THIS DAY IN BÉISBOL November 25: Jose Canseco named Rookie of the Year

Jose Canseco wasn’t yet an official “Bash Brother” — or an MLB pariah for publicly outing a large number of players of taking performance enhancing drugs.

On this day in béisbol, November 25, 1986 the controversial Oakland A’s outfielder made news for his actions on the field by winning the AL Rookie of the Year award.

Canseco, 22, swatted 33 home runs and drove in 117 runs, making A’s fans salivate at the thought of pairing him with slugger Mark McGwire, the hulking minor league first baseman expected to make the big club in 1987.

Canseco and McGwire — who was named Rookie of the Year in ’87 but whose career would also be tainted by PEDs — led Oakland to three straight pennants beginning in 1988 and a World Series championship in 1990 as the fabled “Bash Brothers.”

Also on this day: Lou Piniella was named the 1969 Rookie of the Year as a Kansas City Royal. The outfielder was later traded to the Yankees and became a fan favorite on the late-1970s club before managing the Cincinnati Reds to a 1990 championship.

In 1972, Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente won his 12th and final Gold Glove. The Pittsburgh icon died the following month in a plane crash.

Silent Sensei from Santa Cruz, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, LatinoBaseball.com illustration