Photo: Loren Elliott, The Chronicle
Former MLB star Jose Canseco watches first inning action from the Pittsburg Diamonds dugout during a game at City Park in Pittsburg, California, on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Canseco batted as designated hitter for the Diamonds in the game against the San Rafael Pacifics.

Minutes before the first pitch at the Pittsburg Diamonds’ game Tuesday night, the PA system at City Park was blasting radio clips from the Bash Brothers era.
First came the audio from Jose Canseco’s upper-deck home run at Toronto’s Sky Dome in the 1989 ALCS, which kept the A’s on track for their most recent World Series win. Next was the account of his grand slam in the 1988 World Series, then that of an upper-deck shot at Yankee Stadium. The clips kept coming, but stopped in time for Canseco himself to be introduced as the Diamonds’ designated hitter, then throw out the night’s ceremonial first pitch.

Canseco is just days from his 51st birthday, but he’s still the most muscular man on any given baseball field by a wide margin. And though his days as a full-time pro are long behind him, Canseco’s still game for a few independent-league games.

“I enjoy just coming out here and taking BP,” Canseco said. “It gives me an excuse to try to stay in shape.”

Tuesday’s appearance was Canseco’s second in the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs this year — he spent the second weekend of June with the Sonoma Stompers.

As long as his age-defying physical condition holds, Canseco said, he plans on continuing to put on a show for anyone paying to watch him play.

Ticket prices, normally $5, were hiked to $15 in advance of Canseco’s three-game stint with the Diamonds. But there was still plenty of green and gold Canseco gear in the crowd Tuesday night, when the former A’s slugger went hitless in four plate appearances against a field full of players a quarter-century his junior.

A man of many talents, Canseco also pitched two scoreless innings for Pittsburg despite hitting a batter in both the seventh and eighth frames.

“People have different addictions,” Canseco said. “Mine is playing baseball.”

Canseco has done plenty to remain a household name in the Bay Area since his major-league playing days ended, first by penning “Juiced,” a tell-all book about baseball’s steroid era, and more recently by accidentally shooting off part of his right middle finger while attempting to clean his gun.

But the focus is on the field, Canseco said. Wearing the signature No. 33 jersey from his days of the dominant late-1980s A’s squads, Canseco commanded attention in each of his plate appearances, drawing oohs and aahs each time the bat left his shoulder.

Canseco’s relationship with the A’s is still evolving, he said, and his appearance at the 25th anniversary celebration of Oakland’s 1989 World Championship squad thawed some tensions.

Canseco said the controversy is in the past, even days removed from Alex Rodriguez, one of baseball’s most controversial figures and a former user of performance-enhancing drugs, reaching 3,000 career hits. Canseco, an admitted former PED user himself, said the milestone didn’t strike a chord with him.

“That era is over,” Canseco said. “It was just an era that MLB went through and that MLB survived.”

Above all else, Canseco said, he’s flattered that there are still fans willing to pay to watch him play.

“People like to relive the past,” Canseco said. “I’ve been lucky enough to stay in shape and be able to play baseball at a certain level, to where, hopefully if I catch it on the barrel, I can entertain them.”

Lev Facher is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: lfacher@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @levfacher