Always Count on Canseco to Make It Home Safe

TEMPE, Ariz. â€”  You will not find this statistic on Jose Canseco’s lengthy playing record, which includes 446 career home runs, 1,358 runs batted in, 1,811 hits and 1,140 runs.

But it is worth noting that in 1,811 major league games over 16 seasons, the 6-foot-4, 242-pound Canseco never has been thrown out at the plate when trying to score from second base on a hit. “I get real good secondary leads, good jumps and hope for a lot of bad throws,� said Canseco, who in 1988 became the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season.

“The funny part is I never get held up [by the third-base coach]. I don’t like to go station to station. I don’t like to stand there on the basepaths. I like to make things happen.�

Canseco was thrown out from second in a spring-training game last year, but it was a play on which he blew out his hamstring and calf. He never has had a collision at home with a catcher.

“They tend to give me the back part of the plate,� he said.

Of course, Canseco never had a chance to run into his current manager, Mike Scioscia, the fearless former Dodger catcher who was famous for blocking the plate.

“Oh, that would have been a nice impact,� he said. “I’m glad he was in the National League all those years, and I’m glad he’s not catching any more.�

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Players have not seemed very unified as they enter the final season of the current collective bargaining agreement. Recent complaints from Gary Sheffield and Frank Thomas about their multi-million dollar contracts have drawn harsh criticism from clubhouses throughout Florida and Arizona, and some players have questioned whether baseball’s salary structure is out of whack.

But Major League Baseball Players Assn. Executive Director Don Fehr, who met with the Angels for two hours Thursday as part of his annual tour of camps, does not think these will be divisive issues as negotiations with owners begin.

“The owners believe in gag orders, we don’t,� Fehr said, alluding to the $1-million fine Commissioner Bud Selig will impose on owners who discuss labor negotiations. “I’m not worried about the players’ solidarity. That’s never been an issue, and it won’t be now.�

But will the owners, who are concerned about economic and competitive disparity among clubs, and the players be able to avoid another work stoppage, the last of which caused the cancellation of the 1994 World Series?

“I’m out of the prediction business,� Fehr said. “This time in 1994, the likelihood of a work stoppage was much greater. The task is going to be to sit down with the owners, negotiate in good faith and find a way to avoid it.�

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Second baseman Adam Kennedy agreed to terms on a contract for $280,000 this season. Pitchers Scott Schoeneweis ($275,000), Jarrod Washburn ($270,000) and Brian Cooper ($215,000) also agreed to terms on 2001 contracts. . . . Outfielder Garret Anderson was held out of drills Thursday because of tightness in his groin, the third day he has been sidelined. He hopes to return this weekend.