Everyday I love Raffy less and less
This just gets sadder by the minute. The Baltimore Orioles sent Rafael Palmeiro home to let him rehabilitate his knee and ankle injuries on his own time table. This may seem like an act of generosity on the part of the Orioles, but I assure you it is anything but. He’s 2-26 with one RBI since his return from a ten game suspension for violating the steroids policy. He was getting booed so loudly on the road that he tried using ear plugs. Even the hometown faithful in Camden Yards took to giving him the Bronx cheer. And to think, just last year, last year, I attended an O’s game that happened to be Palmeiro bobblehead doll night. From collector’s item to landfill in just twelve short months.
The comments from both Palmeiro and the organization were superb exercises in damage control. The quotes from the team are hilarious, talking of it being in Raffy’s and the club’s best interest that he stay off his knee and let it heal properly. Translation: get the hell out of here, cheater. I can’t say I blame the O’s for taking that stance. Between Palmeiro and the Incredible Shrinking Sosa, they have been taking a PR beating this year.
The best line, though, is from Raffy himself.
“There’s been no controversy in my life at all, on and off the field. I’ve always been a type of person that does it the right way and follows the rules and does the right thing for the most part.”
Ryne Sandberg would beg to differ with this, I’m guessing.
Palmeiro clearly doesn’t want to go out like this; he knows that he has to put together one last solid, controversy-free season in order to have any chance at getting in the Hall. But what he needs to realize is that he’s now viewed no better than Pete Rose in the public eye. First he cheated, then he lied about it. Baseball has always had room for scoundrels, but nobody likes a player who takes advantage of people’s good nature, which Palmeiro did by banking on the fact that his entry into the 3,000/500 club would erase any misgivings about how he got there. He was wrong.
You blew it, Raffy. You blew it all. Now walk away.
This guy really did blow-it! He let down so many people. What a shame.
Not only did he blow it, but he was REALLY stupid. Even if he cheated all those years, how could he keep using AFTER they started testing. What a moron.
You’d like to think that, after everything that’s happened, Palmeiro would realize that it’s in everybody’s best interest if he just vanished. One good “clean” season at this point would do little to change the minds of the voters or the fans. Palmeiro’s a cheater and there’s no place for him in the Hall of Fame.
[...] But never mind any of that. Why would he even bother to come back? Baseball doesn’t want him back, not on the heels of Rafael Palmeiro’s ignominious sendoff. More importantly, the fans don’t seem to want him back either. Plus, it’s September. If he starts tomorrow, he plays three weeks, tops. Of course, these are probably the exact reasons why Bonds is so hell bent on returning. It fits his stubborn tendencies to a tee to want to come back when no one wants or expects him to. [...]
[...] Meanwhile, Rafael Palmeiro is in exile as he “rehabs” his knee and ankle injuries after going 2-for-26 upon his return from a 10-game suspension. Why have fans and the media been so much tougher on Raffy? Because Palmeiro tested positive? Bonds admitted to a grand jury that he took steroids during the 2003 season, and if you believe that he did so “unknowingly” (as he claimed), you’re either naive, foolish or stoned. [...]