Jim Palmer - Early Years

Early Years

Palmer was born in New York, New York; shortly after his birth, Palmer was adopted by Moe Wiesen, a garment industry executive, and his wife Polly from Harrison, New York. After his adoptive father died in 1955, the 9-year-old Jim, his mother and his sister moved to California, where he began playing in youth-league baseball. In 1956, his mother married actor Max Palmer, from whom Palmer took his last name. Showing talent at the amateur level, upon graduating from Arizona's Scottsdale High School in 1963, Palmer signed a minor-league contract at the age of 18. Before heading to the minor leagues, Palmer was initiated into the Sigma Chi Fraternity at Arizona State University, where he graduated in 1967.