What about Raffy?

I loved Rafael Palmeiro. I loved how he was so underappreciated yet still never ceased to be productive. I loved how he crawled his way to 9th on the all time home run list and how he got to 3,000 hits without anyone noticing. But the past couple of days have unraveled something that made me question my devotion for baseball's quietest slugger. He tested positive for steroids. But it wasn't just that he tested positive; it's that he vehemently testified in court that he never used them. It's that he was on the frontline for combating the problem of steroid use in the MLB. It's that he was perhaps the one player in all of baseball that we could run to and say "look, he's doing it without any help." Now who are we supposed to go to? With Palmeiro's retirement coming up his hall of fame chances are now much more in jeopardy than they use to be.
Baseball is full of numbers. The Hall of Fame bases some of it's members on these magic numbers. If you hit 500 home runs you're in the Hall. If you get 3,000 hits you're in the Hall. There was no debating that. No one has hit 500 home runs and been eligible for the Hall of Fame (retired five years) who hasn't been inducted. And no one who has 3,000 hits and been eligible has been denied either (besides Pete Rose who, of course, was banned for betting on the game). Well Palmeiro has 569 home runs and 3,018 hits. When he got his 3,000 hit earlier this year it was sort of like he was getting that extra insurance just in case. Only three other players in the history of the game can claim 500 home runs and 3,000 hits to their resume: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray. By that standard alone Palmeiro should be in with no contest, right?
One of the first questions that needs to be answered is how long has Palmeiro been taking steroids. If this is a career consuming practice then Palmeiro's Hall rights should be revoked. But if this was a mistake, a one time thing then I think we can forgive him. (George Brett is in the Hall after his pine tar incident and Sammy Sosa will probably be in the hall of fame despite his infamous corked bat incident.) The problem is that we may never know. What we do know now is that Palmeiro tested positive for stanozolol, a drug that isn't found in over the counter supplements. This means that Palmeiro would probably have to know that he was taking it, contrary to what he said. I have a theory, though. Palmeiro had never done steroids before testifying in front a grand jury. He started taking them afterwards, and just until he got his 3,000th hit. My guess is that Palmeiro wanted to get 3,000 hits before his body gave out and steroids was the best way to do that. He was just unlucky that he was randomly chosen to be tested.
This type of theory at least makes me feel a little bit better even if it isn't true. It means that a little over 2,900 of his hits and 550 of his home runs were legitimate. No, it doesn't make Palmeiro's actions right but it doesn't put into question his past accomplishments. If my theory is true I say give him a pass to the Hall of Fame. Anything else and I'll have to evaluate it to find out what I think.