In the 2004 movie Mr. 3000 starring Bernie Mac, Angela Bassett and Brian White, Stan Ross, "The Boss", attempts a comeback with the Milwaukee Brewers at the age of 47 in an effort to reach his goal of 3,000 hits, 3 of his previously credited hits having been discredited due to a scorekeeping error leaving him at 2,997. It's an ok movie as far as baseball movies go, and I won't lie, I've watched it more than once. So why is this relevant?
Well this morning there's an article on espn.com that disgraced former All-Star Rafael Palmeiro, he of the 3,000-hit and 500-homer clubs, he also of the failed-drug-test club, now at the tender age of 53, is attempting a comeback. You read that correctly. Rafael Palmeiro, who retired following the 2005 season, wants to get back into baseball. To better qualify what this means, here's a list of players who were still playing in the AL East in 2005 when Palmeiro last manned first base for the Baltimore Orioles: Ruben Sierra, Kevin Brown, John Olerud, David Wells, Sammy Sosa, B.J. Surhoff, and Hideo Nomo, just to name a few. The Tampa Bay Rays hadn't yet exorcised the Devil in their name, and the Astros were playing in their first World Series led by Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
Playing first base and DH-ing for Baltimore that season, Palmeiro hit .266 with 18 home runs in 110 appearances. Starting with 2001, his home run numbers dipped every year until the end going from 47 to 43 to 38 to 23 and finally to 18. He last hit over .300 in 1999, the same year he made his last All-Star team, and won his final Gold Glove. I'll be honest, I don't know that I see a spot for him in today's game. You have to figure he'd be limited to pinch-hitting and DH-ing, because after taking 12 years off, I'm not sure what you could reasonably expect from him on defense. Stan Ross played first base in Mr. 3000, but that was just a movie. And even in the movie, he's a gimmick. Carlos Beltran, age 40, just capped off a subpar statistical season primarily serving as Houston's DH en route to a World Series title, but outside the boxscore, he was reportedly a tremendous leader and mentor in the Astros clubhouse. Is Palmeiro able to be that guy if he's not able to hit at a reasonable clip? I'm not so sure. And do you really want to tie up a roster spot with a 53 year-old designated hitter? I know DH's around the league struggled in 2017, but is this what it has come to?
Still, Baltimore GM Dan Duquette stoked the comeback fires as he's quoted in ESPN's article saying: "It would be an interesting story. It's like tying your shoes... if you can hit, then you can hit." Seriously, Dan? I mean, you're right about one thing, it would definitely be an interesting story, but come on! I mean, maybe you invite him to Spring Training to help sell some tickets. You could probably generate some buzz by having him and his son Preston, a minor leaguer in Baltimore's system, hit in the same lineup together. Or have one of them pinch hit for the other or something to create a nice baseball father/son moment. I don't know, it just seems a little far fetched to me. But hey, so did Tim Tebow playing baseball. These are the times we live in. So hey, it's one more thing to watch for as we get ready for baseball in 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment