It's not easy to find desire for Canseco on his street

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Another Day, Another Dollar
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Strolling along, we encounter three ducks, two shopping carts and a rooster. The words ''Ozzy, Ozzy'' have been spray-painted on the sidewalk. There are several barking dogs, a random cat and a lost sneaker.

There also is one cantankerous Cuban.

''Unbelievable,'' Raúl Quintana says. 'Dontrelle Willis puts 30,000 in the stadium, so you want to change part of Tamiami Trail to `Willis Parkway' now? Jefferson, Madison, Washington, those were great men. Any of them would be fine. But this guy was a baseball player. I'm Cuban. He's Cuban. But still we're talking about José Canseco!''

And we're standing on José Canseco Street, a stretch of Southwest 16th Street near Coral Park High, where Canseco first made headlines as an athlete. Today, he is making headlines as an inmate.

They can lock up Canseco, but his name, image and story defy incarceration. Authorities would have had more luck trying to keep handcuffs on Houdini.

Now, because of his legal problems, there is a movement to remove Canseco's name from this street. As for the jokes, no, the plan is not to change the name to 'Roid Road or Avenue of the (Artificial) Stars. It would just go back to being Southwest 16th, which, apparently, it has been all along.

''I don't live on José Canseco Street,'' one resident says. ``No one uses that name, no one. It's Southwest 16th. It always has been, before all this. But no one around here wants to be reminded of him anymore. That man is not a good man.''

This particular person spoke only on the condition that they not be identified. Quintana, conversely, spoke only on the condition that he be identified, with emphasis no less. He has lived here 12 years and met Canseco once, at a Marlins-Devil Rays game. He even has a picture of his son standing next to Canseco.

Still, Quintana doesn't understand the continued fascination with a man who is in jail today because house arrest just wasn't enough. Canseco is awaiting a trial on whether he violated conditions of his previous release by injecting steroids.

''People are paying him money to spend time with him,'' Quintana says, referring to Canseco recently auctioning meet-me opportunities online. ``What the hell is that? Nicole Kidman or Jennifer López, OK. But José Canseco?''

The love-hate attached to Canseco is such that this isn't even the first time people here have demanded disassociation from his name. In 1997, the students at Coral Park were so proud of Canseco they convinced officials to chop 10 blocks off Canseco Street, turning it into Ram Road, in honor of the school's mascot, which thankfully isn't the jackass.

The rules with street names in these parts do seem a little flimsy. Take Southwest Eighth Street, which also is called Tamiami Trail, which also is called Golden Panther Trail in front of FIU. When one street can have three names, it's no wonder one jailbird can have his own street.

For the record, no one interviewed for this story has seen Canseco walking on his street, although it must be tempting for him to parade up and down drum major-like, forcing traffic off the road and knocking on doors, demanding his presence be acknowledged with gifts.

Asked if he would like to meet Canseco, resident José Delgado says, ''I wouldn't be crazy about it.'' Delgado has lived here 15 years and isn't troubled by this controversy, at least not as much as he is troubled by the man behind it.

''I don't think people even care,'' Delgado says. ``It doesn't put any money in my pocket either way. This guy looks crazy, though. You see him on television and he's blinking his eyes all the time. I don't know, maybe he's lost his mind.''

Just across the street, a man is retrieving his mail. He is approached and asked about the simmering topic. He refuses comment and starts running toward his front door, admitting through a nervous laugh that, yes, he is afraid of José Canseco. To this guy, the street might as well be called The Devil's Drive.

Eddie Chiuz doesn't fear Canseco. In fact, he graduated high school with him. They knew each other once, but not anymore. ''You know how rich people are,'' Chiuz says. Having just moved to Canseco Street a month ago, he doesn't have a lot to say about his former classmate.

''Nothing good or bad to offer,'' Chiuz says. ``Honestly, they should take his name down, but I don't care. He doesn't pay my bills, so it's not a big thing to me.''

There is something quirky here and not because at the end of Canseco Street, where it becomes commercial, you can find two drug stores. The real quirk is that Canseco, almost as much as anyone, could pay Chiuz's bills.

The man works as a bail bondsman.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/6446984.htm
 

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