It was a hard time. It was something I would love to erase from my memory.
Rafael Palmeiro
Three thousand, it's just a number. It's just a game.
Well, you know, I left Cuba as a kid when I was 6 years old back in 1971.
I don't think anybody ever saw anybody taking anything.
The other deals with my life and my livelihood and my family and all that I stand for.
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?
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.
When I testified in front of Congress, I know that I was testifying under oath and I told the truth.
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.
I have never used steroids. Period.
I hope that people look at my whole career and appreciate that I've given everything that I've got.
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 hope that people learn from my mistake and I hope that the fans forgive me.
I said what I said before Congress because I meant every word of it.
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 don't know who took what. That is pretty private with an individual.
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.
I love baseball, and the door remains open.
I don't see myself as someone that brings a lot of luggage.
My life was on the line here and my career and everything I worked for, it was hanging by a thread.
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.
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.
Baseball gets better for whatever reason.
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.
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 just want to be able to have a nice career and make a living at it.
There's a lot of history in Boston and a lot of history, obviously, in New York with all the championships.
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 still feel like I can play defense at first base at a very high level.
But as far as I'm concerned, I can still play defense.
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.
You know, my family stood for something that they believed in, and I wasn't about to turn my back on them.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
