Why former A's slugger Jose Canseco deserves to keep 1988 AL MVP award

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With the sports world on pause due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we've all been taking a trip down memory lane by reliving classic games and re-hashing old storylines.

Jose Canseco is no different.

The former A's slugger loves to send completely random tweets, and he posted this one Saturday afternoon.

Did former Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell say something recently about the 1988 American League MVP race? Of course not. Canseco, out of nowhere, dredged up a 15-year-old quote from Greenwell.

"Where's my MVP?" Greenwell said to the Fort Myers News-Press in 2005, via ESPN.com. "[Canseco's] an admitted steroid user. I was clean. If they're going to start putting asterisks by things, let's put one by the MVP."

To refresh your memory, Canseco was incredible in 1988. He became the first member of the 40/40 club, finishing with a league-leading 42 home runs and career-high 40 stolen bases. He also led the AL with 124 RBI.

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Canseco received 100 percent of the first-place votes in the AL. Greenwell had a very good season, but he wasn't even close to one half of the Bash Brothers.

But in 2005, Canseco admitted in a book that he used steroids during his career, prompting the quote from Greenwell.

While Greenwell feels robbed, MLB has a history of not stripping players or teams of their accomplishments.

The most recent example came this offseason when MLB allowed the Houston Astros to keep their 2017 World Series championship despite uncovering a sign-stealing scandal that cost manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs. New Mets manager Carlos Beltran also lost his job due to his involvement.

[RELATED: Canseco released coronavirus PSA]

But the Astros still have the 2017 World Series trophy. And Canseco still has the 1988 AL MVP award.

So, while history has changed since those trophies were given out, they won't be changing hands.

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