A Boston TV station reported Thursday night that Jose Canseco denied that Cubs shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was linked to steroids in his upcoming tell-all book, which had been implied in a Boston-based Internet report and repeated on Chicago radio.
Steve Burton, sports anchor of WBZ-TV, said he spoke with Canseco after a Red Sox fan Web site proclaimed “Nomar Named,” earlier Thursday evening in reference to “Juiced,” the book scheduled to be released Monday.
“I just got off the phone with Canseco and he flat out said no [Nomar wasn’t named in connection with steroids],” Burton reported. “He said if I did mention Nomar’s name, it was very briefly, insinuating he’s not on the list.”
Steve Silva, operator of the Web site, later amended the posting to say that Garciaparra had been named in the book but not in the context of steroids.
His source was a close friend who had spoken to someone at Regan Books who had browsed through a copy of Canseco’s book and noticed Garciaparra’s name.
The source said the mention was in connection with Garciaparra’s photo on the March 5, 2001, cover of Sports Illustrated when the former Red Sox star posed with his shirt off to show how muscular he had become in the off-season.
