Nine years before his own head made news, Jose Canseco stole a mascot's.

Canseco and the Single-A Modesto A's were playing a late-season road series against the Bakersfield Dodgers in 1984. Bakersfield had a popular mascot named "Rodger the Dodger."

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Canseco "teamed up with another Modesto player and stole Rodger the Dodger's head. They took it back to Modesto and it didn't return to Bakersfield until the following season," The Bakersfield Californian newspaper reported.

Who was Canseco's partner in crime? Mark McGwire was on that team. Was it McGwire? We may never know.

Why would Canseco steal a mascot's head? We emailed his representative a few months ago and didn't get a reply.

Canseco visited Bakersfield for a ballpark appearance on Aug. 5, 2014. Was he celebrating the 30-year anniversary of his head heist?

A few weeks after the 1984 costume caper, Modesto beat Bakersfield in the California League championship series. Perhaps Bakersfield's players were distracted by their headless mascot.

Tim Hagerty is the broadcaster for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, and is on Twitter at @MinorsTeamNames. He is also the author of "Root for the Home Team: Minor League Baseball's Most Off-the-Wall Team Names."