Rafael Palmeiro is sticking to his story that a tainted vitamin shot caused his failed drug test five years ago and hopes Hall of Fame voters will overlook the mistake and honor him for his 3,020 hits and 569 homers. A week before the Baseball Writers Association of America announces its inductees to baseball's Hall of Fame, Palmeiro told SI.com in a phone interview posted Wednesday that he never used performance-enhancing drugs in his 20-year career. As he asserted in 2005 after he was suspended for failing a test, Palmeiro again insisted the anabolic steroid was in a B-12 vial given to him by Baltimore Orioles teammate Miguel Tejada. "I was telling the truth then, and I am telling the truth now," Palmeiro said. "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." One of only four players in big league history with 500 homers and 3,000 hits, Palmeiro's once-certain election to the Hall is in jeopardy. Baseball voters four times have denied Mark McGwire, 10th on the career list with 583 homers, and his election seems unlikely -- McGwire received only 23.7 percent of the vote last year and 75 percent is needed. "I never played for the Hall of Fame," Palmeiro, a four-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove first baseman, told SI.com on Tuesday. "I only played to win and have fun. But, yes, now the Hall of Fame is important to me. Why wouldn't I want to be there? It would mean more than anything to me. I hope they don't hold me out for one mistake at the end of my career." Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5966668
