Rafael Palmeiro Corrales

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Former Major League Baseball player. First baseman and left fielder.

Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being called up by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. He played for 20 years with the Chicago Cubs (1986-1988), the Texas Rangers (1989-1993, 1999-2003), and the Baltimore Orioles (1994-1998, 2004-2005).

He was named to the MLB All-Star Team on four occasions, and won the Gold Glove three times. He is a member of the exclusive 500 home run club and the 3,000 hits club and is the fourth player in history to be a member of both clubs.

Days after recording his 3,000th hit, Palmeiro was suspended for testing positive for an anabolic steroid.

Major Leagues (1986-2005)
Palmeiro made his major league debut on September 8, 1986, in a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field, as a left fielder. During his time with the Cubs, where he was normally a left fielder, although he occasionally played other outfield positions or first base. Palmeiro was the runner-up in National League batting with a .307 batting average, just six points below champion Tony Gwynn.

After the 1988 season, Palmeiro was traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers, along with Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall in exchange for Mitch Williams, Paul Kilgus, Steve Wilson, Curtis Wilkerson, Luis Benítez, and Pablo Delgado.

Upon moving to the American League, Palmeiro was used primarily as a first baseman or designated hitter. Palmeiro flourished as a batter while with the Rangers. In 1990, he finished third in American League batting.

Before the 1995 season, Palmeiro had hit more than 30 home runs only once (37 in 1993). Starting in 1995, Palmeiro began a streak of more than 38 home runs per year that continued through the 2003 season. He hit 373 home runs during this nine-year span, and drove in more than 100 runs in each of these seasons. However, Palmeiro was never a league leader in home runs, and is the most prolific home run hitter in history who has never won the home run crown.

On May 11, 2003, Palmeiro hit his 500th home run in a game against the Cleveland Indians. Two years later, Palmeiro joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray as the only players in Major League history to achieve 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, when he obtained his 3,000th hit during a game against the Seattle Mariners on July 15, 2005. Since most of Palmeiro's home runs came with the Rangers and Orioles, he is one of five players in history to hit more than 200 home runs with two different clubs.

Palmeiro played in 2,831 Major League games, the player with the highest number of games played in the World Series. His 1999 Gold Glove Award is considered by many to be the most controversial selection in history, because he won the award despite playing only 28 games as first base in that season. He played most of his games that year as a designated hitter.

Palmeiro declared himself a free agent on October 29, 2005, indicating that he would attempt to play his 20th season in baseball. As of 2010, he has not signed or played with any team. This makes the possibility of a return unlikely. Palmeiro currently resides in Colleyville, Texas with his wife and two children.

Post-Career Honors
Palmeiro was inducted into the Mississippi State University Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 11, 2008. In 2009, he was admitted to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Steroids
Former Rangers player José Canseco identified Palmeiro as a steroid user in his book published in 2005, and claimed that he personally injected steroids into Palmeiro. On March 17, 2005, Palmeiro appeared before a Congressional hearing on steroids in baseball and, under oath, denied having consumed steroids and said: "Let me start by saying this: I have never used steroids."

On August 1, 2005, Palmeiro was suspended for ten days after testing positive for a steroid. According to The New York Times, Palmeiro tested positive for the powerful anabolic steroid stanozolol. In a public statement, Palmeiro revealed that his appeal of the suspension had been denied. He issued a statement saying: "I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ultimately, while I never intentionally put a prohibited substance in my body, the independent arbitrator ruled that I had to be suspended under the terms of the program." According to Palmeiro, all of his previous tests over two years, including the sealed 2003 test were negative, and a test he took just three weeks after his positive test was also negative.

Palmeiro returned to Camden Yards after his 10-day suspension on August 11, 2005, although he did not play in the lineup until August 14. Coincidentally, this was the date on which "Rafael Palmeiro Celebration Day" had been planned to honor his 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. The celebration was canceled after Palmeiro's suspension. Palmeiro famously inserted earplugs in his ears to block out the loud boos of the fans during a subsequent game in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Palmeiro never offered an explanation for this positive test to the MLB arbitration panel, which contradicted his public statements. ESPN later reported that Palmeiro implicated Miguel Tejada in the baseball arbitration panel, suggesting that a supplement provided by Tejada was responsible for the positive test.

Palmeiro continues to deny having intentionally consumed steroids, according to the Baltimore Sun, in June 2006. Palmeiro passed a polygraph test.
In December 2007, Palmeiro was included in the Mitchell Report in which it was alleged that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. The report did not provide any new evidence and only recapitulated the accusations made by José Canseco.

On December 20, 2007, Palmeiro was also named in Jason Grimsley's sworn affidavit as a user of amphetamines before they were prohibited by Major League Baseball.