for most of
the first half, while flirting with .300 for the first time since 1996.
At the All-Star break, he was still leading the AL in HR with 31, and
was also 5th in slugging pct, 8th in RBI, and in the top 20 in runs. He
became the 1st player in history to hit 30+ HR with 4 different teams
(OAK, TEX, TOR, TAM). But right before the All-Star game after playing
outfield in an interleague game, Canseco had to have back surgery.
When he got injured, he had career highs in Slugging pct and HR pct.
Career Statistics
Year G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG PRO
1985 29 96 16 29 3 0 5 13 47 4 31 1 .302 .330 .490 .819
1986 157 600 85 144 29 1 33 117 274 65 175 15 .240 .322 .457 .778
1987 159 630 81 162 35 3 31 113 296 50 157 15 .257 .314 .470 .783
1988 158 610 120 187 34 0 42 124 347 78 128 40 .307 .394 .569 .962
1989 65 227 40 61 9 1 17 57 123 23 69 6 .269 .341 .542 .882
1990 131 481 83 132 14 2 37 101 261 72 158 19 .274 .375 .543 .918
1991 154 572 115 152 32 1 44 122 318 78 152 26 .266 .363 .555 .918
1992 119 439 74 107 15 0 26 87 200 63 128 6 .244 .346 .456 .801
1993 60 231 30 59 14 1 10 46 105 16 62 6 .255 .304 .425 .729
1994 111 429 88 121 19 2 31 90 237 69 114 15 .282 .382 .552 .933
1995 102 396 64 121 25 1 24 81 220 42 93 4 .306 .378 .556 .934
1996 96 360 68 104 22 1 28 82 212 63 82 3 .289 .400 .589 .989
1997 108 388 56 91 19 0 23 74 179 51 122 8 .235 .325 .461 .786
1998 151 583 98 138 26 0 46 107 302 65 159 29 .237 .318 .518 .836
1999 82 315 63 87 14 1 31 69 196 41 97 2 .276 .360 .622 .982
Car.1682 6357 1081 1695 310 14 428 1283 3317 780 1727 195 .267 .350 .522 .872
Career Records and Awards
1986: AL Rookie of the Year
1988: First 40-40 player ever
- unanimous American League MVP
- Major League HR Champion and RBI Champion
- 2nd player to hit 30+ HR his first 3 seasons
- 2nd player to have 100+ RBI his first 3 seasons
- First player to hit a grand slam in his 1st World Series AB
1990: Leading vote getter for All-Star game
1991: Major League HR Champion (tie)
1995: Reached 300 HR in 3rd fewest games ever at the time
1999: Became 28th member of the 400 HR club
- Reached 400 HR in 3rd fewest games ever
Career:
- First 40-40 (HR and SB) player in history
- 28th member of the 400 HR club
- Reached 400 HR in 3rd fewest career games
- Reached 300 HR in 3rd fewest career games at the time
- Second player to have 30+ HR in his first 3 seasons
- Second player to have 100+ RBI in his first 3 seasons
- First player to hit a grand slam in his 1st World Series AB
- 24th in career Home Runs
- 7th in career Home Runs/Game
- 17th in career RBI/Game
- 25th in career Total Bases/Game
- 9th in career HR/AB
- 18th in career RBI/AB
- 15th in career Isolated Power*
- 16th in career Power Rating*
- 28th in career Efficiency*
- 44th in career Total Baseball Ranking* (28th batter)
- 26th in career Ultimate Batter Rating*
* Click here for
formulas to computed stats.
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