since his retirement as an active player in 1984, palmer has worked as a color commentator on telecasts of mlb games for abc and espn and for the orioles on home team sports (hts), comcast sportsnet (csn) mid-atlantic and the mid-atlantic sports network (masn). he has also been a popular spokesman, most famously for jockey international for almost twenty years. he was nicknamed "cakes" in the 1960s because of his habit of eating pancakes for breakfast on the days he pitched.