Baltimore Orioles: Top ten pitchers in franchise history

Courtesy of Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Palmer – I mentioned him above, and yes admittedly I said that these pitchers were in no particular order. However any list of the greatest pitchers in Orioles’ history begins and ends with the great Jim Palmer. A member of the MLB Hall of Fame class of 1990, Palmer pitched 19 years in the majors – all with the O’s. He started World Series games in three different decades, finished his career with a 2.86 ERA, and had a win percentage of .638.

When you think of the level of par by which we judge today’s pitchers in terms of success today, that 2.68 ERA looks pretty impressive. With Palmer, we’re dealing with one of the greatest pitchers of all-time in baseball history, not just with the O’s. One of his more impressive feats that you won’t see on paper is that throughout his entire career, he never threw a grand slam. Again, that’s a pretty impressive feat.

Palmer was drafted by the O’s in the first ever MLB draft in 1965, and was a member of the great 1971 rotation which featured four twenty-game winners (including him). Again, if there’s someone else in the history of the franchise who’s a better pitcher than Jim Palmer, I’d be interested in seeing him!

Next: Mike Cuellar