Jose Canseco, who hit 462 home runs in a 17-year major league career, claimed Wednesday night that a predominantly white media was treating Sammy Sosa unfairly because the Chicago Cubs' slugger is black.

Canseco made the charge on ESPN's "Outside the Lines Nightly" on Wednesday, in an interview with Bob Ley.

"I definitely am very disappointed in the media, the way they're attacking Sammy Sosa," Canseco said. "The way they're portraying him because he's a Latin, black athlete is completely wrong. I guarantee you if this were Mark McGwire or Cal Ripken Jr., a so-called 'protected athlete', an 'All-American' name, this would have never happen because I've seen things that some players have done, and they are white players and they're completely covered up ... if he were a white superstar player, this would never, never happen."

Sosa, who is the only player to hit 60 or more home runs three times in his career, cracked his bat during a game with Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, and the split lumber revealed cork inside the bat, in violation of major league rules.

"The media is what's destroying the game," Canseco said. "The media is what is blowing this out of proportion completely, is overlooking the good that Sammy Sosa has done for the game of baseball, overlooking a player who came from nothing and has put his country on the map, a player who has given so many things to the Dominican Republic, has spent his time in the Dominican Republic, has helped the people there through baseball.

"So this is an attack on his character. This is an attack on minorities in general, and I'm really disgusted with it. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I know that the media is a part of this."