Baltimore Orioles by Jeff Seidel

Author:Jeff Seidel
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781613216637
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

#22 JIM PALMER • P

Seasons with the Orioles: 1965-1967, 1969-1984

Best Season with the Orioles: 1975

Highlight Stats from that Season: The Hall of Famer was the Cy Young winner with some impressive numbers. He finished 23-11 with 25 complete games and 10 shutouts along with a 2.09 ERA. Palmer led the league in wins, shutouts, and ERA; threw a career-best 323 innings; and made the All-Star Game.

“I enjoy coming to the ballpark because you always learn something more about the game or life or somebody’s different perspective about somebody and the way they feel about something,” Palmer said. “It’s a constant learning situation . . . and I enjoy broadcasting, and I try to be prepared, and it’s very much like playing—other than there’s not a physical part of it.”

Broadcasting was one of the things that helped Palmer become one of the better nationally known pitchers of his era. He began working on TV while still an active player, working with broadcasters like Howard Cosell, and was a natural right away. Palmer now has been broadcasting in some form since the mid-1970s and takes pride in his work.

“You want to be prepared, and you want to be part of a team,” Palmer said. “You have to work with that guy you’re working with.”

He also became rather well known and very popular, especially with female fans and non-fans alike, for his Jockey underwear advertisements. The combination of the ads, the clutch pitching, the 20-win seasons, and the TV broadcasting has made Palmer arguably the best-known pitcher of his time.

Palmer signed with the Orioles in 1963 and said he’s still grateful that he made that tough decision.

“My best thing was just signing with the Orioles,” Palmer said. “When you’re 17 years old, you don’t know where you’re going to end up or what you’re going to do. [It’s tough]. But it turned out great. You think back on your career and you wonder where you could have ended up. I could have ended up with the Dodgers or Houston or whatever. I . . . made the right decision.”

It certainly looks that way. Palmer gained national acclaim when the Orioles pulled off their surprising run to the 1966 World Series. The 20-year-old right-hander had a 15-10 record with a 3.46 ERA and found himself facing Sandy Koufax in Game 2 of the World Series in Los Angeles. Baltimore had shocked the baseball world in Game 1 by beating the Dodgers, using a big relief effort from Moe Drabowsky, and Los Angeles didn’t want to go back to Baltimore trailing two games to none.

But Palmer showed the poise and cool of a veteran and pitched a complete game, a 6-0 shutout of the Dodgers—who were hurt badly by outfielder Willie Davis’s three errors. The Orioles went on to sweep the World Series, and Koufax retired after the Series, citing bad elbow problems.

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