The rise and fall of two pitchers
Just nine days before his 21st birthday, future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer becomes the youngest pitcher to throw a shutout in the World Series 59 years ago today as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Dodgers 6-0 in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series in Los Angeles.
Palmer allows only four hits and three walks, while striking out six Dodgers.
In all, Palmer throws 124 pitches, 76 of which are strikes, to the 34 batters he faces.
Sandy Koufax in his final game
After working out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, Palmer never allows the Dodgers more than one baserunner in any inning for the rest of the Thursday afternoon game before a crowd of 55,947 at Dodger Stadium.
The losing pitcher in the game is Sandy Koufax, who unbeknownst to all at the time will retire after the ’66 Series at the mere age of 30.
Neither Palmer nor Koufax pitches again in the Series, which the Orioles sweep in four games.
“I didn’t have any trouble sleeping the night before the game,” Palmer later writes in his book, Nine Innings to Success.
“Despite the enormity of the situation, I felt an inner calmness. The whole thing had a surreal quality to it. I wanted to enjoy the experience, not feel stressed out about it.”
Less than six years later, Koufax is inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Jim Palmer, center, celebrates after Game 2 with future Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, left, and Frank Robinson
That same summer of ’72 when Koufax is inducted into the Hall of Fame, Palmer posts the third of his four straight 20-win seasons – a feat not even the great Koufax ever accomplishes during his meteoric, 12-year career.
Like Koufax, Palmer pitches in four World Series and, like, Koufax, he also wins four games over those four Series.
“It’s about perfect practice,” Palmer says of the postseason. “It’s about preparation. It’s about being able to relax. The same things you do in the regular season.
“Nothing changes in the postseason, if you don’t change it, other than the spotlight is a little brighter.”
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