The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #45 Jim Palmer

Winding up at #45 is Orioles ace, Jim Palmer. Prior to the 19-year-old Palmer showing up in Baltimore in 1965, the Orioles had won zero world titles and made one World Series appearance. During his 19 seasons with the O’s, Palmer helped lead them to three World Series titles in six appearances. Palmer’s shutout of Sandy Koufax and the defending World Series champion Dodgers in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series got the ball rolling on Baltimore’s dynasty. Palmer would play an integral part in Baltimore’s subsequent playoff success. His eight postseason wins are the most in franchise history and his 2.61 postseason ERA is the 4th best all-time among pitchers with at least 120 career postseason innings. Palmer was even better in the regular season. He won the AL Cy Young in 1973, 1975, and 1976 and finished runner-up in 1977 and 1982 on his way to eight top-5 finishes.  Palmer’s eight 20-win seasons are the most by any pitcher since 1955 and he has the most 290-inning seasons since 1970. Palmer is one of only four pitchers since 1935 with 265 career wins and a .638 winning percentage.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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