Canseco Says He Bought Handgun After Receiving Threatening Calls

Outfielder Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics, arrested Friday for illegal possession of a handgun, broke his silence Saturday to deliver a simple, and obvious, message: Life after 40-40 hasn’t been great.

“It’s amazing, all these things that have happened,” Canseco said Saturday before the A’s game against the Angels. “The gun problem, the hairline (wrist) fracture. Everything’s falling apart. . . . Things aren’t going right with me.”

Since winning the American League’s 1988 most valuable player award, Canseco has been cited for five traffic violations, and, on Friday, he was charged with possession of a handgun on a college campus, a felony.

Canseco said he purchased the handgun after he and his wife, Esther, began receiving threatening phone calls.

“I’ve had some problems and I fear for her safety,” Canseco said. “We’ve had threatening phone calls. Everyone gets my number. I don’t know how, why or who.

“I’m trying to protect myself and my family. I’m sorry. I made a mistake, but I’m being made out to be a common criminal.

“I am no felon, no criminal, no rapist, no murderer. They ought to spend more time apprehending criminals. It was an honest mistake. I’m sorry. I’m human.”

Canseco said he purchased and registered the gun in Florida, where he resides during the off-season, and didn’t know the gun also needed to be registered in California.

“If I knew it was illegal, the gun would not have been in my car,” he said.

The gun was spotted in Canseco’s car by a passer-by on the University of California’s San Francisco campus, where Canseco was having his wrist examined. The passer-by then notified campus police, who arrested Canseco.