In 1993, Jim Palmer was, as he has been for the past three-plus decades, an Orioles broadcaster. That year, Peter Angelos and a group of investors purchased the Orioles for a record $173 million, and a new career path opened.
In early August, by Palmer's recollection, with the Orioles 11 games above .500 under third-year manager Johnny Oates, David Bernstein reached out to Palmer, his neighbor. The Duty Free International chairman and member of Angelos' ownership group told Palmer that Angelos wanted to meet him at Boccaccio, the Little Italy restaurant.
They went to lunch, and Angelos started grousing about Oates.