Rafael Palmeiro Quotations

I hope that people learn from my mistake and I hope that the fans forgive me.

It was a hard time. It was something I would love to erase from my memory.

You set your goals to a point where they're attainable, but far enough away that you have to really go get them. And every year I push my goals a little bit farther away, and every year I work a little bit harder to get them.

Yes, but I - you know, it's been such a long time, I'm sure that I've got cousins and uncles that I've never met before, you know, that I've left behind.

I'm not going to say what was being used in the clubhouse; whatever happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse. But it was not like it was in your face

But as far as I'm concerned, I can still play defense.

I don't see myself as someone that brings a lot of luggage.

The other deals with my life and my livelihood and my family and all that I stand for.

I don't think anybody ever saw anybody taking anything.

But I think mainly, you know, just up in the East Coast, it's where it all originated. You know, Philadelphia. It goes back to the beginning. So, you know, fans have a lot of history, and they love their teams up here.

I would love to go back and help rebuild that country and help - you know, kind of like what's going on with Iraq right now. You know, they've got a new government in place. They're trying to rebuild the country. I would love for that to happen in Cuba also

I wish that they had the freedoms like the Japanese and the Koreans and the Mexicans and everybody else that has that freedom to come over here and play the game, because I know Cuba has a very strong baseball history.

With all the great products that are apparently out there that are undetectable, for me to take something like that... when people take things that now aren't even being tested for, does it make any sense?

You know, my family stood for something that they believed in, and I wasn't about to turn my back on them.

Three thousand, it's just a number. It's just a game

The tragedy of all of this is that it happened to me and it shouldn't have happened. It ruined my life and my career. That's the tragedy of this.

Well, you know, I left Cuba as a kid when I was 6 years old back in 1971.

You just want to be able to have a nice career and make a living at it.

I hope that people look at my whole career and appreciate that I've given everything that I've got.

My life was on the line here and my career and everything I worked for, it was hanging by a thread

There's a lot of history in Boston and a lot of history, obviously, in New York with all the championships.

When I testified in front of Congress, I know that I was testifying under oath and I told the truth,

I don't think that - you know, I'm sure that there's guys that are doing it, because I'm sure in every sport there's players who want to get the edge. But I think that it's been blown overly - way more than guys are using it in our game.

Since I was informed last May that I tested positive for steroids, I have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball and Congress in their respective inquiries into this matter, ... I have done so because I have nothing to hide.

My day will come when I can say what happened. As of right now, I can't say anything. Hopefully soon.

Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do. I've never been in a situation where I'm getting booed so badly, and I just really don't know how to handle it.

Maybe if I have some solid years and don't test positive, they can say he went out and hit that way. Maybe that's what I can do.

Obviously, I would love to play and come back and finish and hopefully prove to everyone I can still play at a high level, that I can still be productive and do it the right way, which I've always done, ... I am not going to shy away from what happened to me. I am going to face it. Hopefully, I can explain myself one day, and whether people believe me or not, I can't control that.

Nobody is more frustrated and disappointed in me than I am. Throughout my adult life, I have worked very hard on and off the field to live my life in an honorable way. All my accomplishments are now tainted, and many people have been hurt,

Nobody is more frustrated and disappointed in me than I am. ... All my accomplishments are now tainted.

I wouldn't think so. I mean, that's why I got it from him. I didn't suspect that he would be on anything.

I wish I could have turned in the vial for testing. But when I found out, it was long gone and I couldn't come up with it. If something happened that I'm not aware of, an intentional act by someone else, I don't know. I can't rule out anything.

I'd like to come back and play before the year's over. But it's not in my hands.

I don't, but if he'd swing the bat, he would be. It's not different than anyone else.

He doesn't have a family with him. He's not married. He doesn't have kids,

I was careless, ... I'm sorry that I caused all that pain and anguish to my teammates, the Orioles, my fans and my family.

I went out there today to run on it, and it just feels like it's going to blow out. The knee's been bothering me all year. The two weeks off that I had, and then coming back and trying to get out there, I just re-aggravated my ankle and my knee.

I said what I said before Congress because I meant every word of it.

I respect Frank Robinson. He's entitled to his opinion, but I'm not going to comment on that.

Staying here and helping this team get back to .500 is a possibility, and it would be a great thing if we were able to do that, ... I want to help them do that, and, in the meantime, hopefully work something out so I could finish my career here.

Someone needs to be there for him. I know he doesn't have family here. So some of us need to do whatever we can to help.

Let me start by telling you this. I have never used steroids. Period.

I wasn't just trying to get hits. I was trying to be productive, ... I'm hitting cleanup.

To snap my fingers and let it go away. Even if it takes the 3,000th hit with it, just let it all go away.

At the time, I thought that was the best I could do. Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do but I did what I had to do at the time.

I've never been in a situation where I'm getting booed so badly and I just don't really know how to handle it,

I've never been in a position where I've been booed so badly, and I didn't know what to do,

I've always known to come to the ballpark and play and be in the lineup. I've never missed time because of injuries. I've had days off, where I knew coming in that I wasn't going to play, but I've never sat out 10 days in a row during the season. That was totally new to me. To play a whole career and not know what that's like, that's unusual. Now I'm dealing with it as best I can.

You would figure, ... that we would do a little better offensively.

This could have been devastating for us if we lost three out of four, ... We would have been six or seven games out.

Although I do not know how this substance came into my body, it is possible that a shot of vitamin B-12 I took sometime in April might have been the cause.

It's been hard. It hasn't been easy. I've survived it so far though, ... I'm dealing with it on a daily basis.

Oh, man, I'm looking forward to those things. I'm looking forward to days where I can do things that I've been wanting to do that happen in the summertime. Be with my family and kids in the summer. Vacations. All that stuff, before my kids go off to college.

I want to express my gratitude to the committee for the fairness and professionalism with which they conducted their business. I have never intentionally taken steroids and I strongly oppose the illegal use of steroids by athletes or anyone else.

At this rate, I'm going to play first base on Tuesday. I can't wait around anymore. When I go back out there, I want to be able to play first.

I'm not sure. I did not set it up. I have never done a polygraph test in my life. I didn't know what to expect. I was just there to answer the questions that they put in front of me.

I'm not sure. I did not set it up.

I'm not exactly sure how it got into my body, ... I suspected it was the B-12.

I knew about him from college. I knew he'd be a good pitcher. He's going to be a dominant guy in this game.

I'm not 100 percent, but I feel good enough to go out there and play and be productive,

I have never used steroids. Period. I do not know how to say it any more clearly than that.

I'll be back. I am not sure how long, but I'll be back.

I haven't heard, I don't know what he said and I really don't want to get into it, ... I really respect Frank. He's entitled to his opinion, but I'm not going to comment on that.

He's the best player in baseball. He's having the best year.

I am not sure when I'm going to play.

I'm very happy for the Contreras family. They're out. Now they've got a chance to experience life the way I did as a kid. You know, his kids are going to have a real chance in life now, and the same way that I had it.

I respect the Hall of Fame, and if they think that I'm worthy enough, I would be very honored. And if they don't, I gave it all that I had to this game.

To snap my fingers and let it go away. Even if it takes the 3,000th hit with it, just let it all go away

Yeah, I'm going to go back (after hitting his 500th home run, but commenting on reaching the 3,000 hit plateau) to my Punch-and-Judy days, hit the ball the other way, start bunting the ball a little bit.

My parents didn't agree with what was going on, you know, with the communists coming in, Fidel Castro. I didn't see the reason why I needed to go back there and be a part of that exhibition

Baseball gets better for whatever reason.

I love baseball, and the door remains open.

You know, when you first come up, and you get called up to the big leagues, all you want to do is just, you just want to have a career, a nice career. You want to make a living at it

I wish that they could have more freedoms to be able to come and play. I know that the only way that they can get out is by, you know, defecting to another country or whatever, or getting on a boat

We're (Juan Gonzalez) like brothers. I'm sure he was very happy to see me get it done, and it's not very long from his day, so hopefully I'll see that and we'll be on the same team.

My dad was the force behind me early on. He was just infatuated with baseball. He was the one that basically taught me how to play the game. He gave a lot of his time working out with me, practicing and taking me to a lot of different games. It was hard work between both of us.

Hard work is the main thing-hard work and dedication. And I think a great part of it is goal setting. You set your goals to a point where they're attainable, but far enough away that you have to really go get them. And every year I push my goals a little bit farther away, and every year I work a little bit harder to get them. Every goal that I've set, I've been able to achieve. That's been very fulfilling.

I don't know who took what. That is pretty private with an individual.

I have never used steroids. Period.

Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never.

I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period,

I don't know what else I can say. I have never taken steroids. For people who think I took steroids intentionally, I'm never going to convince them. But I hope the voters judge my career fairly and don't look at one mistake.

They try to say this era was a tainted era. But so many great players played in the last 15 to 20 years. This is going to be the best era in the history of the game in my opinion

I still feel like I can play defense at first base at a very high level

You can pretty much bet that deal's going to be made.