Rafael Palmeiro has joined a truly elite group of players that includes Willie Mays, Eddie Murray and Hank Aaron to become the fourth player ever to have both 3000 hits and 500 homeruns.
It seems hard to believe that a guy like Palmeiro who most people associate more with Viagra than with being a future Hall of Famer could get into such illustrious company and many will probably bring up that most of his career has been spent in homerun havens in Texas and Baltimore but however you look at it, this is an immense achievement and perhaps its time we started re-evaluating where Rafi sits amongst the pantheon of first basemen to have ever played this game.
Could he be the answer to the qusetion of who is the greatest first baseman of all time not called Lou Gehrig? Possibly not, but he should be having his name thrown into the discussion even though he robbed David Segui of a Gold Glove in '99.
Some doubted that he would make The Hall but I think this really cements his place so revel in seeing this guy finish out his career and salute a man who has done as much for the game as he has for men with unspoken problems everywhere.
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