by Pete

Palmer Set to Rejoin The Beat Team awaits return of prodigal slugger on Saturday.

In a news conference set for today, The Beat will announce that John Palmer, the most prolific slugger in its 12-year history, will rejoin the club this Saturday against HGA. Palmer contacted Manager and Chief of Softball Operations Pete Wenner on Monday night to inform him of his long-rumored return. Palmer, 31, will end a quixotic 3-year hiatus that has included a tour of California, marriage, a near crippling auto accident, and the recent birth of twin girls. For the past year, Palmer has been working as a chef and living in Petaluma while working out at a local batting cage to regain his fabled hitting stroke.

John "The Bomber" Palmer was originally picked up by legendary manager and co-founder Jim "Leather" Harvey when the team was still forming in the spring of 1987. A young 19-year-old with serious pop in his bat, John filled the cleanup role that The Beat so desparately needed at the time. Despite his 3-year absense, JP is still The Beat all-time leader in doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage. In fact, it wasn't until last season that Mark "Cottonmouth King" St. Georges finally surpassed Palmer in career hits and runs.

Furthermore, John was awarded the coveted Brass Beat in 1991 as he set team single season records for hits (35) and runs scored (32). For an encore, he won the team Triple Crown in 1992. JP also holds the distinction of having won more game balls, by far, than anyone in BEAT history. How many has he won? Believe me, you don't have enough fingers and toes.

Interviewed Monday night at his home in San Francisco, Wenner said "I can't tell you how excited I am to welcome John back to The Beat. John and I have been talking about this for some time and he has given me assurances that his doctor has cleared him to play. We'll start him off at EP and go from there. I'm just salivating at the thought of his bat back in our lineup. If he can even put up half of the numbers he put up in the past, it'll be a huge boost to our offense."

View The BEAT's 1999 Final Batting Statistics

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