| Doug Benton. 15th July, 2005 - 4:50 pm
 Baltimore Orioles’ first baseman Rafael Palmeiro is on the verge of entering a select group when gets his 3,000th hit sometime this week. When he does, he will join Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray as the only players ever to have at least 3,000 hits and 500 home runs in his career. On top of this, he only needs 34 more home runs to join Hank Aaron and Willie Mays as the only players in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 600 home runs. Through this all, there are still some people who believe Palmeiro isn’t a Hall of Famer.
In my mind, this argument is ridiculous because baseball has always been predicated on stats and there aren’t many players who have put up better stats than Palmeiro. Some people point to the fact that he has never won an MVP and has only been selected to a few all-star games. Most people who vote for the MVP look for flash or the big number, which hurts Palmeiro because he is Mr. Consistent, never hitting less than 38 home runs and never more than 47 from 1995 till 2003. On the All-Star matter, the process never gets the best players into the game, as evident with the amount of time it took the National League to put Morgan Ensberg on the roster.
Everyone has a different definition on what it takes to be in the Hall of Fame, but the numbers don’t lie. When his career is over, Palmeiro will have more career hits and home runs than Mark McGwire, Jimmie Foxx, and Eddie Murry. Each of these players are or will be Hall of Fame first baseman, so why are people trying to lock Palmeiro out.
The reason is that he never had any flash to impress the novice fan. He never hit moon shots that brought people to their feet or never carried his team to an October run. He has just gone about his business for 20 years and never left the beaten path. He has been one of the most consistent hitters at first base in the history of the game, both from an average and power standpoint. So, as Palmeiro looks at 3,000, people shouldn’t knock him for having flaws because every player does. We should instead marvel at a player who never changed his game to appease others, but rather stayed on the beaten path to Cooperstown. |
