JOSE Canseco is planning to smash his way back into business – but he knows where it all went wrong.
The U.S. Sun revealed earlier this year the home-run hitting legend was flogging some personalized possessions on Facebook marketplace in Nevada to help with some crippling financial losses.
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MASSIVE LOSSES
Canseco says he’s lost an eye-watering $40 million over the years, mainly through two failed marriages and some business ventures that didn’t pan out.
But when the MLB superstar finally caught up with The U.S Sun, the 60-year-old two-time World Series champion was back to his bullish self and promised to shake up baseball once again.
Canseco is excited about his “groundbreaking” PX 40/40 batting aid, which he says will “redefine” batters’ approaches to the plate.
BACK IN THE SWING
The product, which has been in the works for the last two years, can also help golfers perfect their swing.
The Oakland A’s hero is also hopeful it will spark a change in fortunes for him after he not only became a victim of the 1990s steroid culture but also filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Canseco is brutally honest when he tells The U.S. Sun about his mistakes.
“If I could go back,” he said, “I’d do a few things differently. No early marriage, no blind generosity. Get a financial planner. Protect yourself.”
His marriage to first wife Jessica was short-lived and chaotic.
The pair tied the knot in the mid-’90s, but by 1999, their union had exploded in a storm of infidelity accusations and domestic battery claims.
Canseco pleaded no contest to a 1998 charge of domestic battery against Jessica, receiving one year of probation.
Jessica, now a cosmetic tattoo artist, walked away after three years of marriage, leaving behind a trail of drama and heartbreak.
The financial fallout didn’t stop there.
In 2008, Canseco’s California mansion went into foreclosure, marking yet another low point in his money troubles.
That same year, a drug charge earned him another 12-month probation sentence.
Appearing on Inside Edition, he revealed the jaw-dropping cost of his two divorces: an eye-watering $7 to $8 million.
“My financial situation is a mess,” he admitted, laying bare the toll of his personal and professional setbacks.
“If you’re going to do it, get a prenup. Always get a prenup,” he warned.
“I had no idea what I was doing. I was a kid with millions and zero experience.”
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BASEBALL ROYALTY
Canseco may never receive a Hall of Fame invite because of his drug use which was explicitly described in controversial memoir Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big.
Yet, his MLB stats remain out of this world.
In 1988, he became the first player in history to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in one season, a vivid testament of his brute strength and athletic power before a landing World Series with the A’s the following campaign.
Canseco was the hottest ticket in town – and the mega contracts soon followed.
Looking back now, however, he knows his mindset was wrong.
“I thought I’d play forever,” he admitted. “But the money doesn’t last. You’ve got to plan for another 30, 40 years after the game.”
The U.S. Sun revealed earlier this year that a personalized poker table, a motorbike, and some leather boots were all being sold to fund his latest venture.
A collaboration with a gas station, which is emblazoned with his name and Oakland colors, also didn’t work out.
This latest venture, however, is dear to his heart.
INNOVATIVE IDEA
According to the PX 40/40 website, the batting aid – which slides onto your arm like a sleeve and is also backed by fellow legend Ken Griffey Jr. – is “designed to improve swing mechanics by isolating the motion of the front arm—helping hitters build better muscle memory, more torque, and cleaner contact.
“It’s a device born not from a lab, but from years of watching bad habits derail potential.
“Experience balls flying off the bat with unparalleled force and accuracy,” continued the official description.
“PX 40/40 is not just a tool; it’s an investment in your success on the diamond.”
Canseco says he has watched too many kids smacking balls in batting cages with their dads and is fed up seeing the same old mistakes.
“They try and muscle everything with their back arm,” said Canseco. “This teaches you how to swing like a pro—using the whole body, creating leverage, not just power.”
Along with business partner Jesse Alfonso, there are hopes of bringing other sports into the mix.
Golf, softball, and ice hockey players are targets.
“It’s helped with my golf game and maybe cricket too?” he smiled, thinking about the potential windfall of tapping into the billions in India obsessed with the game. “We can adapt it.”
Canseco knows all about the soaring highs and crushing lows of being a superstar sports icon.
Yet, most importantly for his new business venture, the art of smashing a fastball into the bleachers will never be lost.
“When I was young, I didn’t have tools like this,” he says.
“Just raw power and trial and error. Much error. I wish I had a PX4040 when I was 18. Might’ve saved me from a few strikeouts—and maybe a few life strikeouts too.”
“The way the system is built forces you to extend the elbows straight out. Most hitters tend to compensate,” Canseco continued.
“Your left arm is your power and guide if you’re a right-hander. Most people don’t use the left arm as a power and guide—they let the right arm dominate, roll over the ball, or push through it.
“So, basically, the way this thing functions is it forces you, every single time, through the pressure system on the outside, to extend your hand through the zone and realize that your left arm is both power and guide.”
“You don’t get too many second chances in this game,” he added. “But what if PX4040 helps a kid make their first chance count? That’s a win in my book.”
BASH BROTHERS LEGEND
Among Canseco’s career highs, his memorable partnership with fellow slugger Mark McGwire led to the pair being dubbed the Bash Brothers.
Their prolific home run hitting helped seal a World Series crown in Oakland in 1989.
However, McGwire wasn’t happy with Canseco after the release of his tell-all book and the pair haven’t spoken for years.
Could a shock, emotional reunion be on the cards?
“I hear through the grapevine he might be open to talking again,” he admitted.
“Maybe we’ll do it on camera. Maybe that’s the show people need to see. It would be great to speak with him after 30 years.”
Canseco doesn’t deny the steroid use. Back then, it wasn’t even against the rules.
“We just wanted to win,” he said. “For our team, our families, our cities. And the game wasn’t clean. You either adapted or got left behind. That was part of the pressure of becoming the best and winning at all costs.
“We took baseball to its limits. When’s the last time you’ve seen two guys on the same team who could hit a baseball 600 feet? It’s rare—it rarely happens.”
From the glory of the Bash Brothers to bankruptcy blues, Canseco’s life has been one hell of a rollercoaster.
His daughter Josie, recently in a relationship with former NFL dropout Johnny Manziel, was forced to slam assumptions about her family‘s wealth in a fiery Instagram post in 2023.
“To everyone saying I come from ‘rich money’ because I’m a ‘Canseco,’ do your research,” she said.
“I’ve had to work hard not only to maintain my family name but also to pay my bills—because no one else did that for me.”
Despite the chaos, Josie Canseco remains fiercely loyal to her dad.
“I love my dad and am proud of where I come from,” she told The New York Post. “Growing up, there was much pressure to meet certain expectations and appear like we had money. It was like living in a façade.
“I didn’t want people to know about the struggles, like the bankruptcy or when he was arrested, because those were things out of my control.”
For now, Canseco is eyeing business success with the PX 40/40. He knows mistakes have been made.
But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“If I hadn’t lived my life,” he smiled, “I couldn’t tell it.”
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