Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine: The Twenty-Year Friendship of Hall of Fame Pitcher Jim Palmer and Orioles Manager Earl Weaver

by Jim Palmer, Jim Dale

The story of the prickly friendship between Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer and team manager Earl Weaver recalls their frequent bouts of shouting, threats, pouting, and more that marked their record-making professional relationship. 100,000 first printing.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction, Biography

169 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Jim Palmer


James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He won three Cy Young Awards and four Gold Gloves. He is the only pitcher in history to earn a win in a World Series game in three different decades. He is also the youngest to pitch a complete-game shutout in a World Series, doing so nine days before his 21st birthday in 1966, in which he defeated Sandy Koufax in Koufax's last appearance. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990.

Since his retirement as an active player in 1984, Palmer has worked as a color commentator on telecasts of MLB games for ABC and ESPN and for the Orioles on Home Team Sports (HTS), Comcast SportsNet (CSN) Mid-Atlantic and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).

source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Nick Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to use inter-library loan to track down a copy but it was well worth the wait. A wonderful unofficial companion piece to The Last Manager by Jon Miller. Palmer and Weaver ARE the Baltimore Orioles.

[Pk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Brought back
A lot of memories of Oriole baseball and some of my favorite players.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a times confusing, but Palmer has a sense of humor.

[David Ambrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing I wanted out of this book was Jim Palmer's take on the 1979 World Series, but the only thing he wrote about it was that he didn't want to talk about it.

[Anup Sinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly an entertainingly quick read for a diehard baseball fan sentimental to the era and the team. Jim Palmer is pretty much a straight-shooter and I certainly have a different image of him as well as of Earl Weaver!

Many of us, especially those too young to have judged then, think Earll Weaver must have been a great manager given all the wins. This is only Palmer's perspective, but I couldn't help but wonder if he actually underachieved with an incredible cast of talent. His tactics were sure questionable, especially with pitching.

Lots of good stories though I was disappointed Palmer did not discuss or reminisce on the 1979 World Series at all, which was the first I ever watched and probably my favorite.

As the title suggests, the book was much more about their manager-player relationship than even about his career or his teammates.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a really enjoyable and quick read. it was a bit before my time as a fan, and I never realized how intertwined Jim and earl's careers were. when I was nearly finished, I turned to the front page to see when it was written, and was surprised to find that my copy was autographed. it's a shame I'm not a Danny or a Kate.