Orioles Card "O" the Day

An intersection of two of my passions: baseball cards and the Baltimore Orioles. Updated daily?

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Rafael Palmeiro, 1997 Upper Deck SP #30

"I was telling the truth then, and I am telling the truth now,'' Palmeiro, 46, said in a phone interview with SI.com. "I don't know what else I can say. I have never taken steroids. For people who think I took steroids intentionally, I'm never going to convince them. But I hope the voters judge my career fairly and don't look at one mistake.'' (Source)

I just...I don't know. I wish this story would go away. Either Rafael Palmeiro is telling the truth, or he's one of the stubbornest liars there has ever been. There's no in-between. If he's being dishonest, what does he think he has to gain from trotting out the same story that fell flat five years ago?

For the record, I think he should be judged on his entire on-field body of work, and that by this standard, he is a Hall of Famer. I'm afraid that there are enough BBWAA voters on the self-appointed morality squad to bounce him from the ballot on his first try, though. After all, there are plenty who have said or implied they're not voting for Jeff Bagwell just because he played in the "steroid era" and hit a bunch of home runs. Sigh.

2 comments:

William said...

I think Raffy is a lying liar, but he should be in the Hall. Let's say he never took steroids (and I absolutely believe he did intentionally) -- he still would've had probably 2600+ hits and 400+ homers, which, as of 5 years ago, would've made him a shoe-in for the Hall.

Kevin said...

William - There's also the fact that he was probably competing with opposing hitters (and against opposing pitchers) who were using. It's a tale as old as time - guys used amphetamines from the 50s through the middle of the 2000s, there were spitballers, segregation...no one ever suggested keeping Willie Mays or Gaylord Perry or Babe Ruth out.