Palmeiro on diamond at 53 with hopes of MLB return

CLEBURNE, TEXAS » Rafael Palmeiro isn’t playing for an independent minor league team at age 53 just so he can be teammates with his son.

Palmeiro said he knows there are people who think he has lost his mind, but he is serious about wanting to make a big league comeback nearly 13 years after his career ended under a cloud when he tested positive for a banned steroid.

“I’m doing it because I love the game first of all,” Palmeiro said May 10. “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.”

Palmeiro joined the Cleburne Railroaders after not getting a non-roster invite from a big league team during spring training or the chance to play for an MLB-affiliated team in the minors. Palmeiro and his 28-year-old son Patrick, a third baseman, were introduced by the second-year American Association team and then played in the first preseason game .

“I know that I can do it and I was looking for an opportunity,” said Palmeiro, who played first base and went 1-for-2 with a strikeout and a sharp single.

It was about a 45-mile drive from the Texas Rangers’ ballpark, where Palmeiro played 10 of his 20 major league seasons and hit his 500th homer in 2003. The four-time All-Star also played for the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles.

The elder Palmeiro took a called third strike on a tough slider in his first at-bat, then led off the ninth with a sharp single against a travel team from New Jersey.

STEPHEN HAWKINS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Cleburne Railroaders’ Rafael Palmeiro watches from the dugout before heading back on the field during a workout on May 10 in Cleburne, Texas.