Jose Canseco Connects Yet Again

Canseco called Ramirez like so many before

On April 6, Jose Canseco had what was at the time a somewhat bizarre rant against Manny Ramirez. At an April 6 talk in the USC Bovard Auditorium, Canseco said he was "90 percent sure" Ramirez had done steroids before, but that he didn't have any proof other than his knowledge of the drugs in the sport. At the time, most probably dismissed it. Guess who was right. Again.

For as much as we've dismissed Canseco as a slimeball -- and make no mistake, he is that -- he's also been remarkably prescient in calling out steroid users. Once upon a time, he was spouting equally incredulous lines about Alex Rodriguez. At the time, the stories seemed to be based more in personal vendetta than any impartial truth; Canseco seemed determined to lump Rodriguez in with the rest of the cheaters, and so he did.

It was easily dismissed at the time. Then, of course, Canseco was right, at least generally: A-Rod did use steroids. There's no debating that now. Not to mention the way Canseco blew the lid off the steroids era in the first place, or the way he called out former teammates like Mark McGwire and obvious juicers like Barry Bonds. He was right, almost always. His batting average on steroids is much higher than it ever was during his chemically enhanced career.

The cause of Manny's positive test is still up in the air. According to the L.A. Times, Ramirez is likely going to blame the positive test on medication he received from a doctor for personal medical use, whatever that means. It could be anything, really. Perhaps a false positive or a too-close-for-comfort drug sparked a positive test. Guilty until poven innocent, and all that.

But in the case of public opinion vs. Jose Canseco, this is yet another win for Canseco. Time and again, no matter how distasteful we find him, and how ugly his attacks have seemed, and how horribly eager for the spotlight he remains, Canseco has been, above all else, right. As much as we hate to do so, it's time to give him a little credit.

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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