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Jose Canseco's "Juiced": Believe it or not, it's a pretty good read. And when it comes to the steroid charges, believing's not a bad bet.

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Feb. 15, 2005 | Last week I told you I would read Jose Canseco's book so you wouldn't have to, but it turns out you're probably reading it anyway. And if you're like me, you're having a fine old time of it.

Canseco's chemistry memwa, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big," is reportedly selling briskly, and this bleary-eyed column can report that as tawdry tell-alls go, it ain't half bad at all. Canseco talks about his career, his sex life, his legal troubles and his daughter, but mostly, as you know, he talks about steroids.

He's for 'em, you see.

In fact, "Juiced" comes across as a kind of infomercial at times. "Look at me," Canseco writes. "See me on TV, or in the newspaper, and you'll see that we do have choices in life about how we want to look and feel. If you don't mind turning forty and feeling worn down and powerless ... that's your choice. But if you want to head into your forties feeling strong and active, and looking as good as you ever have, the way I do, you can choose that too."

"Juiced" is a compelling, quick, fun read. I suspect that by saying that I'm praising Steve Kettmann, a friend who covered the Bash Brothers-era A's for the San Francisco Chronicle, and who has written about steroids in baseball for the New York Times and Salon, among other publications. I asked Kettmann if he'd ghosted the book and he politely declined to comment.

Used properly, Canseco insists, steroids are a logical part of an athlete's training regimen. They make athletes bigger, stronger, faster and more confident, he says, without side effects as long as they're not abused. He believes they should be legalized in baseball for use under supervision.

Canseco writes that BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroid scandal involving Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and others, "was doing it right: They were giving blood tests ... That's the only way to design a cycle that's right for you -- to know the details of your body, your different hormone levels, and tailor your dosage accordingly."

He knows this, he says, because he's spent 20 years educating himself and experimenting on his own body.

You've heard and read about the charges Canseco makes, about Mark McGwire, Giambi, Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez. And about President Bush, who was a part owner of the Texas Rangers when Canseco played for them. He also speculates about Miguel Tejada, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and a few others, and laments that if only poor Ben Grieve had let Canseco guide him down the steroid pathway, he'd have become a decent player.

But don't jump to conclusions. Don't think you've read "Juiced" just because you've listened to the chatterers talking about it on the radio or cable TV, or read the coverage of the excerpts leaked to the New York Daily News. Even as the book was overplaying, in my opinion, the extent to which the media has conspired to make Canseco look bad, it was happening again.

Next page: What did W. know and when did he know it?