In 1990, Jim Palmer was accorded baseball's highest honor by his election into the Baseball Hall of Fame his first year of eligibility. He received 92.6% of the 444 ballots cast by eligible members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Of the eight pitchers elected in their first year of eligibility and received the third highest percentage of votes. Jim Palmer is the only American League Hall of Fame pitcher to win the Cy Young Award three times as well as four Gold Glove Awards. A powerful persona in sports, Jim maintains a strong presence off the playing field through a variety of business, charity and personal interests.

Adopted at birth, Jim was only 9 years old when his adoptive father died. Shortly thereafter, his mother moved the family from New York to California. In 1960, she remarried and the family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where he attended high school. At the age of 18, Jim signed a $50,000 bonus contract with the Orioles. Although offered a scholarship to play basketball at UCLA, Jim signed with the Orioles in 1963 as a free agent, a wise decision that was to bring him superstar status. His 21-year career as a pitcher is remarkable since he played only for the Baltimore Orioles and earned many club records, including most wins, completed games, strikeouts, walks and shutouts.

In 1966, Jim became the youngest player ever to pitch a World Series shutout game. He was the winningest pitcher in the American League in the 1970s. His 2.86 ERA is fourth on the all time list. He's recognized as being the only pitcher in history who had won a World Series game in each of three decades. Jim joins Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux as the only pitchers who have won the Cy Young Award at least three times. After amassing 268 victories in a 20 year association with the Orioles, Jim asked for his release in May 1984. However, retirement was not one of the options he contemplated.

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