Rafael Palmeiro, who hasn’t played professional baseball in more than a decade, is making a comeback. Sort of.
Palmeiro has signed a contract with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League, an eight-team association outside Major League Baseball’s traditional farm system. The contract for the final three games of the season will enable Palmeiro to play alongside his son Patrick, an infielder for the Skeeters.
“We discussed me playing earlier this year and it’s something I’ve looked forward to since then,” the 50-year-old Palmeiro said in a release issued by the club. “The chance to play with my son is an opportunity the Skeeters have offered me and I’m very excited to make it happen this weekend.”
Palmeiro’s return comes 10 years after a decorated major league career seemingly bound for the Hall of Fame ended in disgrace, when a positive test for the anabolic steroid stanozolol was revealed five months after he emphatically denied under oath ever using performance enhancing drugs. He continues to maintain he has never used steroids intentionally.
Palmeiro, a four-time All-Star who played 20 major league seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, retired with 569 home runs and 3,020 hits – making him one of only five players in major league history to be a member of both the 500-home run and 3,000-hit clubs. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray and Alex Rodriguez are the others.
It is not the first time the minor-league club based in Sugar Land, Texas has made headlines with an unusual signing.
Last year, seven-time NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady announced his intent to pursue his dream of playing professional baseball and made the opening day roster of the Skeeters as a pitcher. The 35-year-old made four appearances, allowing four hits and five runs while recording a 6.75 ERA in 6 2/3 innings.
In 2012, Roger Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner named 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball, made a pair of starts for the Skeeters at 50 years old.
Palmeiro will make his debut on Friday. The games will be broadcast on ESPN3.
