Canseco Rookie of Year; Joyner Second in Voting

Oakland A's outfielder Jose Canseco, whose long, high-arcing homers brought predictions he will someday challenge the records of baseball's greatest sluggers, was named the American League Rookie of the Year yesterday.

The powerfully built, 22-year-old, who says he was "just scratching the surface" of his talent after hitting 33 homers and driving in 117 runs, edged California Angels first baseman Wally Joyner for the honor.

Canseco received 16 of 28 first-place votes and 110 points to 12 first-place votes and 98 points for Joyner. Two writers from each of the league's 14 cities participated in the selection for the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Canseco said he thought he might win but was concerned about Joyner's popularity.

"My statistics overshadowed Wally Joyner's, especially in the home run category, but he was popular with the writers and his team won the pennant, which gave him an advantage," Canseco said.

Toronto Blue Jays reliever Mark Eichhorn finished third with 23 points on a 5-3-1 basis, while outfielder Cory Snyder of the Cleveland Indians totaled 16. Danny Tartabull of the Seattle Mariners wound up with four points and Ruben Sierra of the Texas Rangers got one.

Canseco, 6-ft. 3-in., built himself up to a solid 210 pounds last winter with a weight-lifting program and began making an impression in spring training. His batting practice show brought fans out early around the league, and the homers continued most of the season, except for one long, frustrating slump.

"Canseco's the one man who may break Roger Maris' record" of 61 homers in a season, said Milwaukee Manager George Bamberger.

The Can Talks

Boston pitcher Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd had this to say after Canseco knocked his best screwball for a homer: "He will be legendary."

For the moment, Canseco is proud of his accomplishments but believes he is far from reaching his potential.

He said he didn't set any goals this season other than learning about the pitchers in the league, but has several goals for next year.

"I'd like to hit over 40 home runs, drive in over 130 runs and hit about 280," he said. "I also want to improve my defense. I made quite a few errors this year. As a second-year player, I should be able to improve on everything."

Though he hit just .240, Canseco tied for fourth in the league in home runs and was second in RBI to Cleveland's Joe Carter, who had 121. Canseco led the league in strikeouts, however, fanning 175 times.

Joyner started strong and had 16 homers by the end of May. He wound up batting .290 with 22 homers and led California with 100 RBI.

Eichhorn established a Toronto rookie record with 14 victories. The right-hander was 14-6 with 10 saves and miniscule 1.72 earned run average.

Snyder, who played in 103 games for the Indians, hit 24 homers with 69 RBI and batted .272. Sierra batted .264 with 16 homers and 55 RBI. Tartabull had 25 homers and 96 RBI while batting .270.