Jerseys

James Alvin "Jim" Palmer (born October 15, 1945, in New York, New York), nicknamed "Cakes," is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles (1965-1984). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. more...

Home
All Star Game
Anaheim Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks
Atlanta Braves
Autographs-Original
Baltimore Orioles
Bobbleheads
Caps, Hats
Jackets
Jerseys
Other Items
Photos, Prints
Pins, Buttons
Publications
Shirts
Baseball & Softball Items
Boston Red Sox
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Indians
Colorado Rockies
Defunct Teams
Detroit Tigers
Florida Marlins
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Los Angeles Dodgers
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
Minors
Montreal Expos
Negro Leagues
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Oakland Athletics
Other
Other MLB Items
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
Playoffs
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Seattle Mariners
St. Louis Cardinals
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays
Washington Nationals
World Series

Early years

Shortly after his birth, Palmer was adopted by Moe Wiesen, a garment industry executive, and his wife Polly from Harrison, N.Y. After his adoptive father died in 1955, the 9-year-old Jim, his mother and his sister moved to California, where he began playing in youth-league baseball. In 1956, his mother married actor Max Palmer, from whom Palmer took his last name. Showing talent at the amateur level, upon high school graduation in 1962, Palmer signed a minor-league contract at the age of 17.

Playing career

Palmer has been considered one of the best pitchers in Orioles -- and major-league -- history. He was a mainstay in the rotation during Baltimore's six pennant-winning teams in the 1960s (1966 & 1969), 1970s (1970, 1971 & 1979) and 1980s (1983). Also, he is the only pitcher in big-league history to win World Series games in three decades (1966, 1970-71, 1983). One of his most amazing feats is that during his 19-year major league career of 575 games (including 17 postseason games), he never surrendered a grand slam. He was sometimes sidelined by arm, shoulder and back problems, but still won 20 games in 8 different seasons (1970-1973 & 1975-1978) and in 4 other seasons went 15-10 (1966), 16-4 (1969), 16-10 (1980) and 15-5 (1982). He was one of four 20-game winners in the Orioles starting rotation in 1971, only the second rotation in major league history to include four 20-game winners. Palmer won spots on 6 all-star teams, 4 gold gloves, 3 Cy Young Awards, and 2 ERA titles. He led the American League in victories three times. Palmer retired in 1984 as a member of the defending World Champions. He is a member of major league baseball's Hall of Fame.

1960s

A high-kicking pitcher known for an exceptionally smooth delivery, Palmer picked up his first major-league win on May 16, 1965, beating the Yankees in relief at home, and hitting the first of his three career major-league home runs, a two-run shot in the fourth off Yankees starter Jim Bouton. Palmer finished the season with a 5-4 record.

In 1966, Palmer joined the starting rotation. Baltimore rolled to the pennant, behind Frank Robinson's MVP and Triple Crown season. Palmer won his final game against the Kansas City Athletics to clinch the American League pennant. In Game 2 of that World Series at Dodger Stadium, he became the youngest pitcher (20 years, 11 months) to win a complete-game, World Series shutout, defeating Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers, 6-0. The underdog Orioles went on to sweep the series over a Los Angeles team that featured some formidable pitching of its own in Hall of Famers Koufax and Don Drysdale, and 17-game winner Claude Osteen. The shutout was part of a World Series record-setting 33 2/3 consecutive shutout innings by Orioles pitchers. The Dodgers' last run (of which they scored only two) was against Moe Drabowsky in the third inning of Game 1; the Oriole relief pitcher shut out the Dodgers the rest of the way. Palmer, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally then pitched shutouts in the next three games.

Read more at Wikipedia.org