October 28, 200422 yr Orioles sign 1B-DH Palmeiro to one-year contract BALTIMORE - Rafael Palmeiro will return to the Baltimore Orioles in 2005. The team announced Wednesday that the veteran first baseman-designated hitter has agreed to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. Palmeiro, 40, returned to the Orioles this past season and hit .258 with 23 home runs and 88 RBI in 154 games. He showed he wasn't quite ready for retirement in the final month, tying a club record with nine home runs in September. The Orioles plan to again utilize the lefthanded slugger at both first base and as a DH in 2005. Palmeiro spent five seasons with the Orioles from 1994-1998, batting .292 with 182 home runs, before signing as a free agent with the Texas Rangers. A 19-year veteran, Palmeiro is 10th on the all-time list with 551 career homers. He also ranks among the leaders in extra-base hits (8th, 1,161), total bases (11th, 5,223), RBI (16th, 1,775) and hits (33rd, 2,922). Palmeiro had tied a major league record with nine straight seasons (1995-2003) of at least 35 homers and 100 RBI. Jimmie Foxx (1932-40) and Sammy Sosa (1995-2003) were the only other players to accomplish that feat. Palmeiro made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1986. After three seasons with the Cubs, he was traded to Texas and spent five years with the Rangers before signing with the Orioles following the 1993 campaign.
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