Does Raphael Palmeiro belong in the Hall of Fame? 3000hits, 566 HRs.

[maveric]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=olney_buster&id=2109524

Seeing that every plare with 3000 hits or 500 HRs is eithetr in the Hall or is a shoo-in to be enshrined, Raffy belongs.

[jmcon007]

1. Duh!!! Hell, yes he does. I watched him when he played for Texas.

What a smooth, effortless swing.

[pstans]

Tough to argue with those #'s

He has the numbers, I think it would be hard to not put him in the Hall. If he doesn't make it, it would be a huge knock against the juiced-era of the 90's and 2000's. I am not saying that Raffy took steroids, but he played in an era where hitters numbers were skewed.

[nickgutierrez]

4. If pitchers from the late '60s get in, today's hitters should too. n/t

[hibbing]

2. for sure

I would agree, he did have a sweet swing, the Cubs
just had to trade him.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

3. Absolutely

[kanrok]

5. No question

Class act to boot. And he should be a first ballot winner for one simple reason: the Cubs traded him. Say no more.

[WCGreen]

6. Lol......

Look at all the Ex Indians that are probably headed to the hall...

MAnny Ramierez, Jim Thome, Bartolo Colon, Omar Vizquel.....

[SaveElmer]

7. Absolutely.....I really don't know what the dispute is

But I hear alot of sports heads arguing he shouldn't be in

[leftofthedial]

8. he's ineligible

ask me in five or six years.

(he's got the numbers. the intangibles--was he ever the best player in the league? (no) was he even ever the best player on his own team? (I don't think so)--work against him.

[maveric]

11. You have to compare him to others allready in the Hall.

If they got in then he should.

One or more of these...
500 HRs
3000 hits
300 wins
----------
Guaranteed enshrinement.

[leftofthedial]

15. I'm not so sure those standards will survive

the current cheap hitting epidemic

[Mojambo]

9. Unquestionably

And on the first ballot.

[dajoki]

10. he belongs

:bounce:

[maveric]

12. Check out his numbers. Consistent.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/palmera01.shtml

[Bleacher Creature]

13. I hate to say it, but he should be a first ballot HofFer.

His power numbers are one thing, but 3,000 hits is special.

That said, I'm not a big fan of his -- for reasons such as:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/16/AR2005071601291.html

[BamaLefty]

14. Hell Yea He Does!

I like Raffy.

[FredScuttle]

16. He's hurt by writers' bias

1) He's not a mythical figure like Ruth, Mantle or Williams (what are you going to do?)
2) He was never a dominant power hitter; i.e. no flashy seasons with 50+ HRs (neither did Hank Aaron, but he ended up with more HRs than anyone
3) His numbers are suspect because of the steroid era

Well, so are McGwire's and everyone else's. Also, he played the majority of his games in three ballparks (Texas, Baltimore and Chicago) known for their short outfields. While that may inflate his HR totals slightly, it definitely makes his 3,000 hits an impressive statistic.

My feeling? He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer, no ifs ands or buts.