FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Curt Schilling believes that Jose Canseco told the truth in parts of his book and said Saturday that the slugger’s career was “a sham” because he used steroids.

The Boston Red Sox pitcher spoke publicly for the first time since testifying Thursday at a congressional hearing on steroids and baseball.

He said he didn’t know if Mark McGwire was treated unfairly at the hearing. McGwire declined several times to say whether he had used steroids, while three other witnesses in Washington – Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Schilling – said they hadn’t.

“Mark is a friend,” Schilling said. “He made decisions based on advice and I can only speak about my situation and how I would have acted. It’s tough when you have a guy sitting there refusing to talk and the guy sitting next to him absolutely denying” steroid use.

“As a person, not as a player, I felt bad for him to have to go through that.”

In his book, “Juiced,” published last month, Canseco named several players, including himself and McGwire, who he said had used steroids.

At the hearing, Schilling sharply criticized Canseco.

“What you saw Thursday, unfortunately, was the result of someone who didn’t think a lot in a lot of different instances before he ruined some people’s lives,” Schilling said Saturday. “That’s not to say that he lied. I don’t believe his book is all lies.

“I believe that there’s some truth in it, but that’s for each and every one of us to decide.”

Schilling said 98.3 percent of players passed their tests for steroids but the public perception is that the number is lower because of suspicions about high-profile players like McGwire, Sosa and Barry Bonds, and Canseco’s statement that he used steroids.

In 1988, Canseco became the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season.

“He admitted to being a cheater. His whole career was a sham,” Schilling said. “It makes me appreciate the fact that Alex Rodriguez is more of a genetic freak than we ever thought because he’s truly the only 40-40 guy to ever play the game.”

Canseco won the AL MVP award in 1988 when little attention was paid to steroid use in baseball.

“For 17 years there has been this elephant in the room that has been danced around by a lot of you (reporters) as well as (players),” Schilling said. “The same players you guys are vilifying and crushing now are the same guys you touted to the world for the last 15, 20 years with the same suspicions that we had.”

Schilling knows what he would have done had Canseco alleged that he used steroids.

“I would have issued a press release to deny it and call him a liar,” Schilling said, “and I would have sued him.”

He also said he had never seen steroids in pill or liquid form or seen a player inject himself and doesn’t know which players used them.

But he said he was wrong in some of his past comments about the extent of their use in baseball.

“I made a mistake,” Schilling said. “Being called on that (at the hearing) made me actually start to look at the subject matter instead of guess about it.”

Under the current program, players are tested randomly and a first offense is subject to a 10-day suspension or a fine.

But Schilling said players can decline to take a test and can use a masking agent that would need only an hour to work so that a test would be negative even if a player had used steroids.

“Those should be addressed and cleaned up now,” he said. “I believe there are holes in the agreement that need to be fixed.”

He also said every major league player that doesn’t cheat agrees with that.

“I don’t think you’ll hear one ounce of complaint from the players’ association about closing any loopholes Congress feels are in our tests as long as they are valid and they can be closed in a valid manner,” Schilling said.

“I don’t think there can be any question about the fact that things will change.”