53-Year-Old Rafael Palmeiro Records Hit in First Game of His Professional Baseball Comeback

Rafael Palmeiro spoiled baseball for a lot of people back in the day. Maybe it was his finger-pointing denial of steroid-use in court.  Maybe it was his failed test just months after. Either way, he broke fans hearts in Baltimore and killed his image to baseball purists. With that said, he’s been out to save his reputation for a while now. In 2015, he made a surprise cameo in professional baseball with the Sugar Land Skeeters — recording two hits in four at-bats — and now, he wants to return to the big leagues. Comebacks in sports are common, just not when you’re 53-years old and out of the game for almost 15 years.

Of course, Palmeiro was always able to hit. And while there’s no way he’s making it back to the MLB, he caught on with an independent team and will probably hit .260 or .270. It should be noted that the team that signed him — the second-year Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association — also signed his son, Patrick Palmeiro, to a contract.

On Thursday, the team played their first spring training game. Palmeiro, after striking out looking in his first at-bat, laced a single in his second try, per The Associated Press. Patrick also went 1-for-2 in the game.

Speaking with the AP, the elder Palmeiro shed some light on his comeback.

“I’m doing it because I love the game first of all,” Palmeiro said Thursday. “And because I want to get back to proving to myself that I can do this and maybe for some of those people that think that I cheated, they might think again and say well, wait a minute, he’s 53 years old, he’s playing at this level, he’s playing in the big leagues, he’s producing. Maybe some of those will say, OK, he did it legitimately.”

Ironically, his new team’s uniforms are orange and black, just like the last MLB jersey he wore with the O’s.