Rafael Palmeiro Quotes

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

I love baseball, and the door remains open.

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

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

I have never used steroids. Period.

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

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

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

No one seemed to want to talk about our game, ... Even our manager had to comment on the situation and no one really focused on the game and to me that's sad because it's taking away from baseball and the game.

They've always been there with me throughout my whole career actually, so I'm very thankful that my wife and kids are here to support me, ... It means a lot to me.

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.

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

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.

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'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.

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 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.

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