Jim Palmer lawsuit: Why Hall of Fame pitcher is suing former friend

Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer is a Baltimore Orioles legend. Boasting a tremendous career and the accolades to prove it, Palmer is making headlines due to a lawsuit he has filed against a former friend.

Palmer alleges that a hair stylist, Warren Michael Holmes, befriended his family before defrauding them of around $1 million. The suit has been filed in Superior Court in Orange County, California and a court appearance is set for Feb.22.

According to Palmer, Holmes befriended his autistic stepson, Spencer, and after a period of close friendship was named Spencer’s guardian and trust manager. Holmes allegedly misrepresented himself, pretending to be a well-known British hairstylist. As such, Jim and Susan Palmer (his wife) loaned him a total of $985,000 to start a line of beauty products.

The suit accuses Holmes of breaching business and personal loan contracts, as well as negligent misrepresentation, fraud in the inducement and also unjust enrichment.

Susan Palmer has a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, which her mother suffered, while Jim Palmer is 78 years old.

“We understand people are going to think we are the most gullible people on the face of the earth,” Susan told The Athletic. “Well, OK. I just want to make sure he doesn’t do this again.”

Jim Palmer said the following to The Athletic:

“Whether (Holmes) hoodwinked us or not, there is no way in the world he could have without ingratiating himself into our family and giving us the feeling that if anything happened to me — because I’m 21 years older than Susan — and then Susan had some kind of memory issue or whatever, that he was going to take care of Spencer.

“That’s priceless. I’m not saying (it gives you) the right to steal a million dollars. But the bottom line is, emotionally, physically, we helped him. We funded the money to supposedly realize his dream, to allow him to be what he wanted to be. And then he just disappeared.”

Jim Palmer's MLB accolades, career earnings and net worth

Jim Palmer had a long career with the Baltimore Orioles, playing for the franchise between 1965 and 1984. A six-time All-Star, Palmer won three World Series, three AL Cy Young Awards and four Gold Glove Awards.

Palmer was the AL wins leader three times, the AL ERA leader twice and pitched a no-hitter in 1969. He retired during the 1984 season and the Orioles named him to their Hall of Fame and retired his No. 22 jersey. Palmer was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, which was his first year of eligibility.

During his career, Jim Palmer earned $1.6 million and has a net worth of $3 million today (figures via Celebrity Net Worth).