Mike Palm (baseball)

Mike Palm (February 13, 1925 – July 24, 2011) was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the 1948 season. Listed at 6' 3", 190 lb., he batted and threw right-handed.[1]

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Palm is one of relatively few Red Sox players to have been born in the city of Boston. He was christened Richard Paul, but later legally changed his name to Mike.[2]

Palm was signed by the Red Sox while still in high school. The family moved to Belmont after Palm finished ninth grade at Belmont High School. Often striking out as many as 18 batters in a game, he earned an invitation to one of the school prospects tryouts that Hall of Famer Hugh Duffy hosted at Fenway Park. Assigned to the Allentown team of the Interstate League after graduation and awaiting induction into the Army, Palm saw only a couple of weeks of duty. During World War II, he spent two and a half years in the United States Army Air Corps, serving first at an airport in Casablanca, then in India for six months after the Japanese surrender, forgoing baseball for both 1944 and 1945.[3]

Following his discharge, Palm pitched in the minor leagues from 1946 to 1948 before joining the Red Sox late in 1948. In three relief appearances, he posted a 6.00 earned run average with one strikeout and five walks in 3.0 innings of work. He did not have a decision or saves.[1]

Palm later played three years in the minors, retiring in 1951. In a seven-season career, he had a 54–43 record and a 3.75 ERA in 152 pitching appearances.[4]

After leaving baseball, Palm started a career in the printing business working for several different firms until he started his own corporation, Palm Associates, where he worked until his retirement in the 1990s. In 2011, he was inducted into the Belmont High School Hall of Fame for his outstanding pitching record and performance while playing baseball, averaging 18 strikeouts per game. He also was the recipient of many awards his senior year including the Boston Post All Scholastic Award in 1943, one of the highest honors given in high school baseball at the time.[5]

Palm was a long-time resident of Scituate, Massachusetts, where he died at the age of 86.