INQUIRER Sports

NEW YORK -- Retired Major League Baseball slugger Jose Canseco said he regretted naming players as steroid users in his 2005 book "Juiced" during an interview with A and E Network revealed Tuesday.

A documentary called "Jose Canseco: The Last Shot" saw the former Oakland A's star say he regretted ""mentioning players", revelations that led to a 2005 US Congressional hearing on a doping scandal that rocked the sport.

"I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people," Canseco said.

Canseco, 44, said he wrote the book because he wanted revenge upon Major League Baseball for what he considered being "forced out of the game."

Canseco, who smashed 462 homer runs in a 17-year career with eight different clubs, named Dominican Sammy Sosa, US star Mark McGwire and Cuban-born Rafael Palmeiro as steroids users.

In a hearing seated at the same table as Canseco, McGwire refused to deny taking steroids under oath, Sosa made an elaborate denial in Spanish and Palmeiro denied taking steroids only to test positive for them later in 2005.

"If I could meet with Mark McGwire and these players, I definitely would apologize to them," Canseco said. "They were my friends. I admired them. I respected them."

He also helped destroy them in some ways as their reputations did not escape unscathed.

Canseco said he was worried about his health because his body could not produce sufficient testosterone since he has stopped taking performance-enhancing drugs.