Jose Canseco home after shooting himself in the hand

Tom Donoghue/DonoghuePhotography.com

Former professional baseball player Jose Canseco accidentally shot his hand this afternoon while cleaning a gun at his Las Vegas home, Metro Police said.

Police responded to his house on Market Crest Drive, near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Bonanza Road, a little after 2:30 p.m. after receiving reports of an accidental shooting, Lt. Mark Reddon said.

Canseco, 50, was attempting to clean the gun when it fired, injuring a finger on his left hand.

Reddon said Canseco was transported to University Medical Center Trauma.

Agent Jose Melendez says Canseco was resting at home Wednesday, and friends and family were hoping his finger would respond well to a surgery.

A tweet Tuesday from Canseco's verified Twitter account claiming to be from his fiancee, model Leila Knight, thanked everyone for their kind words and prayers.

"Jose is in still surgery and will be ok. Please pray for his finger !!" the message said.

A message on Knight's Twitter page said Canseco will be OK but said she is praying Canseco won't need to have an amputation.

The former Major League Baseball outfielder was a six-time All-Star who hit 462 home runs in his 17-year professional career with teams including the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox.

Canseco made headlines post-career by penning a tell-all book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big," in 2005. In it, he admitted to steroid use and named several other players he claimed used performance-enhancing substances.

The book led to congressional hearings on steroid use in baseball, and the league changed its drug testing policies as a result.