Raffy

A sad feeling has hovered over me for several days now. One morning as I checked the waiver wire, I thought my eyes were deceiving me, for the name I beheld before me was none other than

Rafael Palmeiro.

Now, before you get too excited, it wasn’t the Baltimore Orioles who had put him on waivers but rather one of my fellow Fantasy Mates. How could he? Not Raffy, not one of the most popular and productive men to ever cross the chalk line?!

And yet, my feelings of bewilderment and consternation were engulfed by shame as I realized that I could not in all good conscience pick him up on my team, either.

Palmeiro is 64 hits shy of becoming just the fourth man in history (joining the likes of Henry Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray) to slam 500 home runs and collect 3,000 hits. He is a lock for Cooperstown. Or should be. He was one of the few who testified on March 17 at the steroid hearings who left with his integrity intact.

Integrity will not win you any fantasy games, however. So Raffy, good buddy, your .226 average isn’t gonna cut it today, I’m afraid. I’ll keep one eye peeled, tho and good luck. I still wish the Cubs would have kept you and let the Wild Thing stay put in Texas. But with Mark Grace ready to anchor down first base, there was just not enough interest, I suppose.