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Palmeiro Returns, Orioles Fall
Some fans do not welcome back first baseman Rafael Palmeiro with open arms but the overall reaction is mixed as he also receives some cheers in his first game action since being suspended for steroids.
(Chris Gardner - AP)
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Nonetheless, Johnson was called safe and the run proved huge when Vernon Wells singled to right, scoring Orlando Hudson to put Toronto up 7-4. Without Sosa's misplay the game might never have come down to Palmeiro. This is because in the ninth Baltimore scored two runs off Batista with a Brian Roberts double and a Lopez single.
But still down one, the Orioles left the day in the hands of their most compelling figure.
In his brief news conference after the game Palmeiro was asked little about the game itself. A reporter from ESPN peppered him with questions about the big celebration the Orioles had planned that was canceled after the suspension. "I'm sure we'll figure it out," Palmeiro said.
A man from a national publication asked him about his sons, Patrick and Preston, who were with him when he got his 3,000th hit and were in the clubhouse behind him Sunday as he spoke.
"They have always been there with me my whole career," Palmeiro said. "I'm very thankful that my wife can be here with my kids."
He said the afternoon felt like Opening Day, with his nerves the way they were. He said it was strange to miss so many days in a row -- 10 for the suspension and three to get ready -- and didn't know when he would find his swing again. A moment later a public relations man from the Orioles stepped in and stopped the questions.
"I'm sure he's glad," teammate David Newhan said. "You're back in the sanctuary that is the playing field and it's his chance to get away from everything."
Only on his first day back Rafael Palmeiro could have made his sanctuary his home again.
