It was a year ago today that this picture became such a hollow gesture, and unfortunately what Rafael Palmeiro will now forever be remembered for. It was a year ago today that Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for a positive test to MLB’s drug program.
It’s still a bummer to me, because while officially not retired, all that he worked for, all that he was has been flushed down the toilet. I have a bunch of Raffy memorabalia at home, including a couple of Rangers giveaways I had custom framed. I won’t be getting rid of it, but the sheer enjoyment of having ’em hanging in my house is gone; replaced with sadness over what was thrown away by his positive test. Even if he was 100% innocent, he never really made much of a serious attempt to deny things. Sure, he denied it, but it wasn’t a terribly angry response, it was a sheepish kind of “Yeah, I didn’t do it”.
To this day I still don’t know what to really make of all that. Was Jose Canseco totally right? Probably not. Was Raffy as innocent as he claimed? Probably not. Either way, 3,020 hits, 569 home runs, 2,831 total games played, and an awful lot of fan goodwill is gone; never to return.
Say it ain’t so, Raffy.