He takes batting practice...
...and apparently, that is not all. Yesterday, Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for ten days under Major League Baseball's steroid policy. Palmeiro, owner of 3,018 hits and 569 home runs (at the time of the suspension) and the most adament testimony against steroids in front of Congress, now has a new legacy. There is not one player this year who has received more goodwill based on their career accomplishments than Raffy. This is a time where Barry Bonds misses the entire season due to injury and there is speculation (albeit minute speculation) that the injury is a facade to remove Bonds from the immediate backlash of his grand jury testimony. This is a time when Jason Giambi has had to reprove himself after admitting steroid use and seeing such a decline that the Yankees looked to terminate his contract. Palmeiro appeared to be above this.
A player of Cuban descent who came up to the major leagues as a contact hitter with gap power and became one of the most consistent power hitters of all time, he was never viewed as a potential Hall of Famer. Then you looked at his numbers piling up...the 26th player in history with over 3,000 hits...currently 9th on the all time home run list...one of four players who have reached 3,000 hits and 500 home runs...Hall of Fame credentials. It is very possible his Hall of Fame candidacy has received more support in the weeks since his 3,000th hit than Pete Rose got at its height. Now...any positive legacy he has established may have vanished.
Jayson Stark from ESPN.com refuses to judge numbers prior to this year because baseball tolerated "cheating". I personally agree, because the records are there and they cannot be changed. Baseball is doing the right thing by leaving the record books alone and not passing judgment. The fans themselves will do that. How the fans, and the Hall voters, will judge Palmeiro remains to be seen. Is Palmeiro like Eddie Murray, the consummate professional who put up very good numbers for a long period of time (which amount to great numbers) and was elected to the Hall of Fame? Or is he like Barry Bonds, who despite the lingering suspicions has put up Hall of Fame numbers that are too good to be overlooked (though Bonds was ticketed for the Hall before he became Barry Bonds)? Or does Palmeiro join the fraternity of players with Hall of Fame numbers excluded because they were caught "cheating", a group that includes Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose?
Today is the day after judgment day for Palmeiro. There are nine more games left of his suspension. And then, it will be five years after he retires before he is eligible for the Hall of Fame. Only time will tell whether the goodwill he built up will be enough to overcome this tarnishing of his legacy.
A player of Cuban descent who came up to the major leagues as a contact hitter with gap power and became one of the most consistent power hitters of all time, he was never viewed as a potential Hall of Famer. Then you looked at his numbers piling up...the 26th player in history with over 3,000 hits...currently 9th on the all time home run list...one of four players who have reached 3,000 hits and 500 home runs...Hall of Fame credentials. It is very possible his Hall of Fame candidacy has received more support in the weeks since his 3,000th hit than Pete Rose got at its height. Now...any positive legacy he has established may have vanished.
Jayson Stark from ESPN.com refuses to judge numbers prior to this year because baseball tolerated "cheating". I personally agree, because the records are there and they cannot be changed. Baseball is doing the right thing by leaving the record books alone and not passing judgment. The fans themselves will do that. How the fans, and the Hall voters, will judge Palmeiro remains to be seen. Is Palmeiro like Eddie Murray, the consummate professional who put up very good numbers for a long period of time (which amount to great numbers) and was elected to the Hall of Fame? Or is he like Barry Bonds, who despite the lingering suspicions has put up Hall of Fame numbers that are too good to be overlooked (though Bonds was ticketed for the Hall before he became Barry Bonds)? Or does Palmeiro join the fraternity of players with Hall of Fame numbers excluded because they were caught "cheating", a group that includes Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose?
Today is the day after judgment day for Palmeiro. There are nine more games left of his suspension. And then, it will be five years after he retires before he is eligible for the Hall of Fame. Only time will tell whether the goodwill he built up will be enough to overcome this tarnishing of his legacy.
posted by Josh at 8:31 AM
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