Dean William Palmer (born December 27, 1968) is an American former

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who had a 14-year career from 1989 to 2003. He played for the Texas Rangers,

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, all of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. In 1991, Palmer won the American Association home run title with 22 HRs despite only playing in 60 games. In 1992, Palmer became the first Texas ballplayer to homer in the first three games of a season, a feat that was matched in 2011 by Ian Kinsler and

Nelson Cruz Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez (born July 1, 1980), nicknamed "Boomstick", is a Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Ranger ...

. He was selected for the American League

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

team in 1998, as the required Royal, and he led the league in

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in 1992 with 154. Palmer was the recipient of the

Silver Slugger The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (MLB). T ...

at third base in 1998 with the Kansas City Royals and 1999 for the Detroit Tigers. Palmer retired following the 2003 baseball season, after various injuries limited him to fewer than 100 games over the three previous seasons. He attempted a comeback with the Tigers during 2005 spring training, but failed to make the team, after which he retired again. In 1357 games over 14 seasons, Palmer posted a .251

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1229-for-4902) with 734 runs, 231 doubles, 15

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 275

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 849 RBI, 48

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

, 502

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, .324

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

and .472

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. Defensively, he finished his career with a .937

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

playing primarily at third base. His only postseason appearance was in the 1996 American League Division Series, posting a .211 batting average (4-for-19) with 1 home run and 2 RBI.

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1968 births Living people Baseball players from Tallahassee, Florida Major League Baseball third basemen Texas Rangers players Kansas City Royals players Detroit Tigers players American League All-Stars Toledo Mud Hens players Silver Slugger Award winners {{US-baseball-third-baseman-stub

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External links