Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 25, 1991                   TAG: 9102250026
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CLAIRE SMITH THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: SARASOTA, FLA.                                LENGTH: Medium

PALMER TAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD RELIVING GLORY DAYS

But Palmer, the 45-year-old right-hander, finished up his first day as a player since 1984 by admitting that trepidation existed the moment he stepped into the Orioles' complex and had almost prevented him from taking it at all.

In fact, on Wednesday, the day the Orioles extended an invitation to what they now hope will be their once-and-future pitcher, Palmer began drafting a note to the media as to why he would decline.

By Saturday, the clouds of doubt had dissipated, though, just as the clouds that threatened his momentous return did by midday. Palmer, looking less and less nervous as the day progressed, made good his promise to give a career he felt was prematurely ended another try.

With the new resolve, Palmer took his place alongside players less than half his age and worked with a manager, Frank Robinson, as well as several coaches who once teamed with him as far back as 1965.

Afterward, a smiling and confident Palmer told reporters: "I feel fine, just fine. I'm not the future of the Orioles, but I am here to try to make the ballclub and, if not, to try to have some impact on the players."

What made Palmer come back, he said, was a host of friends that would not let him back away from what is a novel attempt for baseball (three Hall of Famers returned to the National Hockey League: Dit Clapper, Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur).

The friends included Mike Flanagan, a former teammate who is also in camp at the invitation of the Orioles; Laser Collazo, the pitching coach at the University of Miami who worked with Palmer through the winter; fellow broadcaster Al Michaels, and the pitcher's wife, Joanie.

"Miami's pitching coach called and said that some of the pitchers I threw to said, `How could he possibly give it up?' " Palmer recalled with a smile. "I said, `Easy, I already wrote the note.' Then Al and my wife, they kind of convinced me, saying, `You've gone this far, why not try it?' "

The final argument Palmer said he could not ignore came from, of all places, the dance world. In search of inspiration, the pitcher read about the attempted comeback of 52-year-old ballet star Rudolph Nureyev.

In the article, Nureyev was said to have his doubts dismissed by a fellow dancer, Eric Bruhn, who, Palmer recalled, said: "The bottom line is why shouldn't I keep dancing? Everything I've done great has already been recorded in history. I mean, it's already been written down'."

Palmer, whose career record of 268-152 and lifetime earned-run average of 2.86 is engraved in bronze in Cooperstown, was finally convinced. "The point is, I don't think that the Orioles are going to let me embarrass myself," he said. "They certainly aren't going to let me do it during the season if I can't pitch to major-league specifications."

Palmer threw for 10 minutes. Throughout, he joked with the men in uniform when not fending his way through hundreds of fans who flocked his way whenever an autograph opportunity presented itself.

Palmer's familiar high leg kick was in evidence. So were the impeccable mechanics that had his catcher, Bob Melvin, marveling.

What was obviously lacking was the kind of velocity that poured so easily from the arms of youngsters such as Ben McDonald and Arthur Rhodes. Those two are considered the Orioles' future, a fact not lost on the Hall of Famer.

Palmer said his one request was that Rhodes, a left-hander who sports a 93 mph fastball, be put to his left on the row of practice mounds "so I didn't have to watch him."

"Was he throwing strikes?" Palmer asked with a laugh. The pitcher did not have to ask if Rhodes was throwing harder; the pop of the glove made that evident. "I'm going to have to borrow that glove tomorrow," he said.

Robinson, who watched Palmer throw, was asked what he was looking for in the pitcher. "Nothing," the manager said matter-of-factly. "What I mean is, if you do right away you have a tendency to find fault. So I tell that to all the pitchers."

Robinson said he also told Palmer: "Give yourself a chance. Don't be harsh or expect too much too soon."

Palmer said that all the manager did ask is that he give the experiment six weeks to run before making a decision about whether to stick with it or return to his second career as a broadcaster. Hershiser tunes up; Gooden softens stance.