At 80, Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer eats his first chicken wing: ‘Actually, these are pretty good’

Jim Palmer is a man of his word.

He said he’d eat a chicken wing if the Orioles hit a grand slam during a game he broadcasted, and by golly, he ate a chicken wing.

Wait, what?

Yes, Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher, said he had never eaten a chicken wing before Thursday. He had never seen a reason before to eat one. That baffled Mid-Atlantic Sports Network play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Brown last April.

“You have never had… Wait a minute,” Brown said. “You have never had a chicken wing?!”

“No, why would I?” Palmer said. “Don’t they have skin and stuff?”

Palmer wouldn’t budge on air last year, but he did leave a path open to finally eating a chicken wing.

“I’ll tell you what, if they hit another grand slam while I am broadcasting, I will make sure I eat a chicken wing,” Palmer said. “If they do it tonight, I definitely will.”

“So that’s what it’s gonna take,” Brown replied. “All right, scout’s honor. I want you to stare into that camera and tell the people of Baltimore, the people of Earth, what you are going to do.”

“I will eat a chicken wing,” Palmer assured. “One. If they hit another grand slam. It could be tonight, but it doesn’t have to be tonight.”

Well, the Orioles hit not one, but two grand slams in the first game of the doubleheader. The first from Adley Rutschman popped out of Astros center fielder Brice Matthews’ glove and fell over the fence, but Jeremiah Jackson’s blast cleared the wall without incident.

So Palmer, in his 80th year, faced a chicken wing. In a text message, Brown said the wings were made in-house by Levy Restaurants, the food provider at Camden Yards.

When Palmer bit into the chicken wing, the first observation was one of uncertainty.

“It’s a lot of skin,” Palmer said. “They’re greasy, by the way.”

But a few moments later, Palmer appeared to come around.

“Actually, these are pretty good,” he said. “Look at what I missed all these years.”

Brown quipped: “Look at that! I do like green eggs and ham. Thank you, thank you, Sam I Am.”

But in a follow-up text message to The Banner, Palmer indicated he won’t be ordering a plate of wings anytime soon.

“Our offense was better than the wing. I’m not a skin guy, prefer skinless chicken,” he wrote. “Well worth the trauma of eating them for a win. Better news, never have to do it again.”