Today is a hitters' era, and discounts must be made for batting statistics. People make the mistake of not doing that for the 1925-35 hitters' era, and that accounts for many of the undeserving players in the Hall of Fame. But some guys, even after you let the air out of their statistics, still stand out. The former pitchman for Viagra is one of those.
Palneiro was born in Cuba, came to the States, and came up with the Cubs at the same time as Mark Grace. The Cubs tried Palmeiro in left field, decided that wasn't going to work out, and chose to trade Palmeiro and keep Grace. In Texas he began to show the power the Cubs never thought he would develop, and became an excellent defensive first baseman as well. After a 37 home run season in 1993, Palmeiro became a free agent, but the Rangers signed Will Clark instead, and Palmeiro traded spots with Clark by going to the Orioles. After five years in Baltimore he went back to Texas.
Palmeiro has never had the kind of monster season that draws an MVP award, and has placed in the top ten of MVP voting only three times, never higher than 5th. But he has been consistently excellent every year, and boasts a career OPS+ of 135. He has not shown a propensity for leading the league in categories either, leading in hits once, doubles once, and runs once. He has been in the top 10 in OPS and OPS+ in 7 seasons. While he hasn't dominated, he has played at a consistently high level for a long time. That makes him a Hall of Famer in my book. The trouble that will dog him is his positive steroids test. How that will mark him to future observers is anyone’s guess.
