Column: What will become of Raffy?

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 3, 2005

This weekend I was watching baseball’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony where Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg joined the other greats in Cooperstown.

It was a good day for baseball.

Like ever year, there was debate in the newspapers and on televisions about current players and whether or not they belong in the HOF.

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One of the names that kept coming up was that of Rafael Palmeiro.

Strictly, by the numbers, it would seem that he had done what it would take to get his bust in Cooperstown with more than 3,000 hits and over 500 homers.

However, there were still a significant number of voters who were not convinced &045;&160;at least as Palmeiro as a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.

Well, Rafael did nothing to help himself Monday when he was suspended 10 days for violating Major League Baseball’s Steroid Policy.

Palmeiro says that he never intentionally took steroids, and hoped this would be a lesson to other players to be careful with what they put in their bodies.

That seems to be the anthem of everyone that gets caught in this situation.

They didn’t do it knowingly it was just those big words on supplement bottles that tripped them up.

I thought we were supposed to learn from history and our mistakes, but obviously that is not the case in MLB right now.

With all the money athletes make one would think they could spend a little on someone who could accurately tell them what is in these supplements to avoid painful and costly problems like this.

Or, simply avoid taking supplements all together if that would end all doubt.

Palmeiro was the first &uot;big&uot; name player to be penalized by the new policy (although the Twins’ Juan Rincon certainly had his share of headlines), but I think the more interesting question is how this failed test will effect Palmeiro years down the road.

Sure, for the next few days or weeks his name will be in the news a lot, but what if he continues to put up big numbers for the next year or two.

The public is forgiving, especially with time, but will a player that already had a challenge in front of him getting his foot in the door of Cooperstown find it completely shut when he finally becomes eligible to enter.

Add to that the fact that Palmeiro sat before Congress a few months ago and swore that he never used steroids, and it would seem he has some serious explaining to do.

But…

Kobe Bryant is back advertising for Nike, Ray Lewis is still considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL and Sammy Sosa’s corked bat is a distant memory now.

They all had to face ridicule from the public, but they avoided serious reprimands and seem to be back in the good graces of much of the viewing public and media for that matter.

Will baseball voters consider this the final nail in the coffin for Raffy, or will he simply have to wait a few extra years to get in.

There are plenty of Hall of Famers who were not choir boys, but will steroid use be put in a different light?

It will be interesting to see down the road if a quite but successful baseball player will be able to overcome this or if he will be squeezed out of HOF contention for good, regardless of the number of home runs he slugged.

The Minnesota Vikings are now finding out the downside of having two first round draft picks &045; you have to try to sign them.

The Vikes were able to sign No. 7 pick Troy Williamson earlier this week which is a big positive as they look to replace Randy Moss, but Erasmus James, Minnesota’s other first-rounder, has been harder to get his name on a contract.

I fail to see why this happens each and every year.

It is hard to come up with a strong case where a rookie holdout was helped by the situation.

The negative cases are much easier to recall.

Just ask Philip Rivers how his holdout worked for him.

Two, three or four days of missed camp may not sound like a lot, but for rookie players trying to learn a playbook as thick as an encyclopedia, it can make all the difference in the world.

Sure, Rivers eventually got the big bucks, but he has yet to stat an NFL regular season game, and if Drew Brees has another strong season it is possible that Rivers will be shipped to another team without ever failing at his job.

He simply did not take advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself.

Money is king but I would think that most good athletes have that competitive desire to be on the field.

Collecting the big check is nice for sure, but the ridicule that comes from fans, media, fellow players and coaches is probably not.

James may still have a big impact on this season, but if he is looking for a big contract the best way to do that is get on the field and perform.