Rafael Palmeiro smashed 569 MLB home runs, and now he wants to resume his career after more than a decade away from the game.
There aren’t a lot of old athletes that come back to their sport after a layoff. Rafael Palmeiro is trying to do just that. The slugger signed with an independent club team, the Cleburne Raiders of Cleburne, Texas. He’s actually playing along side his son Patrick. The father has been out of the game for almost 13 years, so we’ll see how this pans out.
He went 0-for-4 in his debut with the team, not surprising considering his layoff. With that said, this little stint shouldn’t last long. No one has sat out from a professional sport for that long and come back; it just doesn’t happen. Good for the Palmeiro family and all, but Rafael is 53, so there’s close to no chance of him holding up over a rigorous season.
Although he was a home run threat in the past, it’s hard to imagine he retains the power of old. He hit 569 home runs across 20 MLB seasons with the Cubs, Rangers and Orioles. He retired in 2005, when he hit 18 home runs as a 40-year-old, but 53 is a lot older than 40, and he’s been out of the game for over a decade. That won’t help his comeback bid.
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Bartolo Colon is baseball’s current Old Guy Wonder, and not only is he nine years younger than Palmeiro, he didn’t take a decade off either. That isn’t to say Palmeiro can’t contribute any value, but if he still thinks he has a shot at making it back to the majors, he’s almost certainly kidding himself.