Jose Canseco has broken the hearts of his Toronto admirers like a bat over a steroidal quadriceps.

Canseco, the former Blue Jays slugger, conceded in an email on Friday morning that, as an American citizen, he cannot run for mayor of Toronto. In a conversation on Twitter around 1:30 a.m. Friday, he had said that he planned to “work out the citizen thing” in order to challenge Rob Ford in a byelection.

“I do want to run,” Canseco, 48, wrote in the email. “It’s a good cause and I know I can do well. But I am not a citizen so it’s a moot point. Unless the rules are different.”

The rules are not different. And, so, the dream fuelled by late-night tweets and a ridiculous Star story is dead — to the deep disappointment of Canseco’s potential voter base.

“One shouldn’t have to be a Canadian citizen to be mayor of Toronto,” urban explorer and Star columnist Shawn Micallef said on Twitter. “Justice for Jose Canseco. There is still time.”

“Gay marriage to Jose Canseco to confer citizenship may seem like a drastic step but worth it to save TO democracy,” said playwright and filmmaker David Demchuk.

Ford, once considered a no-chance mayoral pretender himself, appeared to take Canseco seriously when asked about him at a Friday appearance. “Whoever wants to run against me, like I said, you never underestimate the competition. Whoever wants to run, I encourage them to run,” Ford said.

Canseco was known for his moonshot home runs as one of the Oakland Athletics’ “Bash Brothers.” He then became known for blowing the whistle on widespread steroid use in baseball, including his own. He is now known for his minimally coherent Twitter messages.

Canseco’s short-lived campaign for the mayor’s chair began Wednesday, when he tweeted 11 New Year’s resolutions, two of which were numbered “5”: “5. Fight Shaq in MMA cage match” and “5. develop and launch Ponce de CAnseco a real anti aging drink.” Resolution Number 6 was, “Get elected to a important political office in the U.S. or canada to help all people and governments with there problems.”

Robb Derkatz, a political consultant and chair of the United Way in Milton, suggested that Canseco run for Toronto council. Canseco responded: “Can’t do enough on council. I hear you are getting rid of mayor Ford on Monday. I love Toronto and will be glad to replace him.”

Said Derkatz: “A run against Ford in the byelection? No party affiliation. All u have to do is register. Crazy enough to work.”

Canseco responded: “Let’s do it. Canada believed in me and I owe them a lot. Can you help me register and be my campaign manager?”

He offered a preview of his platform-to-be in a tweet to the Star at 1:17 a.m. “Ford too much trouble to be effective,” he wrote. “Gotta fix budget, traffic, get new $ not from taxes, get more new businesses, and help schools.”

Asked why he would be more effective than Ford given his own extensive baggage — the steroids, convictions for assault, a .266 career batting average — Canseco responded: “u need someone from outside the system to fix things otherwise you get the same ideas that dont work over and over from same people.”

Like Ford, Canseco refused to tell the Star how he would raise needed revenue without raising taxes — but suggested that, like Ford, he supports casinos. “Cmon,” he wrote. “I live in vegas you figure it out!” He then departed to attend a quite-possibly-imaginary “staff meeting” he called to discuss the “anti aging drink” he is trying to invent.

His agent, Jose Melendez, said in an email during the Twitter conversation that Canseco was not taking the matter lightly.

“He is serious about a run but as you know he doesn’t know the procedure for citizenship,” Melendez wrote. “He loved Toronto and he is actually very respected in Canada. He feels he can make a difference.”

Canseco, who hit 46 home runs for the Jays in 1998 while setting a team record with 159 strikeouts, has previously entertained a run for governor of Massachusetts. He also says things like this: “I actually died over night and came back to life now i am a vampire and you are my apprentice.”

Ford’s lawyer will be in court at Osgoode Hall on Monday to try to overturn a decision that evicted Ford from office over a violation of provincial conflict of interest law. If the three-judge panel upholds the decision, council will either appoint someone to serve as mayor until 2014 or call a sadly Canseco-free byelection.

Canseco’s exit may come as a relief to Ford: a Canseco candidacy may have encroached on his ideological terrain more than even another run by John Tory.

Like Ford, Canseco has a populist’s passion for the little guy: New Year’s Resolution Number 3 was “help people who are getting screwed wherever i can.” Like Ford, Canseco is pro-business: Resolution Number 7 was “Become a world class entreprenur and found at least two great companies that make peoples lives better and funner.” Like Ford, Canseco is vehemently opposed to political “perks”: he wants to “make all elected politician jobs volunteer with no pay.”

And, like Ford, Canseco has earned a reputation for taking his colleagues to task for their misdeeds, no matter the consequences. As Ford was hailed for exposing councillors’ questionable office expenditures, Canseco was hailed for exposing baseball’s steroid plague.

Canseco is not giving up all hope. In a tweet Friday afternoon, he wrote, “Need exact guidelines of what I need to run for Toronto mayor and how long it takes to claim residency #yeswecanseco.”