Tony DeMarco

Jose Canseco says the sequel is coming, and it will be more revealing and informative than the original. Maybe we should take him at his word this time.

Scorned by those he accused of steroid use in his first book, belittled by some in the media who caught him in a few fuzzy details, Canseco nonetheless is looking more like a sage than a snitch since the spring-training release of ‘Juiced’.

Now, through lawyer and friend Robert Saunooke, Canseco told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday that in the works is a second book that will allege a more-widespread involvement that includes major-league managers, medical personnel and even team executives.

The way this latest scandal in the national pastime continues to unravel, with more and more users being suspended, and deeper involvements coming to light on an all-too-regular basis, there should be no more shooting of a messenger who tries to dig deeper than the tip of the iceberg where we now find ourselves. Let’s hear him out.

In ‘Juiced’, Canseco pointed an accusatory finger at Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa and others as steroid users. Look what’s happened since those revelations:

Palmeiro, the only one accused by Canseco who threatened to sue him, has flunked a drug test and been suspended 10 days, putting an indelible black mark on a Hall of Fame-caliber career. According to the New York Times, Palmeiro — whose finger-pointing denial was a seminal moment in the March Congressional hearing — was caught using stanozolol, hardly your garden-variety supplement readily found over the counter.

THE PALMEIRO STEROID SCANDAL      Robinson wants to ‘wipe out’ Raffy’s stats Celizic's blog: Bud, you're late to the party Interactive: Is Palmeiro a Hall of Famer? Interactive: Who's Who of steroid crisis

Instead, it was the same banned substance used by disgraced Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson, one termed ‘potent’ by one steroids expert. Congress is looking into possible perjury charges against Palmeiro, and what should have been the highlight of a great career — his 3,000th hit collected last month in Seattle — was marred by the knowledge of the impending suspension. He says he used it unknowingly, but polls show that believing him isn’t a majority opinion.

Sosa, who conveniently lost the ability to converse in English in front of Congress, has dropped a suspicious amount of weight and muscle, and his production has fallen in a similarly dramatic fashion, signaling that the end of his career could be near.

Barry Bonds wasn’t fingered in the book, but admitted to a grand jury that he unknowingly used two steroid substances commonly known as the ‘clear’ and the ‘cream’, and suspiciously hasn’t been able to stay healthy since the testing program began. He may play again in 2005, but then again, maybe not ever.

And Major League Baseball, spurred by threats of further Congressional involvement, adopted a tougher testing policy that includes stiffer penalties. Finally, in the wake of the ongoing Palmeiro saga, commissioner Bud Selig on Thursday reiterated his desire for an outside administrator for the testing program, saying, “There is a deeper issue confronting baseball (than suspensions of steroid users under the new policy). It is the integrity of the game, and that transcends the viability of the (testing) program.’’

NBC SPORTS INTERACTIVE Steroids and stars The Who's Who of the crisis that has enshrouded baseball and other sports. Reuters

Maybe Canseco isn’t doing this for all the right reasons. Maybe there is the benefit of a financial windfall and a continued place in the spotlight. Maybe he is trying to take a shot at the game he believes blackballed him, preventing him from reaching the 500-homer mark and possible enshrinement into Cooperstown. Maybe that alleged conversation at second base with Bret Boone during a spring-training game never really took place.

Or, maybe he is trying to get at the problem by revealing its deep roots in the game, as Saunooke says. When Canseco writes that he personally injected Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro with steroids (and then swears to it under oath in front of Congress), aren’t those the kind of incidents that are impossible to forget? Obviously, somebody was lying in front of Congress that day, and who should we have believed? The accuser, or the one who had so much more to lose — not the least of which being his good-guy reputation? Or the one who kept avoiding answering questions by saying, ‘that’s in the past’.

Canseco’s legacy on the field may not be what he wanted it to be. But his role as an unlikely catalyst of change for the game is turning out to be no less significant than his 462 homers, historic 40/40 season and MVP award. And apparently, he has much more to say.

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