Professional sports are filled with some great sibling athletes who have left a mark on their individual sports. You have Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning, Serena and Venus Williams in tennis, NHL's Henrik and Daniel Sedin plus Eric and Jordan Staal, and MLB's Roberto and Sandy Alomar as well as Moises and Felipe Alou. Their accomplishments and notoriety are well documented with a billion sports stories you can find everywhere on the web.
Then there are those siblings who have black eyes on their sport and are clearly the child who are least talked about at family get togethers around the holidays. Today we explore these little talked about pro sports never-were's and give the poor peeps some shine that I'm sure Dad hasn't given them since they graduated high school.
Today's Induction: Ozzie Canseco
Jose Canseco sure had his share of legal problems, but he will always be remembered as a World Series winning member of the Bash Brothers with Mark McGwire during their days together with the Oakland A's. He had public trysts with (in her prime) Madonna, had good looks that made the chicks melt and most of all, was one of the premier players in the game for many seasons. Of course he was totally (admittedly) on 'roids during his career and is also a main highlight for two huge MLB blunders while has a member of the Texas Rangers. He misplayed a pop up that bounced off his head for a home run and then he blew out his arm pitching in a game when he had no reason to be pitching in the first place. Later in his life, he boxed Danny Bonaduce and ratted out every MLB player who did steroids in his best-selling book, Juiced. But again, during his career, he was a monster power hitter and became a household name, even if his character is in question nowadays.
Then, there is his identical twin brother Ozzie. But looks is where the similarity ends between the two and does not continue into athletic ability. In fact as much as Jeremy Giambi was dogged as a previous Second Best Sports Sibling inductee, he was a superstar talent compared to Ozzie. Ozzie played 24 MLB games for the Oakland A's (more A's nepotism) and the St. Louis Cardinals that spanned from '90-'93.
What was his biggest claim to fame? Doing absolutely nothing in the majors and making Jose's legal troubles seem like jaywalking. Like the "Jeremy Giambi Effect", Oz must have been snorting the placebo while his bro was shooting the oxen strength juice.
Ozzie's most recent claim to fame, outside the legal issues, was his appearance on the reality show The Surreal Life. In a blink or you'll miss him cameo, Ozzie pigeoned off his hermana once again when he appeared as a Jose Canseco impersonator while Jose was in the cast that season.
Like Bill Murray's character in Caddyshack receiving total enlightenment when he dies by the Dali Lama, at least Ozzie has that going for him.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
JOSE CANSECO, OF/DH ('85 - '01)
Career Stats: .266 AVG. 462 HR 1,407 RBI
Accolades: Two-time World Series winner, '88 AL MVP
Six-time All Star, Four-time AL Silver Slugger
OZZIE CANSECO, OF/DH ('90 - '93)
Career Stats: .200 AVG. 13 HITS 4 RBI
Accolades: Impersonates his brother; Hardened Criminal
Worse A's sibling than Jeremy Giambi
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