Jim Palmer played for Earl Weaver and knew firsthand Weaver’s belief that hitting batters as retaliation made no sense, and in conversation Friday afternoon he quickly recalled the anecdote that best exemplified Weaver’s perspective.
Grant Jackson, a pitcher, joined the Orioles through a trade, and he had not been indoctrinated with what was referred to as the Oriole Way. Palmer recalls that when Jackson reflexively fired a pitch at an opposing hitter, Weaver went to the mound and pointed at Baltimore’s third baseman, Brooks Robinson, and asked Jackson rhetorically: Who is better -- our guy, or their guy?