[zeprock]

Another player that I still collect although he's dropped to low priority over the past decade and a half is Rafael Palmeiro. He was a really good player that quietly compiled historic numbers. He wasn't even on my radar of players to collect until I realized he was going to reach the 3000 hit and the 500 home run plateaus. A four-time All-star with two Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Glove Awards, he came up with the Cubs then starred for the Rangers, then the Orioles, then the Rangers again, then the Orioles again and retired with the most games played by any player in history to never appear in a World Series. Soon after appearing at a Congressional hearing, wagging his finger and defiantly stating that he "Never, ever used steroids. Period.", and just days after hitting his 3000th hit, Palmeiro was suspended for steroid use. To this day he still denies usage but this is a man who publicly promoted Viagra during his playing days assuring us all that he was not opposed to ingesting something to give him an edge. I currently have 986 different Beckett recognized cards of Raffy, just 14 cards short of inclusion into my exclusive 1000 card club. Here are nine from my collection.

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1987 Topps Tiffany #634 Rafael Palmeiro (The Tiffany parallel of his Topps rookie card.)
1991 Topps Desert Shield #295 Rafael Palmeiro
2001 Fleer Authority Diamond Cuts Memorabilia #70 Rafael Palmeiro Bat/800

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2001 Fleer Legacy Tailor Made #16 Rafael Palmeiro
2001 Leaf Rookies and Stars Statistical Standouts #SS15 Rafael Palmeiro
2001 Studio Diamond Collection #DC29 Rafael Palmeiro

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2002 Fleer Maximum Americas Game Jersey #16 Rafael Palmeiro
2002 Upper Deck Rookie Update Star Tributes #RP Rafael Palmeiro
2004 Topps Chrome Town Heroes Relics #RP Rafael Palmeiro Jsy