Is the Pen Mightier Than the Needle?

Jose Canseco will be on CBS’ “60 Minutes” tonight, talking with Mike Wallace about his new book. Dave Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is among those who just can’t get over Canseco’s jump from on-deck circles to literary circles.

Wrote Thomas: “Twain, Hemingway, Dickinson, Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Alcott, Fenimore Cooper, Canseco. Which member of this literary lineup would you DH for?”

*

Trivia time: How many times during his 17 major league seasons did Canseco have a batting average above .300?

*

‘Roid Rangers: Among Canseco’s claims is that President George W. Bush had to have known that some of the Texas Ranger players were using steroids when Bush owned the team in the early 1990s.

“On the contrary,” wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, “Ranger intelligence sources never mentioned any injections of mass construction.”

*

Not the first time: Reader Joe Gutierrez of Cambria e-mailed this letter:

“I can’t believe that Jose Canseco has written a book so that he can profit from telling of his misdeeds while he played the game of baseball.

“Sincerely,

“Pete Rose”

*

Strictly minor league: Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if Canseco’s twin brother Ozzie “will produce his own tell-all that blows the lid off life in the minor leagues?”

*

Ouch: New England native Jay Leno to sidekick and Philadelphia native Kevin Eubanks: “Boston just had its third victory parade in 12 months. Do you know the secret to a good victory parade? ... I didn’t think you would.”

*

Lost in Jacksonville: Patriot Coach Bill Belichick, while appearing on Leno’s show, talked about why he went to the Eagles’ bench before the start of the Super Bowl.

“I thought they might have left their game plan on the bench,” he said.

*

Fashion critic: Shaquille O’Neal to TNT reporter Craig Sager, known for wearing outlandish sport coats: “Your jacket is horr-awful. It’s horrible and awful mixed together.”

*

Looking back: On this day in 1954, Furman’s Frank Selvy scored 100 points in a 149-96 victory over Newberry, breaking the collegiate single-game scoring record of 73, set by Temple’s Bill Mlkvy in 1951. Mlkvy, incidentally, was known as “the Owl Without a Vowel.”

*

Trivia answer: Two. Canseco batted .307 in 1988 with the Oakland Athletics and .306 with the Boston Red Sox in 1995. Also, in his first season with the A’s, 1985, he hit .302 in 29 games.

*

And finally: David Letterman asked Patriot quarterback Tom Brady why Belichick is always “dressed like a Sherpa” in his gray, hooded sweatshirt.

“On game days, he usually pulls out his best stuff,” Brady said. “You should see what he looks like on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He walks in and everybody looks at him and goes, ‘What is he wearing?’ ”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.