Were More Canseco Brothers Shenanagins Afoot? Perhaps

Remember a few months ago when Jose Canseco and his twin brother Ozzie pulled the old switcheroo at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida?

Well...I'm afraid (is "afraid" the right word?) that I might have uncovered some potential shenanigans prior to the Yuma Scorpions-Lake County Fielders game Thursday night.

Follow me on this one.

For a couple of months, I had been working with Scorpions general manager Jose Melendez on possibly getting an interview with the team's player/manager Jose Canseco.

I know, I know, I've been burned by Canseco before (kinda), but based on the emails I was exchanging with Melendez...this interview appeared like it was going to happen.

Then...I got this email.

Canseco has a prior commitment tonight that I wasn't aware. He is in Chicago area at a fundraiser event. I hope he can be there by gametime.

Uh oh...that's not good. Dude is the only reason that my group convoyed to Zion, Illinois to watch baseball in a dusty parking lot behind a CVS Pharmacy.

But then genius struck.

Why not go get some beverages and hotdogs and stake out the team clubhouse (it's a mobile trailer set up just past the leftfield bleachers really) and wait for the slugger. I mean...we HAD to be the only cats that knew Jose Canseco wasn't there yet, right?

We approached the trail..er, "clubhouse" and then it happened. The door opens and out of it emerges OZZIE Canseco.

Wearing his brother's number 33 jersey.

We were dumbfounded...shocked really. But there he was, Ozzie Canseco, just trotting to the field, casually gesturing to fans that were there to see his brother, the 1988 American League MVP.

So...I emailed Melendez.  I had to.

Is Ozzie wearing Jose's 33 tonight? Looks like it. Hmmm.

His response.

Lol. Don't tell me that. He is number 32.

To which I responded.

Ozzie is wearing 33.

And then it hit me. Jose was, more than likely, NOT going to make it to Zion at all.  And since he is playing the "Bingo Long" role when it comes to this team of "Travelling All Stars" (former Major Leaguers Joey Gathright and Willy Aybar also play for Yuma)...brother Ozzie was going to stop in and assume the part.

By wearing number 33. And again, it wouldn't be the first time the twins pulled this sort of thing.

A few minutes later, here comes Ozzie, heading back to the team "clubhouse" SANS 33 JERSEY (check out the video below...sorry for the quality). About a minute later he emerges again, this time with the number 32, his number, on his back.

He cheerfully greeted some fans (including my band of misfits), laughing "I'm not Jose" and signed some autographs.

And then...the next email from Melendez came to my phone.

Who is wearing 32?

So, I'm asking you, fans of The Hall...did I blow the roof off some halfbaked scheme by the Canseco Brothers?  Were they trying to pull a fast one on the unsuspecting fans of the Lake County Fielders?

Honestly...I'm not sure.  And frankly, based on the number of people taking pictures of Ozzie Canseco with their phones...it would've worked.

I'll leave you with this...Ozzie Canseco actually seems like a decent guy and I've got mad respect for the guy after seeing him out there doing his thing and seemingly picking up the pieces his brother appears to be leaving behind.

Jose Canseco's Yuma Scorpions Set to Debut

Ladies and gentlemen...your new favorite baseball team starts their season today.

That's right.  After making headlines last month by bringing Jose and Ozzie Canseco on board, the Yuma Scorpions are ready to get their season underway against the Calgary Vipers.

And in true Jose Canseco fashion...the Scorpions' player/manager took time out from going goo goo for Lady Gaga and made a bold prediction Monday night via Twitter:

Opening night for my Yuma Scorpions tomorrow...I'm going long

But the former American League MVP wasn't the only Scorpion making predictions, team general manager Jose Melendez has been making some of his own.

"We're going to bring Hollywood to Yuma," Melendez told the Yuma Sun.  "That's what we want to do, that's our goal this year. That's our motto: Bring Hollywood to Yuma."

Whether or not Hollywood ends up in Yuma remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain...the three-ring circus (with the Brothers Canseco occupying two of them) is in town and it will get plenty of attention.

***Be sure to return to The Hall Friday for an exclusive interview with Yuma Scorpion General Manager Jose Melendez***

The Cansecos Speak!

Alright, alright...JOSE Canseco speaks. Ozzie just sits there and kinda listens and nods his head.

In what is the first of hopefully many videos that the Yuma Scorpions will put out between now and the beginning of the season, their newly minted player/manager Jose Canseco talks about what he and twin brother Ozzie will bring to the ballclub.

Let the promotional circus begin!

***Warning: The audio is wicked low.***

"The Parent Trap" Has Nothing on Jose and Ozzie Canseco

I'm pretty sure this is one of those stories that couldn't be made up.

As if Jose and Ozzie Canseco needed to make more headlines...they pulled a move remiscent of a bad sitcom plot.  Basically...the twin brothers went all "The Parent Trap" Saturday night and pulled a switcheroo at a boxing event in which Jose was to fight.

Ugh.

Here's what The Miami Herald had to say:

Some 30 minutes before his bout against Billy Padden at the Passion nightclub at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, it was discovered that the Canseco who was in South Florida ready to fight was not the same guy who hit 462 homeruns in the Major Leagues.

“We discovered the Canseco who showed up was Ozzie when he took off his shirt and didn’t have José’s tattoos on the biceps that appear in our advertising,” a Celebrity Boxing representative told El Nuevo Herald. The man said he did not want to be identified.

Honestly, if you're paying to watch Jose Canseco box...you deserve to get Ozzie.  Seriously, why would you want to go watch the former MVP perform in the ring?

That aside...something tells me that this isn't the last we'll hear of this story.

Now Making Headlines...OZZIE Canseco!

Given his brother is (now, officially) on the latest installment of "Celebrity Apprentice", I'm pretty sure the hackneyed lead for what follows should include references "Celebrity Rehab" or "COPS".

But I'll refrain.

According to TMZ...Ozzie Canseco, former slugger Jose Canseco's twin brother, was arrested early Saturday morning for DUI.

Canseco was busted at 2:13 AM in Tampa, FL by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. According to the arrest report, Canseco had a blood alcohol level of .109/.108 ... slightly above the legal limit of .08%. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office website, Canseco is still in custody and being held on $500 bond.

The Cansecos combined for 462 career home runs in their collective careers with Jose accounted for, well...all of them. In 24 Major League games, Ozzie amassed 13 big league hits...good for a .200 career batting average.