I’m not in the Bay area, and away from my Direct TV MLB package so I didn’t get to hear the Jose Canseco diatribe that Gwenn Knapp talks about in her column today, but reading through this piece about the different roads of Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds it makes me think about another ex-player who told the truth and became a pariah  for it.

Jim Bouton told all the secrets back in the 1970s when he co-wrote and published Ball Four: The Final Pitch. Bouton was ostracized by those in baseball, just as Canseco claims to have been, but the difference is how he stepped up to use his position to motivate people. Can you imagine someone from that generation of players whining about it? Well, here is a nice quick interview piece from ESPN’s page 2 with Bouton. And if you want a good summer read, pick up a copy of Ball Four.

If Canseco can find some good in his postion, can find a way to help, perhaps we will want to talk to him about this and he can, some day, take his position as the truth teller, and not just the snitch.