O’s counting on Raffy redux

The Baltimore Orioles have invited three of the greatest figures in franchise history — Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken and Earl Weaver — to Camden Yards for Sunday’s Opening Night game against the Boston Red Sox.

One day Rafael Palmeiro might be welcomed back as a fitting member of such august baseball company. In his first stint in Baltimore, Palmeiro produced the greatest five-year offensive performance of any player in club history.

For now, though, Palmeiro returns to Camden Yards after five years with the Texas Rangers as an active player with, at 39, something still left to contribute — and with a chance to add to his legacy as an Oriole.

“I don’t feel my age,” Palmeiro said. “I feel like I am in the best shape that I have been in a long time. I have worked hard, and I feel like I am ready to come back to Baltimore and help this team of young players.”

The first baseman is one of three big bats the Orioles added to their lineup this year. The other two players received big contracts: Shortstop Miguel Tejada signed a six-year, $72million deal and catcher Javy Lopez a three-year, $23.5million pact. Palmeiro, the least costly of the three, received a one-year, $4.5million contract.

Palmeiro’s performance in recent years, as throughout his career, has been strong. He averaged 43 home runs over the past five years in Texas and has hit 528 in his career, including 38 last season.

Yet Palmeiro remains in the background. He never got quite the recognition and respect merited by his performance — a fact about which he often expressed frustration during his first tenure in Baltimore. To many sports fans, he is better known for his Viagra commercials than for his baseball prowess.

“His numbers are staggering,” Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said. “You’re not just talking about quality. You’re talking about the Hall of Fame.”

In his five years with Baltimore, Palmeiro hit 182 homers and drove in 553 runs. As a Ranger, he hit 224 homers and drove in 608 runs.

Palmeiro could have produced all those runs while wearing an Orioles uniform if owner Peter Angelos had not made a disastrous mistake by not extending Palmeiro’s contract before it expired in 1998.

Instead, Angelos invested $65million in hot-tempered slugger Albert Belle and Palmeiro signed a five-year, $50million deal with the Rangers, with whom Palmeiro first emerged as one of the leagues’ premier hitters from 1989 to 1993.

“I didn’t want to leave Baltimore five years ago,” Palmeiro said. “We loved this place. We still do. If things had happened the way I wanted them to, I think I would have stayed here the whole time. As things went on during that offseason, opportunities came up for me, and Texas was right there next door to me.”

As much as Texas was home for Palmeiro, things never were quite as good on the field as they was when he wore a Baltimore uniform. The Orioles had a winning record in three of the five years Palmeiro played here and twice reached the American League Championship Series. Palmeiro also reached the playoffs with the Rangers, but the experience never was quite as electric at the Ballpark in Arlington as it was at Camden Yards.

After Palmeiro left, the Orioles had five straight losing seasons and attendance dropped from 3.7million to 2.3million.

“I want to get that magic back again,” Palmeiro said. “It was so great here before. I don’t know if we can accomplish that again, but if we can get anywhere close to that excitement, it would be great.

“The five years I had here were the best of my career,” he said. “We were able to make it to the championship series twice, and I was able to accomplish a lot myself. Getting a chance to come back here is great. If things go the way I think they are going to go, we have a shot to get it back.”

It is a long shot, at least for the one year that Palmeiro is committed to being in Baltimore. Despite the addition of the three big hitters, the Orioles still seem destined for another fourth-place finish in the competitive American League East, behind the powerful New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and improved Toronto Blue Jays.

“We want to be able to compete with those teams,” Palmeiro said. “We are not going to give anything up to the Yankees and Red Sox, and the Blue Jays are going to be good as well.”

It might take longer than one year, though, and, no matter how good Palmeiro feels, he is at the age where skills begin to erode — sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. But he might be determined to stay around to be part of the Orioles rebirth.

“I have the opportunity to finish my career as an Oriole,” he said. “That would mean a lot to me.”