Speaker 1: It's a pleasure right now to be joined by a
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer and a man that obviously has great
Speaker 1: memories pitching here at Dodgers Stadium during the nineteen sixty
Speaker 1: six World Series, and that is Orioles broadcaster and one
Speaker 1: of the national broadcasters we grew up with in the
Speaker 1: eighties and nineties, and that is the great Jim Palmer.
Speaker 1: Truly an honor to speak to you.
Speaker 2: Well, great, that's great to be here. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: coming back here. We were here in twenty sixteen. It
Speaker 2: seems like it was in twenty nineteen, but it wasn't.
Speaker 2: And you know, we came here in sixty six. You know,
Speaker 2: of course the Dodgers. I grew up in New York
Speaker 2: and I was a Yankee fan, so that almost every
Speaker 2: World Series seemed like it was, you know, the Dodgers
Speaker 2: and the Yankees. Yankees won most of them. Dodgers did
Speaker 2: win in fifty five, and Don Larson, who pitched the
Speaker 2: perfect game in fifty six, was one of my teammates
Speaker 2: when I got to the big leagues in nineteen.
Speaker 3: So I was born in.
Speaker 2: New York, adopted moved a Whittier when my dad passed away.
Speaker 2: When I was nine and nineteen fifty five, and then
Speaker 2: we came to Beverly Hill was in nineteen fifty six.
Speaker 2: So I used to go to I used to go
Speaker 2: to Coliseum, and then I would when I moved to
Speaker 2: Arizona to go to high school. Dodgers actually wanted me
Speaker 2: to sign, but it was a year before the draft,
Speaker 2: and they said, listen, go to sc and I went
Speaker 2: to actually the backyard barbecue with Rod Dato and they said,
Speaker 2: you know, go there for a year.
Speaker 3: We'll shine you the next year.
Speaker 2: And I said, well, I have other teams interested, and
Speaker 2: they signed Jeff Torborg, who's a great guy, instead of me.
Speaker 2: And then you know that, of course the Dodgers we
Speaker 2: played him in sixty six in the World Series. They
Speaker 2: had won in sixty three and they beat the Yankees
Speaker 2: sixty three. They beat the Twins in sixty five, so
Speaker 2: when we came out here, we were the underdogs. And
Speaker 2: you know the irony is because of the Jewish holidays.
Speaker 2: Sandy kofax So was what twenty seven and seven that
Speaker 2: year with a one night era. He didn't pitch game one,
Speaker 2: so I ended up you know, pitching game two, Game one, Brooks,
Speaker 2: Robinson and Frank Robinson hit home runs in the first inning.
Speaker 3: Off John Drysdale.
Speaker 2: But I'm twenty years old, and I'm thinking, you know,
Speaker 2: we really don't have much of a chance, you know,
Speaker 2: first time we'd ever been in the World Series. I said, well,
Speaker 2: maybe we do. And then Dave McNally started struggled. Motorbowski
Speaker 2: came in and struck out eleven Dodgers in six and
Speaker 2: two thirds innings, one of the great performances in relief.
Speaker 2: And I'm sitting there at twenty, and you know, I
Speaker 2: was a fasketball curveball pitcher. I tow real hard, but
Speaker 2: sometimes it went over, sometimes it didn't. And I'm going
Speaker 2: to pitch against Sandy Kovacs and I go, I just
Speaker 2: don't want to embarrass myself.
Speaker 3: And as it turned out, it was nothing. Nothing. Going
Speaker 3: to the fifth inning, Willie.
Speaker 2: Davis dropped the fly ball, dropped another one, and it
Speaker 2: wasn't particularly every sunny, but it was you know, the
Speaker 2: you know, kind of the you know, June gloom, but
Speaker 2: it was in October. Picked up the second one through
Speaker 2: in the stands. We got some under and runs. You know,
Speaker 2: I think they made six errors in that game. We
Speaker 2: won six. Nothing went to Baltimore one won nothing, one nothing,
Speaker 2: and walked out of Memorial Stadium in Baltimore world champs.
Speaker 2: It was it was, I mean, it was so surreal
Speaker 2: that we could not only beat the Dodgers, but some
Speaker 2: win four in a row. And you know, they didn't
Speaker 2: have a great offense and they were mostly about pitching.
Speaker 2: Get wills on. You know, Tommy Davis, who eventually played
Speaker 2: with us, was one of the great hitters, broke his ankle,
Speaker 2: so they didn't have a great offense, but they usually
Speaker 2: beat you because they didn't beat themselves. In my game,
Speaker 2: they beat themselves. And then how often do you have
Speaker 2: won nothing ball games? You know, in their World Series,
Speaker 2: But we were able to do that. Wally Bunker who
Speaker 2: had been rookie pitch of the Year, but it had
Speaker 2: some arm problems, and then Dave bing Ally came back
Speaker 2: from struggling in Game one, one nothing, and you're World Champs.
Speaker 3: Jim.
Speaker 1: I heard my whole life growing up in the San
Speaker 1: Fernando Valley about those airs by Willie Davis, who everybody
Speaker 1: was shocked that he had those airs. Could you feel
Speaker 1: the momentum change in the World Series with those plays?
Speaker 3: Well, it changed the score of the game. You know,
Speaker 3: we had one game.
Speaker 2: I think we won Game one five to two, and
Speaker 2: they scored I think they scored in the second or
Speaker 2: third inning and never scored another run. You know, but
Speaker 2: again it was a four game series as it turned out. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but you know, I mean Sandy, I think through twenty
Speaker 2: three of the first twenty five pitches for strikes. I mean,
Speaker 2: even Sandy Kopex, I hit against him, you know. I
Speaker 2: mean as a kid, I used to come to Dodger
Speaker 2: Stadium and watch him pitch, and you know, I saw
Speaker 2: him on television. I saw him in the World Series.
Speaker 2: But once again, I mean, you know, he throws it
Speaker 2: at your fastball and it starts in the lobby and
Speaker 2: ends up in the mezzanine. And then when you fail,
Speaker 2: oh well, you know, and I was pretty good hitter,
Speaker 2: I go, I better get a little bit quicker, and
Speaker 2: I use Frank Robbins as our one sixty one, and
Speaker 2: I go, and now all of a sudden, the same
Speaker 2: pitch that you thought was a fastball went end up
Speaker 2: in the lower basement because it was a curveball. John
Speaker 2: Rosebery would catch her on the ground. And that's why
Speaker 2: Cofex was Copex.
Speaker 1: Jim, I'm curious, when you come back to Dodgers Stadium,
Speaker 1: can you see yourself here? Because the ballpark was only
Speaker 1: four or five years old when you pitched here in
Speaker 1: the sixty six World Series. When you come back here,
Speaker 1: do you have those visions still?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, you know, once again, I mean that's
Speaker 2: so long ago. My parents had come over from Arizona.
Speaker 2: I had relatives here. You know, when you're twenty years
Speaker 2: old and you're playing in your first World Series, it
Speaker 2: I mean, you're it's hard to be in the moment,
Speaker 2: you know. And I you know, we I played on
Speaker 2: a lot of really good teams. I mean, from sixty
Speaker 2: five to eighty four, the Ools had the best winning
Speaker 2: percentage in baseball. We were in six World Series, only
Speaker 2: won three of them, but we were in them. You know,
Speaker 2: a lot of playoffs, played with some of the greatest
Speaker 2: players that ever played. And you know, I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: my first roommates, Robin Roberts, he had two hundred and
Speaker 2: seventy wins and it ended up with two hundred and
Speaker 2: eighty six. You know, Frank Robinson won the Triple ground
Speaker 2: in sixty six when we beat the Dodgers. Roox Robinson
Speaker 2: sixteen gold gloves. I played with Cal Junior who played
Speaker 2: twenty six hundred and thirty two games. Our first baseman
Speaker 2: was Buck Powow with three fifty or Eddie Murray one
Speaker 2: of the seven guys that had over five hundred home
Speaker 2: runs in three thousand hits. You know, Blamser won eight
Speaker 2: gold gloves, is Short Blair one ecold gloves.
Speaker 3: Don Vievers, who's.
Speaker 2: From the valley, went to sc was one of the greatest,
Speaker 2: you know, greatest leadoff hitters from sixty nine when we
Speaker 2: won one hundred, nine hundred and eight hundred and one
Speaker 2: games played on the staff that had four twenty game
Speaker 2: winners in seventy one three in nineteen seventy. So you know,
Speaker 2: when I come out here, it's a different game. You know,
Speaker 2: they've draw it seems like more people that you know.
Speaker 2: I ran into jannit Marie Smith, who was the architect
Speaker 2: who built Kimden Yards, and she was telling me how
Speaker 2: much foul territory they used to have and now they're seats.
Speaker 3: So this was you know, everybody said this was a
Speaker 3: great base to pitch.
Speaker 2: You add another what forty five fifty sixty feet of
Speaker 2: vowel territory, no wonder. Kopaxa, Drivesdale loved to pitch here.
Speaker 2: And you know Don Sutton, you know, won over three
Speaker 2: hundred games, So you know, the Dodgers have a great organization.
Speaker 2: They always have. I grew up in you know, again
Speaker 2: in New York, where you had you know, Dodgers had Snyder,
Speaker 2: the you know, the Giants had Maze. You know, the
Speaker 2: Yankees had Demaggio and Mantle. Was the only time in
Speaker 2: the history of baseball where you had three teams in
Speaker 2: the same metropolitan area. So I come out here, I
Speaker 2: look at the Dodgers. It's hard not to because they
Speaker 2: won what eleven and I have the last twelve, you know, divisions,
Speaker 2: it's hard not They're kind of like what Atlanta did.
Speaker 2: And you know, obviously you know Dave Roberts is a
Speaker 2: terrific guy, you know, and again, I mean I remember
Speaker 2: his stolen base when they you know, when the Red
Speaker 2: Sox came back from being down three nothing. And you know,
Speaker 2: I love the Yankees when I grew up, and then
Speaker 2: I was thirty and sixteen against him. Once you become
Speaker 2: a baseball player, you want to beat him because they're
Speaker 2: kind of the gold standard in the American League. So
Speaker 2: you know, we come out here and who's the gold
Speaker 2: standard in the National League The Dodgers.
Speaker 3: And we were you know, we won last night three
Speaker 3: to two.
Speaker 2: We need wins their lead and they have as good
Speaker 2: a record as anybody we have, you know, a bunch
Speaker 2: of injuries. They lost what fifteen hundred and eighty six
Speaker 2: games to injuries this year. So when you come out
Speaker 2: here and then you know here, I mean what they
Speaker 2: were fifty two thousand and now it's o'shawn, you know, Showhee, O'johnny.
Speaker 2: And I look at and I saw o'donnie take batting
Speaker 2: practice last year in Anaheim, and I you know, I
Speaker 2: saw Mays and I saw him mantle and I'm going,
Speaker 2: nobody hits the ball as far as show he does.
Speaker 2: And you know, and I saw him when he came
Speaker 2: up and he started pitching. Because Mike Soshi said, you know,
Speaker 2: he kind of has a similar wind up. I said, well,
Speaker 2: I didn't stand on the third base side. He needs
Speaker 2: to get in the middle of the of the rubber
Speaker 2: and now, which is where he pitches now when he pitches.
Speaker 2: So again, you know, they have some great players. You know,
Speaker 2: I know Freddie Freeman from Atlanta. You know, I knew
Speaker 2: Bookie Betts, who was one of the great players, you know,
Speaker 2: in the American League when he came up with the
Speaker 2: Red Sox. I saw him at a home run back
Speaker 2: in twenty fourteen, and I go, boy, does this kid
Speaker 2: have some bat speed?
Speaker 3: And you know what, he had lost a whole lot.
Speaker 1: One of the best players, Jim Palmer, hall of famer,
Speaker 1: first class all the way. We have a future Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer, certainly left hander with the Dodgers that you're
Speaker 1: not seeing in this series.
Speaker 2: When you went now, rewears that same number that I work,
Speaker 2: twenty two. Why he wears twenty two. But you know
Speaker 2: I got to the Ools at age nineteen and they
Speaker 2: gave me twenty two, And people said, why'd you wear it?
Speaker 2: I said, because if you get the big leagues at nineteen,
Speaker 2: you'll take any number they give you. But oh, you
Speaker 2: know Clayton's out here. You know, I had a chance
Speaker 2: to talk to him. I mean about seven eight years ago.
Speaker 2: We were behind the cage, and you know, I hope
Speaker 2: he you know, his shoulder recovers well, and you know,
Speaker 2: and he helps them, you know, get to the World
Speaker 2: Series or the playoffs. And you know again, I mean
Speaker 2: he's he's been a dominant left hander, and you know,
Speaker 2: he's he's kind of typical of maybe older pitchers and
Speaker 2: him he's not that old, but I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: he's had a lot of innings where you have to
Speaker 2: make some adjustments. You know, used to throw harder, but
Speaker 2: he still gets people out. You know, he's got a
Speaker 2: great break and ball. He knows how to pitch. And again,
Speaker 2: you know, when you play for the Dodgers, you got
Speaker 2: a great chance to win.
Speaker 1: Man Jim Palmer first class all the way. I feel
Speaker 1: like Hall of Famer doesn't do you justice. You are
Speaker 1: first class and you are a treasure to the game
Speaker 1: of baseball, and hopefully everybody, not only the fans, but
Speaker 1: the organization still values your input.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I've been there sixty one years in Baltimore,
Speaker 2: and you know they actually the former ownership Missus Angelo's.
Speaker 2: I have a step son with autism, and we have
Speaker 2: a place out in Orange County, you know, in Coronadel
Speaker 2: Mar which is Newport Beach, and when I was there
Speaker 2: fifty years, she gave me a check for fifty thousand
Speaker 2: dollars for autism. Last year blew my kids in I
Speaker 2: was there sixty years, gave me a check for sixty
Speaker 2: thousand dollars. So I think ownership, even though we have
Speaker 2: a new ownership, Dave Rubenstein is going to do a
Speaker 2: wonderful job, you know. You know, we have a really
Speaker 2: good organization, a lot of good young players. Small small
Speaker 2: market teams are you know, I think we're our payrolls
Speaker 2: about ninety three million this year and we're trying to
Speaker 2: compete with the Yankees and trying to be with the
Speaker 2: Red Sox, trying to compete with it in the Blue Jays.
Speaker 2: But again, I think I'm well appreciated, and like I
Speaker 2: said before, I had a chance to play with some
Speaker 2: of the greatest players that ever played. And I mean
Speaker 2: that's something you dream about, you know when I used
Speaker 2: to go to Yankee Stadium when I was nine years old.
Speaker 2: What's your greatest day ever? The day you go before
Speaker 2: Keller Television and you walk up that runway and you
Speaker 2: see how green the field is and the field's still green,
Speaker 2: especially here at Dodger Stadium. What a beautiful ballpark.
Speaker 1: Jim Palmer still got those baby blue eyes that we
Speaker 1: saw at twenty years old, and the sixty six World series.
Speaker 1: Hopefully it can be somewhat of a revisiting of the
Speaker 1: sixty six World Series with the Dodgers and Orioles Gym
Speaker 1: and you'll come back out.
Speaker 2: Well, you guys better be careful because we did win
Speaker 2: far or row. But again, you know, I mean, hey,
Speaker 2: like I said, if we got to the World Series again,
Speaker 2: you know, the last World Series was cal Ripken Junior's
Speaker 2: first World Series, you know, and he was, you know,
Speaker 2: twenty one or twenty two, just like I was. And
Speaker 2: he goes, you know, we're gonna have a lot and
Speaker 2: they haven't been back, so you know, again, hopefully that'll happen,
Speaker 2: and would be nice if it happened in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: But like I said, we've lost three or four pitchers
Speaker 2: to Tommy John and you know, we'll just we're gonna
Speaker 2: make do. And you know, we made some trades and
Speaker 2: we have a very competitive ball club. And I looked
Speaker 2: at last night's game and I'm going, how do we
Speaker 2: win that game? But we did, and hopefully tonight we
Speaker 2: have Corbyn Burns, who's had struggled the last three or
Speaker 2: four starts, but very very capable pitcher WHI twelve wins
Speaker 2: and you know, you know as well as I do,
Speaker 2: Walker Bueller. You know, before the Tommy John was one
Speaker 2: of the great pitchers in the National League. You know,
Speaker 2: he's thirty years old. Now he's struggling a little bit.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna have a pay game tonight, and I'm
Speaker 2: looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to hear your impressions of tonight's game
Speaker 1: when I see you tomorrow. What a great treat to
Speaker 1: be able to share you with Dodger fans, because I know,
Speaker 1: even though you were an oriole your entire career, everybody
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles and California obviously values and certainly respects
Speaker 1: what you've accomplished in your career, not only as a player,
Speaker 1: but as a broadcaster, first class all the way.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you for that. And I even had a
Speaker 2: Dodger dog last night. Yeah, I'm just why I'm smiling.
Speaker 3: Thanks a lot for the time, ja Oh, You're welcome.
Speaker 3: My pleasure.