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Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer did not eat a chicken wing for the first 80 years of his life. That has now been remedied.
Plus: Munetaka Murakami is thriving in Chicago, Jayson Stark has a bold claim about Mason Miller and our Baseball Card of the Week would like you to smell this curveball, please. I’m Levi Weaver, welcome to The Windup!
Pay Up: Palmer tries his first-ever (!) chicken wing
It was no “Mike Blowers predicts Matt Tuiasosopo’s first career home run” (what ever could be?) but we had a moment in the Orioles’ booth yesterday that caused me to hit rewind.
Let’s start way back on April 15, 2025. Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher, was doing color commentary for an Orioles game and made a stunning admission: “Do you know I’ve never had a (chicken) wing? Ever?”
Play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown was as shocked as you are right now. Their exchange went like this:
“What do you mean you’ve never had a wing?”
“Never, ever had a wing … why would I?”
“You’ve never had a single chicken wing?”
“No, never thought about having one.”
“That is staggering.”
The next night, Brown had a dozen wings delivered to the booth, along with some chicken tenders. Palmer accepted a tender, but said he didn’t want a wing, for reasons I cannot even begin to understand.
Bet or bit, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference, but ultimately, inspired by Jackson Holliday’s grand slam, Palmer agreed: The next time the Orioles hit a grand slam — as long as he was working the game — he would try a chicken wing.
Between then and yesterday, the Orioles had hit four. But Palmer wasn’t working any of those games. Then yesterday, with the Orioles leading the Astros 1-0 in the first game of a doubleheader, and Palmer in the booth, Adley Rutschman did the thing. Astros center fielder Brice Matthews almost robbed it, but couldn’t hang on to the ball. Grand slam.
Brown didn’t miss a beat, ending the call with, “And we need to get you a chicken wing!!”
Coincidentally, before a wing could even be located, Jeremiah Jackson hit the Orioles’ second grand slam of the day. But in the eighth inning, the moment finally came: At 80 years old, Palmer ate his first chicken wing. Ever.
“Actually, these are pretty good,” he said between bites. “Look at what I’ve missed all these years.”
No kidding, Jim. Why do you think everyone was so shocked?
Anyway, the Orioles won 10-3, and then the Astros came back and took the second game of the doubleheader, 11-5.
Middle Relief: Stark on Miller’s unhitability
Today, Jayson Stark dives deep into the numbers and posits that over his recent scoreless streak, Mason Miller is the most unhittable pitcher in baseball history. Take it away, Jayson …
Has it hit you yet what we’re watching? Has it sunk in what is happening when Miller takes the mound to finish off another thank-you-and-drive-home-safely baseball game in San Diego?
We are watching the most unhittable pitcher who ever lived. Period.
There. I said it. And now I’m here to prove it.
I’ve looked at everyone who ever had a case to hold that title: Nolan Ryan … Aroldis Chapman … Josh Hader … Edwin Díaz … Craig Kimbrel … Mariano Rivera … Eric Gagne … Pedro Martínez … Randy Johnson … Jacob deGrom … Sandy Koufax … Walter Johnson … and on and on.
I’ve talked to two of the greatest closers of modern times, Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner. I’ve dug deep into every number that could shape this argument.
It has all pointed me right back to the same place: Miller, the Padres closer, is the most unhittable pitcher who ever lived. Fortunately, I had no trouble finding two Hall of Fame closers who were right there with me.
“I don’t think that’s even an opinion,” said Wagner, a man who owns a plaque in Cooperstown because he should have a place in this debate. “I think until somebody says, ‘I can prove you wrong,’ the stats say you’re right.”
“I don’t think the numbers are lying,” said Hoffman, who must have been pretty good since MLB’s best National League reliever trophy (the Trevor Hoffman Award) is named after him. “What was that guy’s name, Sidd Finch — the fictitious reliever (that Sports Illustrated once made up) who threw, like, 110 (mph)? That was fiction, but Mason’s real. And outside of Sidd Finch, I think Mason might be the most unhittable pitcher ever.”
So there you go. Outside of a not-even-real dude who Sports Illustrated once slapped on its magazine cover as an April Fools joke in 1985, this is not even a contest. Really.
First off, it is great to have two Hall of Famers on your side when you’re making pronouncements like this. Otherwise, you people might be tempted to dash off a bunch of nasty remarks in the comments section. Glad we headed that off in this newsletter (ha ha).
But second, I honestly am prepared to prove this theory. It isn’t even that hard. Just check out these numbers for yourself.
I started with Miller’s appearance on Aug. 6, 2025 — the day after his final run allowed last year — and kept counting until he finally gave up another run four days ago. Now get a whiff of Miller’s Sidd Finch-ian numbers in between. Unlike Sports Illustrated, I didn’t make any of these up:
Opposing hitters went 7-for-127 (.055), with 87 strikeouts
Let’s repeat that: 87 strikeouts … and … seven hits
He faced 141 hitters. Not one of them scored
39 straight games with zero extra-base hits allowed
39 straight games without ever allowing more than one hit
“Ridiculous,” Hoffman said, literally laughing out loud when I read him those numbers. “I’d be hard-pressed to see someone do that with a Wiffle Ball.”
(To read the rest, click here!)
Big Swings: Murakami’s hot bat
It was a shocker when Murakami signed his first MLB contract this winter, for a couple of reasons. First, the fact that he signed for just two years and $34 million, which was well below initial projections.
As a direct result of his price coming down that far, we got our second surprise: The White Sox? The team that had lost a combined 223 games over the previous two years?
Well, they’re probably going to lose a few less this year, thanks in large part to Murakami, who is tied with Aaron Judge and Yordan Álvarez atop the league’s home run leaderboard, with 12.
He’s also near the top of the leaderboard in strikeouts. That’s not a surprise, either. The proclivity for swing-and-miss was part of what cooled his market this winter. But even with a strikeout rate of nearly 34 percent, his on-base percentage is .375, thanks to an abundance of walks.
He’s the platonic ideal of a three-true-outcomes player. But it’s working, and as Jon Greenberg writes today, it’s making White Sox GM Chris Getz look pretty smart.
Baseball Card of the Week: 1979 Topps Tom House
You probably know Tom House as one of the godfathers of modern pitching analytics. But the reason I picked this card is because it looks like he’s showing his curveball grip to someone who claims to be able to identify different pitches by their smell, but — surprise! — I don’t see any stitches on that ball; do you mean to tell me you smelled curveball, but didn’t think to mention he was holding a cue ball?! Get out of here, man.
Handshakes and High Fives
Don’t look now, but the Phillies are 3-0 in the Don Mattingly era. The second two wins came yesterday, both walk-offs, and reliever Chase Shugart became the first pitcher since Brian Duensing in 2013 to win both games of a doubleheader.
No such luck for the Mets.
In Tyler Kepner’s “Sliders” column, we start with Kyle Harrison finding his mojo in Milwaukee, and ends with a classic baseball blooper.
Rough week to be a former can’t-miss White Sox prospect. On Wednesday, the Blue Jays DFA’d Eloy Jiménez, then yesterday, the Mets placed Luis Robert, Jr. on the IL with “lumbar spine disc herniation.”
As it turns out, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” could also be a message of empathy from Liverpool fans to Red Sox fans, regarding their frustration with aloof owner John Henry.
When Craig Counsell won his 900th game as a manager, he was punished for it in the most Chicago way imaginable.
We love a good walk-through. This time, it’s Guardians outfielder Angel Martínez, who walks Zack Meisel through the 11-pitch at-bat that resulted in his second home run against Max Scherzer.
Streak check:
A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz extended his streak to 19 straight games with a walk, tying Ted Williams (1941) for third-best, all time. Next up: Barry Bonds (20 games, 2002-2003).
Diamondbacks infielder Ildemaro Vargas got two hits, meaning he has a 23-game hitting streak to start the season. On the “to start a season” list, that’s tied for seventh-best with Edgar Renteria (Braves, 2006). Next up: Charlie Grimm of the 1925 Pirates (25 games).
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: You were as curious as everyone else about the incongruity between Fernando Tatis Jr. hitting the ball harder than anyone, but having no home runs to show for it.
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