Former MLB slugger Palmeiro goes into Mississippi Hall of Fame, hopes Cooperstown in future

JACKSON, Miss. - Rafael Palmeiro is now a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. He hopes someday Cooperstown comes calling as well.

But he's not going to grovel.

Palmeiro said he's "done lobbying" baseball's writers and that his numbers on the field speak for themselves.

Palmeiro was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on Friday in Jackson. The 47-year-old played at Mississippi State during the 1980s, when he and Will Clark were part of a formidable lineup that led the Bulldogs to the College World Series.

Palmeiro later became one of just four players in big league history with 3,000 hits and 500 homers, but his career was overshadowed by a positive test for performance enhancing drugs just weeks after collecting his 3,000th hit in 2005.