Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro Corralesis a retired Cuban American Major League Baseball first baseman and left fielder. Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. He played for the Cubs, Texas Rangers, and the Baltimore Orioles. He was named to the MLB All-Star Team four times, and won the Gold Glove three times. He is a member of the 500 home run club and the 3,000 hit club and is one of only...
NationalityCuban
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth24 September 1964
CountryCuba
I respect the Hall of Fame, and if they think that I'm worthy enough, I would be very honored. And if they don't, I gave it all that I had to this game.
But I think mainly, you know, just up in the East Coast, it's where it all originated. You know, Philadelphia. It goes back to the beginning. So, you know, fans have a lot of history, and they love their teams up here.
Hard work is the main thing-hard work and dedication. And I think a great part of it is goal setting. You set your goals to a point where they're attainable, but far enough away that you have to really go get them. And every year I push my goals a little bit farther away, and every year I work a little bit harder to get them. Every goal that I've set, I've been able to achieve. That's been very fulfilling.
I don't think that - you know, I'm sure that there's guys that are doing it, because I'm sure in every sport there's players who want to get the edge. But I think that it's been blown overly - way more than guys are using it in our game.
I don't think anybody ever saw anybody taking anything.
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.
I've never been in a situation where I'm getting booed so badly and I just don't really know how to handle it,
I've never been in a position where I've been booed so badly, and I didn't know what to do,
I've always known to come to the ballpark and play and be in the lineup. I've never missed time because of injuries. I've had days off, where I knew coming in that I wasn't going to play, but I've never sat out 10 days in a row during the season. That was totally new to me. To play a whole career and not know what that's like, that's unusual. Now I'm dealing with it as best I can.
At the time, I thought that was the best I could do. Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do but I did what I had to do at the time.
I don't, but if he'd swing the bat, he would be. It's not different than anyone else.
I wouldn't think so. I mean, that's why I got it from him. I didn't suspect that he would be on anything.
I wish I could have turned in the vial for testing. But when I found out, it was long gone and I couldn't come up with it. If something happened that I'm not aware of, an intentional act by someone else, I don't know. I can't rule out anything.
I'd like to come back and play before the year's over. But it's not in my hands.