NAMES IN THE GAMES : Canseco a Mystery to His Wife

Esther Canseco’s lawyer says she still loves her baseball star husband, Jose, but has counterfiled for divorce in California, where the couple would be Mr. and Mrs. 50-50.

She filed her petition Wednesday, one day after seeking to stop her husband’s divorce action in Florida. Unlike community property states such as California, Florida does not require an equal division of a couple’s belongings, her lawyer said.

“She still loves him very much,” said her attorney, Frank Quintero of Miami. The star slugger for the Oakland Athletics didn’t even tell his wife that he planned to divorce her and hasn’t told her why he wants to end their two-year marriage, Quintero said.

“She was not prepared for this. It came out of the blue three or four weeks ago. She asked him to go to a marriage counselor, but he refused. Now she believes there are irreconcilable differences,” Quintero said.

Despite the dueling divorce suits, the two are still living together in their Coral Gables, Fla., home.