Well, you know, I left Cuba as a kid when I was 6 years old back in 1971. Rafael Palmeiro More Quotes by Rafael Palmeiro More Quotes From Rafael Palmeiro 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. Rafael Palmeiro steroid used periods It was a hard time. It was something I would love to erase from my memory. Rafael Palmeiro hard-times sports memories 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 Rafael Palmeiro exhibitions parent sports My life was on the line here and my career and everything I worked for, it was hanging by a thread Rafael Palmeiro thread lines careers 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 Rafael Palmeiro nice careers sports 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 Rafael Palmeiro government sports country 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 Rafael Palmeiro wish play country I still feel like I can play defense at first base at a very high level Rafael Palmeiro defense play sports 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 Rafael Palmeiro player sports years 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. Rafael Palmeiro taken mistake thinking I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period. Rafael Palmeiro steroid used periods Three thousand, it's just a number. It's just a game Rafael Palmeiro three games numbers 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 Rafael Palmeiro let-it-go going-away sports 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 Rafael Palmeiro your-face faces sports 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. Rafael Palmeiro home running littles 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. Rafael Palmeiro team sports thinking 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. Rafael Palmeiro cousin uncles sports I love baseball, and the door remains open. Rafael Palmeiro baseball doors sports Baseball gets better for whatever reason. Rafael Palmeiro get-better baseball sports 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. Rafael Palmeiro strong baseball sports
