Jose Canseco Twitter Alleged Rape Accusations; Refuses to Answer Questions; Challenges Shaquille O'Neill to Fight
Former Texas Rangers player Jose Canseco joined the New School radio show on 105.3 The Fan on Friday before making his debut playing Fort Worth Cats in the United Baseball League (unaffiliated from Major League Baseball).
The interview with hosts Shan and R.J., of the Dallas/Fort Worth area show, ended when Canseco hung up after being asked about his pending sexual assault case.
Canseco told the world about the accusation via Twitter.
The hosts asked him about the case roughly eight minutes into the interview:
"Yesterday, you got the confirmation you were joining us, a few minutes later you sent out a tweet that became a national story. What is going on Jose, with this sexual assault case?"
After a few seconds of silence, a click was heard on the other end of the line.
Canseco spoke about steroids in baseball and said they are not used anymore, before he hung up the telephone.
He admitted that he used performance-enhancing steroids in his tell-all book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big," published in 2005.
During the interview, Canseco also challenged former NBA center Shaquille O'Neal to a fight:
"I fought Hong Man Choi two years ago, the man was 7-foot-2, 380 pounds when I fought him," Canseco said. "I fought him with a really bad knee. That was a tournament in Japan, and then I think Shaquille saw that and wanted to fight me. I definitely accepted. I said, 'I will fight you any time.' And Shaquille will not commit. ... The man's got a big mouth, he will not commit."
The former baseball star was accused of sexual assault in Las Vegas. He made the investigation public and claimed on Twitter that a woman falsely accused him of rape. Canseco's tweets included the name and workplace of a woman and generated an immediate response from others who posted comments deriding Canseco. Some of the information was later removed.
No arrest was made and police said no charges were immediately filed against the 48-year-old.
The Oakland Athletics rookie of the year hit 462 career home runs and was a six-time all-star while playing with the Athletics, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox.
