Ike Palmer

Isaac Benjamin Palmer

• Bats Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School University of Central Arkansas
• High School Conway (AR) High School

• Born June 11, 1924 in Greenbrier, AR USA
• Died April 22, 2014 in Lubbock, TX USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Ike Palmer had a 12-year minor league career, spent mostly in the high-offense West Texas-New Mexico League.

After serving in the Army during World War II, Palmer began playing for the WTNML's Lamesa Lobos in 1946, with whom he remained until 1948. In his first year with the team, he hit .282 with 16 home runs, 138 hits and a .449 slugging percentage in 130 games. The next year, he improved to .345/?/.545 with 16 home runs, 40 doubles, 192 hits and 292 total bases in 139 games. Despite his outwardly impressive statistics, he did not rank particularly high on any leaderboards that year due to the league's high-flying nature. In 1948, he hit .344/?/.475 with 6 home runs, 37 doubles and 175 hits in 123 games.

Moving to the Clovis Pioneers in 1949, Palmer hit .369/?/.577 with 212 hits, 18 home runs, 53 doubles and 331 total bases. He placed second in the league in hits, behind Roberto Fernandez's 241, and doubles, behind Fernandez's 56. In 1950, with the South Atlantic League's Macon Peaches, Palmer hit .277/?/.448 in 95 games. In 1951, he hit a combined .306/?/.455 with 10 home runs and 152 hits in 133 games between Macon (.220/?/.325, 1 HR, 27 H, 37 G) and the WTNML's Lubbock Hubbers (.334/?/.497, 9 HR, 125 H, 96 G). He returned to Lubbock in 1952 and hit .351/?/.531 with 12 home runs, 62 doubles, 200 hits and 302 total bases in 141 games. He led the league in doubles that season.

In 1953, Palmer hit .367/?/.622 with 23 home runs, 56 doubles, 201 hits and 340 total bases in 138 games for the Abilene Blue Sox. He was third in the WTNML in doubles. With the Borger Gassers and Pampa Oilers in 1954, Palmer hit a combined .364/?/.625 with 28 home runs, 52 doubles and 199 hits in 139 games. He led the league in games, was third in hits, second in doubles (behind Doug Lewis' 54) and second in total bases (behind Donald Stokes' 341). With the Plainview Ponies in 1955, Palmer hit .406/?/.710 with 39 home runs, 46 doubles, 228 hits and 399 total bases in 140 games. He tied for the league lead in games played, was the sole leader in hits, finished third in doubles, was first in batting average, first in slugging (among players with 100+ games played) and first in total bases.

Palmer moved to another high-offense league, the Southwestern League, in 1956 and hit .381/.424/.658 with 21 home runs, 124 RBI, 55 doubles, 11 triples, 108 runs scored, 193 hits, 333 total bases and a 1.082 OPS. He tied Jeff Williams for second in the league in doubles (behind Hernandez's 64) and was third in slugging percentage. He returned for a single game in 1957, playing with the Carolina League's Danville Leafs.

Overall, Palmer hit .348/?/.558 with 198 home runs, 483 doubles, 59 triples, 1,986 hits and 3,181 total bases in 1,442 games.

He also managed the Hubbers to a 63-79 record and a 6th-place finish in 1952 and in 1953, he began as the Blue Sox's skipper, was replaced by Hersh Martin, then retook the reigns to finish the campaign.