Rafael Palmeiro

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Rafael Palmeiro

First Baseman

Born: September 24, 1964 (1964-09-24) (age 43) Havana, Cuba
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 8, 1986 for the Chicago Cubs
Final game
August 30, 2005 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics
Batting average	.288
Home runs	569
Hits	3,020
Teams
Chicago Cubs (1986-1988) Texas Rangers (1989-1993, 1999-2003) Baltimore Orioles (1994-1998, 2004-2005)
Career highlights and awards
4x All-Star selection (1988, 1991, 1998, 1999) 3x Gold Glove Award winner (1997, 1998, 1999) 2x Silver Slugger Award winner (1998, 1999)

Rafael Palmeiro Corrales (born September 24, 1964 in Havana, Cuba) is a former Major League Baseball player with a career spanning 20 years, 1986 to 2005. Though technically not retired, Palmeiro has not played since 2005.

Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. His major league debut came on September 8, 1986 with the Cubs. He played three seasons with the Cubs (1986-1988), ten seasons with the Texas Rangers (1989-1993, 1999-2003), and seven seasons with the Baltimore Orioles (1994-1998, 2004-2005). He was named to the All-Star Team four times, and won the Gold Glove three times. He is a member of the exclusive 500 home run club and the 3000 hit club and is only the fourth player in history to be a member of both. He ranks tenth in history with 569 home runs.

1 Career
2 Steroids
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Career

Palmeiro debuted on September 8, 1986 in a game between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field, as a left fielder.^[1] During his tenure with the Cubs, he normally played left field, though occasionally he would play other outfield positions or first base. Palmeiro was the runner up to National League batting champion Tony Gwynn in 1988 with a .307 batting average, only six points below Gwynn's. After the 1988 season, Palmeiro was traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers along with Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall in exchange for Mitch Williams, Paul Kilgus, Steve Wilson, Curt Wilkerson, Luis Benitez, and Pablo Delgado.

Upon moving to the American League, Palmeiro was primarily used as a first baseman or designated hitter. Palmeiro blossomed as a hitter while with the Rangers, leading the league in hits in 1990 and doubles in 1991. In 1990, he was third in the American League in batting.

Prior to Palmeiro's 1995 season, he had hit more than thirty home runs only once (37 in 1993). Starting in 1995, Palmeiro began a streak of 38+ home run years that continued through the 2003 season. He hit 373 home runs during this nine-season span, while also driving in over 100 runs in each of these seasons. However, Palmeiro never led the league in home runs, and is history's most prolific home run hitter to have never won the home run crown. Palmeiro's nine consecutive years with 38+ home runs set the record - breaking record of seven consecutive years by Babe Ruth (1926-1932).

On May 11, 2003, Palmeiro hit his 500th home run off David Elder in a game against the Cleveland Indians. Two years later, Palmeiro joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray as the only players in major league history to get 3,000 hits and 500 home runs when he got his 3,000th base hit off Joel Pineiro during a game against the Seattle Mariners on July 15, 2005. Because most of Palmeiro's home runs came with the Rangers and Orioles, he is one of only four players in history to hit over 200 home runs for two different clubs.

Palmeiro has played in 2,831 major league games, the most by any player who has never played in the World Series. His 1999 Gold Glove Award is regarded by many as controversial, because he won the award despite playing only 28 games at first base that season.^[2] ^[3] He played most of his games that year as a designated hitter.

Palmeiro filed for free agency on October 29, 2005, indicating he would attempt to play his 20th season in baseball. As of 2007, he has not signed or played with any team. Palmeiro currently resides in Colleyville, TX with his wife and two sons.

[edit] Steroids

During 2002 and 2003, the relatively low-profile Palmeiro became more visible on national TV, as a spokesman for Viagra. ^[4] Impotence is a symptom associated with anabolic steroid use.^[5]

Former Rangers teammate José Canseco identified Palmeiro as a fellow steroid user in his 2005 book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, and claimed he personally injected Palmeiro with steroids. During Palmeiro's first six years in baseball, he hit an average of one home run per 42 at bats, never hitting more than 26 home runs in a season. After playing with Canseco for the Texas Rangers in 1992, Palmeiro averaged a home run every 17 at bats for the remainder of his career, hitting over 26 home runs in 10 of the next 12 seasons. On March 17, 2005, Palmeiro appeared at a Congressional hearing about steroids in baseball and, while under oath, denied ever using steroids, pointing his finger in a gesture reminiscent of a similar [1] false denial by President Bill Clinton, and stating, "Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids, period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never."^[6]

On August 1, 2005, Palmeiro was suspended for ten days after testing positive for steroids.^[7] In a public statement, Palmeiro disclosed that an appeal of the suspension had already been denied. He released a statement saying, "I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period. Ultimately, although I never intentionally put a banned substance into my body, the independent arbitrator ruled that I had to be suspended under the terms of the program."^[8] It should be noted that all of his previous tests were negative, and a test he took just three weeks after his positive test was also negative.^[9]

The Washington Post reported that the steroid detected in Palmeiro's system was a "serious" one.^[10] According to The New York Times, Palmeiro tested positive for the potent anabolic steroid stanozolol, the same substance Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada took in 1988 when he was stripped of the gold medal at the Seoul Summer Olympics.^[11] Palmeiro returned to Camden Yards following his 10-day suspension on August 11, 2005, although he did not play in the lineup until August 14. Coincidentally, this was the date that had been planned as "Rafael Palmeiro Appreciation Day" in celebration of his 500-home run, 3,000-hit milestone. It was canceled after Palmeiro's suspension. Palmeiro famously inserted earplugs in his ears to block out the loud boos of the fans during a subsequent game in Toronto against the Blue Jays.^[12]

The Baltimore Sun reported that Palmeiro never offered an explanation for his positive test to the MLB arbitration panel, which ran contrary to his public statements.^[13] ESPN later reported that Palmeiro implicated Miguel Tejada to baseball's arbitration panel, suggesting a supplement provided to him by Tejada was responsible for his positive test. This supplement was simply vitamin B12, though the needle could have theoretically been tainted.^[14] Miguel Tejada and two unnamed teammates provided B12 samples to the panel, and the samples did not contain stanozolol. However, the committee did say they found "substantial inconsistencies between Mr. Tejada's accounts and the accounts of players A and B." ^[15] Miguel Tejada, who said he received shipments of B12 from the Dominican Republic, was later implicated for steroid use in the Mitchell Report. ^[16]

On November 10, 2005, ESPN reported that the House Government Reform Committee would not seek perjury charges against Palmeiro, although they were not clearing him.^[17]

Palmeiro continues to strongly deny ever using steroids, telling the Baltimore Sun in June, 2006, "Yes sir, that's what happened. It's not a story; it's the reality of what happened," and "I said what I said before Congress because I meant every word of it." ^[18] Palmeiro passed a polygraph test in which he was not asked if he ever used steroids, but in which he did state that he unknowingly ingested them via a B12 injection.^[19]^[20] A 2005 New York Times article expressed one writer's belief that Palmeiro's story could perhaps be the truth. ^[21]

In December of 2007, Palmeiro was included in the Mitchell Report in which it was alleged that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. The report recaps allegations made by José Canseco, Palmeiro's appearance before congress and his subsequent failed drug test. The report also details a conversation Larry Bigbie alleges he had with Palmeiro where he claims "Palmeiro asked him about his source of steroids and human growth hormone (the source was Kirk Radomski) and how the substances made him feel". Bigbie also stated that "Palmeiro denied in those conversations that he had ever used performance enhancing substances himself".^[22]

On December 20, 2007 Palmeiro was also named in Jason Grimsley's unsealed affidavit as a user of amphetamines.^[23]

Despite these revelations, Mississippi State University went ahead with plans to open the Palmeiro Center^[24], which continues to operate as the NCAA's only athletic facility dedicated to a player who has served a suspension for steroid use.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Retrosheet Boxscore: Chicago Cubs 7, Philadelphia Phillies 4
^ 8 Upper by Tom Scocca: Fools' Gold | 11/17/1999
^ Gold Glove Award | BaseballLibrary.com
^ Richard Sandomir (2005-08-05). Palmeiro Is Twisting Slowly in the Wind. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
^ Treatment of impotence related to anabolic steroid use - adapted from the Western Journal of Medicine, February 1995 - Tips from Other Journals. American Family Physician (August 1995). Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
^ ESPN - Palmeiro docked 10 days for steroids - MLB
^ Players suspended under baseball's steroids policy. espn.com (2006-06-07). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
^ WLTX.com Sports
^ Baseball: Palmeiro weighs unknowns - International Herald Tribune
^ Palmeiro Suspended For Steroid Violation
^ Palmeiro Cites His Own Naïveté and Ponders Mystery of It All - New York Times
^ Palmeiro Tries Earplugs, But Can't Stop Slump
^ Palmeiro provided no details about test - Upper House, Volusia County, Baltimore Orioles - baltimoresun.com
^ ESPN - Source: Palmeiro named Tejada before panel - MLB
^ - Congress Declines to Prosecute Palmeiro for Perjury - WaPo
^ Housto Chronicle - Miguel Tejada excerpt from Mitchell Report
^ ESPN - Congress won't charge Palmeiro with perjury - MLB
^ Baltimore Sun - Palmeiro speaks
^ Washington Post - Congress Declines to Prosecute Palmeiro for Perjury
^ ESPN - Pass the B-12
^ New York Times - Resolution, and Doubts, Regarding Palmeiro
^ Mitchell Report pp. 103-06, 203 (PDF).
^ Affidavit: Grimsley named players. CNN (2007-12-20). Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
^ State of the Art Palmeiro Center Serves Dual Roles. College Publisher, Inc., Boston, MA (2005-11-19). Retrieved on 2008-6-1.

[edit] External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
Rafael Palmeiro suspended for steroid usage

Preceded by John Olerud Bernie Williams Nomar Garciaparra Joe Randa	American League Player of the Month July 1993 June 1998 June 1999 August 1999 (with Iván Rodríguez)	Succeeded by Frank Thomas Albert Belle Joe Randa Albert Belle