Rafael Palmeiro

Birthdate	09/24/1964
Death Date
Debut Year	1986
Year of Induction
Teams	Cubs, Orioles, Rangers
Positions	Designated Hitter, First Base, Left Field

Rafael Palmeiro Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Eddie Murray & Albert Pujols are the only players to amass 500 homes and 3,000 hits.

Rafael Palmeiro starred at Mississippi State and left as the SEC's all time leader in hits, homers, and RBI

Rafael Palmeiro arrived at Mississippi State and immediately produced a 20-game hitting streak as a freshman. That streak ranked as the second-longest in program history. He played the outfield and crushed SEC pitching with a .406 average and 18 home runs. His 95 hits set a new single-season school

Palmeiro spent three years with the Cubs starting in 1986 during his age-21 season

Rafael Palmeiro made his major-league debut with the Chicago Cubs on September 8, 1986. That night he recorded his first hit — an RBI single in the 8th inning off Tom Hume. After a 22-game audition that year he batted .247 with 12 RBIs and three homers. In 1987 he began the season at Triple-A with

Rumors of an affair with Ryne Sandberg's wife may have hastened Rafi's Chicago departure

Off-field drama emerged in 1988. Rumors circulated about an affair between Rafael Palmeiro and the wife of longtime Cubs star Ryne Sandberg. Those rumors reportedly created friction inside the clubhouse. After the 1988 season the Cubs traded Palmeiro, along with Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall, to the Tex

Palmeiro's first stint in Texas ended when the Rangers signed his college teammate Will Clark

Rafael Palmeiro arrived in Texas for 1989 with a hungry swing and a rising reputation.He joined the Rangers seeking a larger stage and found one under the bright Arlington lights.That first year brought new career highs in games, hits, runs, and RBI, and the surge hinted at bigger numbers ahead. Pal

Rafael Palmeiro signed this extension with Topps Chewing gum in March of 2003

In the collection is a contract extension to appear on Topps baseball cards signed by Rafael Palmiero. It was executed on March 20, 2003, just before the start of his final season hitting 30 homers and driving in 100 runs. Coming into the ’03 season, Palmeiro already put up number worthy of Co

On May 11, 2003 Palmeiro hit his 500th homer off of Dave Elder of the Indians

Rafael Palmeiro came into the May 11, 2003 game with 499 career home runs. Twenty-three thousand four hundred seven fans came to the Ballpark at Arlington hoping to see a historic blast. Palmeiro stepped in during the seventh inning and stared down Cleveland reliever Dave Elder with two outs. On a 3

Palmeiro became the third man in MLB history with at least 200 home runs for two different teams

Rafael Palmeiro reached a notable milestone on September 13, 2004, when he hit his 200th homer as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. The shot added another highlight to his long career and strengthened his reputation as a consistent power hitter. He finished his career with 569 home runs: 321 with t

Former teammate Jose Canseco named Palmeiro as a PED user in 2005

José Canseco linked Rafael Palmeiro to steroid use in his tell-all memoir and described injecting him during their time together. Canseco pushed his allegations hard, and the claims drew huge attention as baseball faced growing scrutiny. Palmeiro then appeared before Congress on March 17, 2005, and

Palmeiro climbed the all time leaderboards as his career wound down

As his career wound down, Rafael Palmeiro continued climbing the all-time leaderboard in home runs and RBIs. A particularly special day came on June 28, 2005. In the sixth inning, he hit a two-run home run—his 563rd career homer. That blast tied him with Reggie Jackson for 10th place all-time. The

Palmeiro is one of only 6 men with 3,000 hits and 500 homers

When Rafael Palmeiro doubled in the 5th inning on July 15th, 2005, he became the 26th player to record 3,000 hits. He also reached the 500 homer milestone to become one of only six men in the history of the game to reach both benchmarks. The other men in the 3,000/500 club are baseball legends Hank

A Story about Rafael Palmeiro

Judgment of Steroid Era comes every year at Hall of Fame

June 18th, 2014 Leave a comment

(Editors’ note: Mike Piazza was inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 24, 2016.) Can the game’s story be complete without a plaque of the baseball’s all-time home run leader? Doesn’t the man with the most Cy Young Awards deserve induction? How about the catcher with the most career homers? All have been on the ballot, yet none is enshrined. The allegations pointed toward Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are well-documented. The case for Mike Piazza remains less clear. Certainly his numbers are certainly Cooperstown-worthy. Amassed in any other era, his 427 homers and .308 lifetime average would be enough to garner the catcher a bronze plaque. Piazza’s six seasons with at least 100 runs batted in, 12 all-star appearances, and ten Silver Slugger awards certainly seem Cooperstown-worthy. In today’s Hall of Fame voting process, however, numbers aren’t enough. That’s where hypocrisy begins to creep in. During the steroid era, the Baseball Writers concerned themselves only with on-field performance. Seven times they voted prickly Barry Bonds the MVP; seven times they cast enough votes for Roger Clemens to receive the Cy Young Award. No one cared then that the players’ statistics might have been aided by performance enhancing drugs. When those same two players were on the Hall of Fame […]