Rickey, Rice are in

There is no if Simon. Richie Allen had a drinking problem.

 

Palmiero never finished higher than fifth in the MVP voting, and was only among the top 10 three times, but he was going to go to the Hall of Fame. He finished with 569 career home runs. Take away the steroid issue and that would have gotten him in.

 

Take away steroids and would he have gotten to 569 career home runs?

 

Probably not, though we really don't know how long he took them or how much impact they had on his game.

But let me rephrase the point I was trying to make. If we had never found out about the steroid use, he would have gotten into the Hall of Fame easily.

 

Do you get to take them away from the pitchers as well?

 

I should have written one-dimensional player. Rice hit for power. He kind of hit for average (as long as the game was in Fenway Park -- he hit .277 on the road). That's about it. He wasn't a good defensive outfielder in terms of range or throwing arm. He could run OK, but not enough to steal bases or impact the game.

Dick Allen was a better hitter in a brutal era for hitters.

 

I thought he was an elite player, just very, and criminally, underrated before he was caught. Ever since 1993, when he hit for 37 home runs and 105 RBIs, I thought he was a dominant force in any lineup, though the pitching on his teams -- Texas, Baltimore -- was never good enough to make a run at the postseason; those Orioles in the '90s an exception to the rule.

Palmeiro reminded me of Eddie Murray for a couple reasons: He was quiet and went about his business -- though probably much more pleasant in the clubhouse; like that's difficult -- and he was extremely consistent. For a nine-year stretch from 1995-2003, Palmeiro never hit less than 38 home runs and drove in 104 runs (he averaged 41.4 home runs and 120.6 RBIs). And he could run when he wanted; specifically in the front of his career. The guy finished with 569 home runs and 3,020 hits. Only Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray are in that club.

He also won three Gold Gloves -- and truly earned the first two; though I'm not sure how much stock you can put into the second due to the third one he won.

Palmeiro was a guaranteed first-ballot induction before he was busted for steroids. I honestly don't know how I'd vote if I had one. When I heard the news, I was speechless. I'd written a column in my college newspaper about how tragically underrated he was, had talked him up to my Baltimore-Orioles-loving girlfriend during journalism class and followed every step he made over the last 15 years. And then the news hit, and my friend and I didn't know what to say. It was like watching your childhood unfold in front of you. First it was the Bash Brothers -- one of my first baseball memories -- and then Palmeiro. It was a terrible shot to the gut.

 

DING DING DING you win the prize for noticing the elephant in the room.
If you believe Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco boat loads of players were using performance enhacers. So in the steriod era some players stepped up their production, McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Palmeiro. But relative to the players of their time, they were not in the middle of the pack. They out-performed their peers by a large margin. We know pitchers like Clemens & Pettitte used.