12/21/24
August 01, 2010
Study: The Peer Effect of Jose Canseco: A pair of Israeli economists have provided scientific support for Jose Canseco's claim that he helped power hitters juice up on every team he played for during his career. A study by labor economists Eric Gould and Todd Kaplan finds that after playing with Canseco, teammates hit more home runs and boosted their numbers in the areas most affected by steroid use. "[N]o other player seems to have affected his teammates in the way that Jose Canseco did," Gould and Kaplan write in the study, titled "Learning Unethical Practices from a Co-worker: The Peer Effect of Jose Canseco."
To paraphrase Homer Simpson: "To [Jose Canseco]! The cause of--and solution to--all of [baseball's steroid] problems."
posted by bender at 12:06 PM on August 02, 2010
I tend to think Jose's co-workers were already unethical, they didn't learn it from Jose.
posted by mjkredliner at 12:32 PM on August 03, 2010
I agree rcade, the truth can be a powerful thing... But what if the truth is - Canseco was primarily responsible for the massive increase in steroid use in baseball? What if it was his 40/40 season in 1988, coupled with a greater knowledge and comfort with steroids that upped the voltage for the whole league? What if he was outing steroid abusers that he, in fact, introduced steroids to? Is he still credible?
Kind of in the same way Lenny Bias in hindsight appears to be the tipping point for the War on Drugs.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:35 PM on August 03, 2010
It's funny how circumstances have redeemed Canseco, at least to the extent that an admitted juicer and self-worshipping putz can be rehabilitated. It goes to show that no matter how much damage you do to your credibility, if you begin telling the truth about a bunch of liars it can pay off.