Earl Weaver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earl Sidney Weaver (born August 14, 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former Major League Baseball manager. He spent his entire managerial career with the Baltimore Orioles, managing the club from 1968-1982 and 1985-1986. Between his stints as manager Weaver served as a color commentator for ABC television, calling the 1983 World Series (which included the Orioles) along with Al Michaels and Howard Cosell.
During his tenure as manager, the Orioles won six Eastern Division titles, four American League pennants, and a World Series championship. Weaver's managerial record is 1,480-1,060 (.583), including five 100-win seasons.
Weaver holds the dubious distinction of being ejected from more games than anyone in American League history, with 98 ejections to his credit. He was also notorious for giving profanity-laced interviews.
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| Earl Weaver is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Weaver's nickname was the Earl of Baltimore. He also wrote a book called Weaver on Strategy.
Weaver pioneered the use of radar guns to track the velocity of pitches during the 1972 spring training season.
In 1987 Weaver provided the AI for the computer game Earl Weaver Baseball, which was published by Electronic Arts. The game was one of the precursors of the EA Sports line.
Weaver the player was a right-handed hitting and throwing infielder in the farm system of the St. Louis Cardinals who never played an inning of Major League Baseball. His Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, who battled with Weaver on a regular basis, once noted: "The only thing that Earl knows about pitching is he couldn't hit it." After Palmer's skills began to decline and he was no longer a regular starter, Weaver defended his actions by claiming he'd given Palmer more chances than his ex-wife.
Weaver joined the Orioles in 1957 as skipper of their Fitzgerald club in the Class D Georgia-Florida League, where his team finished nine games under .500; he would never again have a losing season as a minor league pilot. He was promoted to the Orioles as their first-base coach in 1968, and spent a half-season in that role before taking the managerial reins in July.
[edit] Quotes
[edit] External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Baseball-Reference.com - career managing record
- [1] - Audio of Earl Weaver's Infamous Radio Appearance
| Preceded by: Hank Bauer |
Baltimore Orioles Manager 1968-1982 |
Succeeded by: Joe Altobelli |
| Preceded by: Joe Altobelli |
Baltimore Orioles Manager 1985-1986 |
Succeeded by: Cal Ripken, Sr. |
