What made Jim Palmer such a great pitcher?

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Palmer is 35th in all-time career WAR among all MLB pitchers, sitting at just over 68. I don't think that's overrated. That's legendary.

Would have been higher if Palmer wasn't injured early in his career. Palmer's complete games in a single season, when he was at his peak, is about the same total as the Orioles organization for the last 10 seasons.

[HillbillyBird]

The obvious answers have already been noted in the prior replies, but when you spend any time listening to Cakes during the broadcasts, it's apparent he's a student of the game. Not just pitching, which would be enough in and of itself, but the game. As an aside, Jim Palmer will always be to me the face of Orioles baseball, and having grown up in that era and watching him pitch, he was magic.

[hutchead]

Palmer could sometimes be extremely irritating for me to watch. He could have two outs and nobody on base and he might walk one, two, or even three hitters on purpose, just to get to that one hitter he was extremely confident he could get out to end the inning. Frustrating to watch but it usually worked as he was brilliant and knew how to take advantage of opposing lineups.

[brianod]

The obvious answers have already been noted in the prior replies, but when you spend any time listening to Cakes during the broadcasts, it's apparent he's a student of the game. Not just pitching, which would be enough in and of itself, but the game. As an aside, Jim Palmer will always be to me the face of Orioles baseball, and having grown up in that era and watching him pitch, he was magic.

He was never the face of the franchise. During our hey-day, he was one of four great starters. Frank and Brooks were the face of the franchise. Boog and Blair and Belanger were probably equal to Palmer in name recognition and appreciation. Jim wasn't entirely selfless either. He's always had a huge ego and his continual flare ups with Weaver weren't always Weavers fault. All that being said, he was a great Oriole and deserves his statue. I love him in the booth and he probably wasn't appreciated enough during his prime simply because of all the talent around him.