Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed

by Dale Tafoya, Fay Vincent

Overview

Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco-the Bash Brothers-ushered in a new era of muscle-bound power hitters in baseball in the late 1980s. Suddenly balls were flying out of the parks like never before, and the rest of baseball stood up, took notice, and followed suit. Baseball's bodybuilding revolution, with its resultant steroid infestation, was here to stay, and many experts today point to these two players as a large reason why.

Author Dale Tafoya has interviewed more than 150 teammates, coaches, scouts, and friends who knew McGwire and Canseco during that era, including former A's general manager Sandy Alderson, former team president Roy Eisenhardt, former commissioner Fay Vincent, Hall-of-Fame closer Dennis Eckersley, and 2004 Ford C. Frick award-winning legendary broadcaster Lon Simmons. They provide first-person commentary on what living and playing with the larger-than-life duo was like, and relate the shock and awe that followed both players and the team as well.

Tafoya also investigates the players' pre-Oakland careers, how they exploded upon reaching the majors with the A's, and what happened when the two moved on. While Canseco has admitted his steroid use, McGwire ducked the question when Congress asked about his use by saying, "I am not here to discuss the past." Tafoya investigates the claims of each.

The Bash Brothers revolutionized baseball; Tafoya discusses whether it was for better or for worse and paints a colorful portrait of the duo's rise to popularity and their ensuing exposure and shame. Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed is the first book to fully investigate how these two players helped shape baseball for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612343839
Publisher:	Potomac Books Inc.
Publication date:	05/30/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, Dale Tafoya witnessed the Bash Brothers electrify crowds with majestic, game-swaying home runs. Tafoya has written baseball articles for several newspapers, magazines, and websites since 2000 and was awarded the 2004 Best Sports Feature Story in Northern California by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. He is now a freelance journalist and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr. (born May 29, 1938 in Waterbury, Connecticut) is a former entertainment lawyer and sports executive who served as the 8th commissioner of Major League Baseball from September 13, 1989 to September 7, 1992.

Editorial Reviews

"Wow! This was a trip through Memory Lane for me. A true blast from the past! The 1980s brought back to life; Jose and Big Mac, warts, glory and all. The transformation of McGwire from choir boy to Hells Angel. Canseco's ego was almost too big for the book, but Dale Tafoya harnessed it. Great work!"—Steven Travers, author of A's Essential and Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman

Steven Travers

“Incisive and compelling…a must-read…Tafoya tells their story in exquisite detail.”—Modesto Bee

Modesto Bee

"The Bash Brothers, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, are a human drama--or tragedy--starting as symbols of a new power surge in baseball and morphing into symbols of the steroids era. Dale Tafoya has captured the whole story in his engrossing book."—Glenn Dickey, San Francisco Examiner columnist

Glenn Dickey

"A real work of journalism . . . a remarkable 'inside' work told in straightforward fashion, with some intriguing information and anecdotes about McGwire and Canseco."—Oakland Tribune

Oakland Tribune

"Dale Tafoya takes us back to a wonderfully enchanting time in baseball, particularly in the Bay Area--and, with exacting detail, tells the story we all missed."—Bud Geracie, sports editor, San Jose Mercury News

Bud Geracie

"Rather than merely bashing the Bash Brothers—easy targets with their surreal size and steroid-fueled careers—Dale Tafoya treats them with a more gracious account of their deeds and misdeeds than they themselves have offered. By hewing to objectivity, Tafoya does the best job so far of trying to understand what motivated Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco during their dramatic rise and fall, from wildly popular superstars to disgraced outcasts who took baseball down a sordid path."—Steve Wilstein, former Associated Press sportswriter

Steve Wilstein

"Bash Brothers is a gritty, edgy, well-researched chronicle of the rise and fall of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. Tafoya grabs hold of the subject and doesn't let go until every question is answered."

"Tafoya has done what seems to be fairly exhaustive research and interviews, and the book presents a fairly meaty picture of a tumultuous time in baseball that is already being shoved by some into the mists of forgotten memory...[It] will be an incredible resource for historians and writers 20 and 50 years down the road who are still trying to make sense of it all."

“Takes the inside story to the fans…but maintains objectivity about the actions of José Canseco and Mark McGwire.”

“…this exhaustive account will be fresh to even the most seasoned of fans.”

“Incisive and compelling…a must-read…Tafoya tells their story in exquisite detail”

"...a real work of journalism...a remarkable 'inside' work told in straightforward fashion, with some intriguing information and anecdotes about McGwire and Canseco."

"Given our newfound chemical knowledge about baseball, the Bash Brothers era of the Oakland A's has cried out for a retrospective. Dale Tafoya has answered the cry. This is a no-nonsense, non-judgmental, well-reported book."

"The Bash Brothers, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, are a human drama--or tragedy--starting as symbols of a new power surge in baseball and morphing into symbols of the steroids era. Dale Tafoya has captured the whole story in his engrossing book."

"Dale Tafoya takes us back to a wonderfully enchanting time in baseball, particularly in the Bay Area--and, with exacting detail, tells the story we all missed."

"Wow! This was a trip through Memory Lane for me. A true blast from the past! The 1980s brought back to life; Jose and Big Mac, warts, glory and all. The transformation of McGwire from choir boy to Hells Angel. Canseco's ego was almost too big for the book, but Dale Tafoya harnessed it. Great work!"

"Rather than merely bashing the Bash Brothers—easy targets with their surreal size and steroid-fueled careers—Dale Tafoya treats them with a more gracious account of their deeds and misdeeds than they themselves have offered. By hewing to objectivity, Tafoya does the best job so far of trying to understand what motivated Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco during their dramatic rise and fall, from wildly popular superstars to disgraced outcasts who took baseball down a sordid path."

From the Publisher