Fantasyland

Disgraced former baseball player Rafael Palmeiro says he’s contemplating an MLB comeback at the age of 53, and you have to wonder, What’s he smoking?  That, my friends, is a clever drug reference to remind you that back in 2005 Palmeiro told a Congressional committee he didn’t do PEDs, only to have a drug test show otherwise a few weeks later.  What a note to end a career on.

So, I’m guessing part of this notion stems from the same arrogance that encouraged Palmeiro to think he could get away with the lie if not the drugs.  The rest of it must come from a very strong sense of self.  Palmeiro obviously feels he can do better than Minnie Minoso, who had two at-bats at the age of 54, resulting in a foulout and a groundout.  No doubt Palmeiro thinks he can do better than Minoso and, for that matter, Julio Franco, who played 23 seasons in the majors and another two in Japan before running out of gas at age 48.

I wonder if this fantasy has gotten so far as to identify a team that would want a 53-year old former PEDs user.  There wouldn’t seem to be much of a market for one in the real world.