Fansided

Oakland Athletics: Jose Canseco, Dave Stewart to join TV crew

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Sep 3, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics former player Jose Canseco throws out the first pitch of the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics former player Jose Canseco throws out the first pitch of the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Former Oakland A’s slugger Jose Canseco and pitchers Dave Stewart and Dallas Braden will join the team’s television coverage as pregame and postgame analysts in 2017.

The Oakland A’s are going back to the future in 2017. The club announced that a trio of former A’s will be part of its television coverage team.

Jose Canseco, Dave Stewart and Dallas Braden will each have a role in NBC Sports California’s pregame and postgame coverage this season. Each former star is set to serve as a studio analyst for A’s Pregame Live and A’s Postgame Live.

Canseco played a total of nine seasons with the A’s. He won the 1986 American League Rookie of the Year Award and the 1988 AL MVP as an outfielder with the club. A member of the 1989 World Series champions, Canseco was also the first player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season.

Overall, Canseco hit 462 career home runs in a 17-year big league career that also included stops in Texas, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay, New York (where he won a second World Series ring with the Yankees) and Chicago. Since last playing in the major leagues in 2001, the outspoken slugger has played in several independent baseball leagues, toured the country participating in home run derby contests at minor league ballparks, and dabbled in mixed martial arts and reality television.

An admitted steroids user during his playing days, Canseco also wrote two books on the subject, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, and Vindicated, both of which pointed the finger at several big-time major league players (including former A’s teammate Mark McGwire) as performance enhancing drug users. Given his wild ride both in and out of baseball, Canseco’s TV gig with the club should be interesting.

A teammate of Canseco’s with the A’s, Stewart most recently served as the general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Stewart, who pitched eight seasons in Oakland, was one of the most dependable starting pitchers in baseball and finished in the top four of the voting for the Cy Young Award in each of his first four seasons with the A’s. An Oakland native, Stewart was also an All-Star for his hometown team in 1988.

Stewart’s place in Oakland history was cemented when he won World Series MVP honors in 1989. In two starts against the San Francisco Giants, Stewart was 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA, including a shutout in Game 1.

Braden pitched for the A’s for five seasons from 2007-11. Best known for his 2010 perfect game, Braden recorded a 26-36 record and 4.16 ERA before injuries forced his early retirement. After baseball, Braden joined ESPN as an analyst on Baseball Tonight, and also provided color commentary for games.

Next: 30 MLB breakout stars for 2017

With the A’s coming off a disappointing 69-93 season – the second consecutive 90-loss record for the proud franchise – the new-look NBC Sports California pregame and postgame crew should give fans a taste of the good ole days.

Home/MLB