Earl Weaver
Encyclopedia
Earl Sidney Weaver is a former Major League Baseball
manager
. He spent his entire 17-year managerial career with the Baltimore Orioles
(1968–1982; 1985–1986). Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996
.
in 1948 as a second baseman
. A slick fielder but never much of a hitter, he worked his way up to the Texas League
Houston Buffaloes
(two steps below the majors) in 1951, but never made the big club. Weaver was later traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates
organization, then moved on to the Orioles, where he began his managing career.
His Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer
, who battled with Weaver on a regular basis, once noted: "The only thing that Earl knows about a curve ball 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 my ex-wife." He has also directed such a remark at Mike Cuellar
, ace of the 1969 staff, and several other players.
club in the Georgia-Florida League
. The Orioles moved him to their Dublin, Georgia
franchise in 1958, and to their Aberdeen, South Dakota
club in 1959. 1960 found Weaver in Wisconsin managing the Fox Cities Foxes in the Class B Three-I League. He moved up to with the AA Elmira Pioneers
in 1962 and to the AAA Rochester Red Wings
in 1966.
As a minor league
pilot, he compiled a record of 841 wins and 697 defeats (.547) with three championships in 11½ seasons. 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.
During his tenure as big-league skipper, 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 100+ win seasons in 1969 (109), 1970 (108), 1971 (101), 1979 (102), and 1980 (100). He only had one losing season in his managerial career, with the 1986 Orioles.
In 1989, Weaver returned to managing, helming the Gold Coast Suns in new Senior Professional Baseball Association
. The Suns failed to make the playoffs in the 1989-90 season and folded after one season.
). Luciano alone ejected him from all four games of a minor-league series and eight games in the majors.
He also received four multiple-game suspensions. He was well known for the humor that often accompanied his ejections. During one particular tirade with an umpire, Weaver headed to the dugout screaming, "I'm going to check the rule-book on that" to which the umpire replied, "Here, use mine." Weaver shot back, "That's no good - I can't read Braille." He once told an umpire that he could appear on What's My Line?
wearing his mask, chest protector and ball/strike indicator and still nobody would guess he was an umpire.
Weaver had a penchant for kicking dirt on umpires, and for turning his cap backwards whenever he sparred with umpires in order to get as close to them as possible without actually touching them. His rivalry with Luciano was legendary, to the point where the AL rearranged umpiring schedules for an entire year so that Luciano would not work Orioles games. In the third inning of Luciano's first game in Baltimore a year later, he ejected Weaver—who then publicly questioned Luciano's "integrity" and received a three-game suspension. Still, Weaver had respect for Luciano, calling him "one of the few umpires that people have paid their way into the park to see."
Marty Springstead
was one of Weaver's least favorite umpires. On September 15, 1977, in Toronto, Weaver asked umpire Springstead to have a tarpaulin covering the Toronto Blue Jays
bullpen area removed; the tarp was weighed down by bricks and Weaver argued that his left fielder could be injured if he ran into the bricks while chasing a foul ball. When the umpire refused to order the Blue Jays to move the tarp, Weaver pulled the Orioles off the field, forcing the umpire to declare a forfeit: the only forfeit in Orioles history. On another infamous occasion, in Cleveland, Springstead watched as Weaver tore up the rule book and tossed it into the air.
One of Weaver's most infamous tirades came on September 17, 1980 in a game against the Detroit Tigers
. First base umpire Bill Haller
, who was wearing a microphone for a documentary on the daily life of an MLB umpire, called a balk
on Oriole pitcher Mike Flanagan. Weaver charged out of the dugout and began screaming at Haller, who was already angry at Weaver for publicly questioning his honesty by suggesting he be prohibited from working Tigers games because his brother was the Tigers' catcher. After Weaver was ejected, he launched into a profanity-filled argument with Haller that was duly recorded. Weaver's contempt for umpires was often mutual. One night in 1973 Weaver threw his cap to the ground and began a vehement argument with Luciano. Luciano's crew-mate Don Denkinger
walked over to Weaver's cap, stepped on it with the sharp cleats of both shoes, and slowly twisted back and forth.
" tactics such as the stolen base
, the hit and run
, or the sacrifice bunt, preferring a patient approach ("waiting for the home run"), saying "If you play for one run, that's all you'll get" and "On offense, your most precious possessions are your 27 outs". Weaver claims to have never had a sign for the hit and run
, citing that the play makes both the baserunner and the hitter vulnerable, as the baserunner is susceptible to being caught stealing and the hitter is required to swing at any pitch thrown no matter how far outside the strike zone or how unhittable the pitch is.
Weaver strongly believed in finishing as high in the standings as possible, even if a championship was not involved: In 1977, the Orioles entered the final weekend of the season tied for second place in the AL East with the Red Sox, three games behind the division-leading Yankees, to play a scheduled three-game series against the Red Sox in Boston, while the Yankees played three at home against Detroit. The Red Sox won the first game of the series, 11-10, on September 30, eliminating the Orioles from division title contention; however, after the game Weaver insisted, in an interview with a reporter, that "we're still trying to finish second." The following day, the Orioles won, 8-7, eliminating the Red Sox (the Yankees having lost on both days) and leaving the teams tied for second place headed into the series' and the season's final game, which was rained out, resulting in the Red Sox and Orioles finishing in a tie for second place.
Weaver also insisted that his players maintain a professional appearance at all times. He allowed mustaches, but not beards, and, as a rule, players had to wear a suit or jacket and tie on board an airplane for a road trip.
Mark Belanger
was an inept hitter by any objective standard, in 19 plate appearances he hit .625 with a .684 on-base percentage and .625 slugging percentage against Jim Kern and would be slotted high in the lineup when facing him. Similarly, Boog Powell
, the 1970 American League MVP, hit a meager .178/.211/.278 against Mickey Lolich
over 96 plate appearances and would be substituted, possibly with a hitter like Chico Salmon
, who hit a much more acceptable .300/.349/.400 against the same pitcher.
, with the most obvious example being the use of Gary Roenicke
and John Lowenstein
in left field, absent affordable full-time solutions. Weaver also exploited a loophole in the designated hitter
rule by listing the starting pitcher as the DH. This gave him another opportunity to exploit pitcher-batter matchups, in the case that the opposing starting pitcher left the game early because of injury or ineffectiveness before it was the DH's turn in the batting order. A rule was created to stop the use of this tactic, allegedly (by Weaver) because it was distorting pinch-hitting statistics.
Weaver pioneered the use of radar guns to track the velocity of pitches during the 1972 spring training season.
for ABC
television, calling the 1983 World Series
(which included the Orioles) along with Al Michaels
and Howard Cosell
. Weaver was the #1 ABC analyst in 1983
, but was also employed by the Baltimore Orioles as a consultant. At the time, ABC had a policy preventing an announcer who was employed by a team from working games involving that team. So whenever the Orioles were on the primary ABC game, Weaver worked the backup game. This policy forced Weaver to resign from the Orioles consulting position in October in order to be able to work the World Series for ABC. Weaver later called the 1984 National League Championship Series
for ABC alongside Don Drysdale
and Reggie Jackson
.
, "team speed" and even growing tomatoes (one of Earl's hobbies was gardening). The tape, which was not broadcast at the time, has since become legendary in Baltimore sports circles and has even been aired (in heavily edited fashion) on local sports radio. (A short film by Skizz Cyzyk featuring the full unedited version can be found. Since 2004, its been regularly aired, uncensored, on SiriusXM Satellite Radio's 'Opie & Anthony' Show.
, Weaver assisted in the development of 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.
He also wrote three books: Weaver on Strategy (1984), It's What You Learn After You Know It All That Counts (1983), and Winning (1972).
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
. He spent his entire 17-year managerial career with the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
(1968–1982; 1985–1986). Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996
1996 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves ; John Wetteland, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Bernie Williams**American League Division Series*National League Championship Series MVP: Javy López...
.
Playing career
After playing for Beaumont High School in St. Louis, the 17-year-old Weaver was signed by his hometown St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
in 1948 as a second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
. A slick fielder but never much of a hitter, he worked his way up to the Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...
Houston Buffaloes
Houston Buffaloes
The Houston Buffaloes or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team that was founded in 1888, played in the Texas League in the years 1888-90, 1892, 1895-99, and 1907-1958 ; in the South Texas League in the years 1903-06; and in the American Association from 1959-61...
(two steps below the majors) in 1951, but never made the big club. Weaver was later traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
organization, then moved on to the Orioles, where he began his managing career.
His Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer
Jim Palmer
James Alvin "Jim" Palmer , nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and...
, who battled with Weaver on a regular basis, once noted: "The only thing that Earl knows about a curve ball 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 my ex-wife." He has also directed such a remark at Mike Cuellar
Mike Cuellar
Miguel Ángel Cuellar Santana [KWAY-ar] was a Cuban left-handed starting pitcher who spent fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball with the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles and California Angels...
, ace of the 1969 staff, and several other players.
Managerial career
Weaver started his minor league managerial career in 1956 with the unaffiliated Knoxville Smokies in the South Atlantic League. He joined the Orioles in 1957 as skipper of their FitzgeraldFitzgerald, Georgia
Fitzgerald is a city in Ben Hill in the U.S. state of Georgia, and is the county seat of Ben Hill County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 9,053...
club in the Georgia-Florida League
Georgia-Florida League
The Georgia-Florida League was a minor baseball league that existed from 1935 through 1958 and in 1962–1963...
. The Orioles moved him to their Dublin, Georgia
Dublin, Georgia
Dublin is a city in Laurens County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 16,201. The city is the county seat of Laurens County.-History:The original settlement was named after the city Dublin, Ireland....
franchise in 1958, and to their Aberdeen, South Dakota
Aberdeen, South Dakota
Aberdeen is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, about 125 mi northeast of Pierre. Settled in 1880, it was incorporated in 1882. The city population was 26,091 at the 2010 census. The American News is the local newspaper...
club in 1959. 1960 found Weaver in Wisconsin managing the Fox Cities Foxes in the Class B Three-I League. He moved up to with the AA Elmira Pioneers
Elmira Pioneers
The Elmira Pioneers are an amateur baseball team based in Elmira, New York. They currently compete in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league. Prior to the 2006 baseball season, the team was a professional ballclub with a rich history of league...
in 1962 and to the AAA Rochester Red Wings
Rochester Red Wings
The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...
in 1966.
As a minor league
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
pilot, he compiled a record of 841 wins and 697 defeats (.547) with three championships in 11½ seasons. He was promoted to the Orioles as their first-base coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
in 1968
1968 in baseball
-The Year of the Pitcher:In Major League Baseball, the trend throughout the 1960s was of increased pitching dominance, caused by enforcing a larger strike zone beginning in 1963...
, and spent a half-season in that role before taking the managerial reins in July.
During his tenure as big-league skipper, the Orioles won six Eastern Division titles, four American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
pennants, and a World Series
1970 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 10, 1970 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OhioThe Jackson 5 performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to the game, which almost became an embarrassment when the group realized shortly before their performance that they weren't familiar with the lyrics...
championship. Weaver's managerial record is 1,480–1,060 (.583), including 100+ win seasons in 1969 (109), 1970 (108), 1971 (101), 1979 (102), and 1980 (100). He only had one losing season in his managerial career, with the 1986 Orioles.
In 1989, Weaver returned to managing, helming the Gold Coast Suns in new Senior Professional Baseball Association
Senior Professional Baseball Association
The Senior Professional Baseball Association was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over . The league began play in 1989 and had eight teams in two divisions and a 72 game schedule...
. The Suns failed to make the playoffs in the 1989-90 season and folded after one season.
Disciplinary actions
Weaver was ejected from games at least 91 times during the regular season (98, according to one source) and several more times during post-season play. He was ejected from both ends of a doubleheader three times. He was ejected before a game started twice (both times by Ron LucianoRon Luciano
Ronald Michael Luciano was an American Major League Baseball umpire from 1969 to 1979 in the American League...
). Luciano alone ejected him from all four games of a minor-league series and eight games in the majors.
He also received four multiple-game suspensions. He was well known for the humor that often accompanied his ejections. During one particular tirade with an umpire, Weaver headed to the dugout screaming, "I'm going to check the rule-book on that" to which the umpire replied, "Here, use mine." Weaver shot back, "That's no good - I can't read Braille." He once told an umpire that he could appear on What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
wearing his mask, chest protector and ball/strike indicator and still nobody would guess he was an umpire.
Weaver had a penchant for kicking dirt on umpires, and for turning his cap backwards whenever he sparred with umpires in order to get as close to them as possible without actually touching them. His rivalry with Luciano was legendary, to the point where the AL rearranged umpiring schedules for an entire year so that Luciano would not work Orioles games. In the third inning of Luciano's first game in Baltimore a year later, he ejected Weaver—who then publicly questioned Luciano's "integrity" and received a three-game suspension. Still, Weaver had respect for Luciano, calling him "one of the few umpires that people have paid their way into the park to see."
Marty Springstead
Marty Springstead
Martin John Springstead is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1966 to 1985 and has since worked as an umpire supervisor...
was one of Weaver's least favorite umpires. On September 15, 1977, in Toronto, Weaver asked umpire Springstead to have a tarpaulin covering the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
bullpen area removed; the tarp was weighed down by bricks and Weaver argued that his left fielder could be injured if he ran into the bricks while chasing a foul ball. When the umpire refused to order the Blue Jays to move the tarp, Weaver pulled the Orioles off the field, forcing the umpire to declare a forfeit: the only forfeit in Orioles history. On another infamous occasion, in Cleveland, Springstead watched as Weaver tore up the rule book and tossed it into the air.
One of Weaver's most infamous tirades came on September 17, 1980 in a game against the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
. First base umpire Bill Haller
Bill Haller
William Edward Haller is a retired Major League Baseball umpire. Haller officiated 3,068 regular season games in the American League from 1961 and from 1963–1982...
, who was wearing a microphone for a documentary on the daily life of an MLB umpire, called a balk
Balk
In baseball, a pitcher can commit a number of illegal motions or actions that constitute a balk. In games played under the Official Baseball Rules, a balk results in a dead ball or delayed dead ball. In certain other circumstances, a balk may be wholly or partially disregarded...
on Oriole pitcher Mike Flanagan. Weaver charged out of the dugout and began screaming at Haller, who was already angry at Weaver for publicly questioning his honesty by suggesting he be prohibited from working Tigers games because his brother was the Tigers' catcher. After Weaver was ejected, he launched into a profanity-filled argument with Haller that was duly recorded. Weaver's contempt for umpires was often mutual. One night in 1973 Weaver threw his cap to the ground and began a vehement argument with Luciano. Luciano's crew-mate Don Denkinger
Don Denkinger
Donald Anton Denkinger is a former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1969 to 1998. Denkinger wore uniform number 11, when the AL adopted uniform numbers in 1980. He is best remembered for an incorrect call he made at first base in Game 6 of the 1985 World...
walked over to Weaver's cap, stepped on it with the sharp cleats of both shoes, and slowly twisted back and forth.
Philosophy
Weaver's oft-quoted managerial philosophy was "Double-plays and the Three Run Homer." Weaver eschewed the use of so-called "inside baseballInside Baseball
Inside Baseball is a strategy in baseball developed by the 19th-century Baltimore Orioles team and promoted by John McGraw. In his book, My Thirty Years of Baseball, McGraw credits the development of the "inside baseball" to manager Ned Hanlon. In the 1890s, this kind of play was referred to as...
" tactics such as the stolen base
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
, the hit and run
Hit and run (baseball)
A hit and run is a high risk/high reward offensive strategy used in baseball.When the offense has a baserunner on first base , the runner on first breaks for second as the pitch is thrown...
, or the sacrifice bunt, preferring a patient approach ("waiting for the home run"), saying "If you play for one run, that's all you'll get" and "On offense, your most precious possessions are your 27 outs". Weaver claims to have never had a sign for the hit and run
Hit and run (baseball)
A hit and run is a high risk/high reward offensive strategy used in baseball.When the offense has a baserunner on first base , the runner on first breaks for second as the pitch is thrown...
, citing that the play makes both the baserunner and the hitter vulnerable, as the baserunner is susceptible to being caught stealing and the hitter is required to swing at any pitch thrown no matter how far outside the strike zone or how unhittable the pitch is.
Weaver strongly believed in finishing as high in the standings as possible, even if a championship was not involved: In 1977, the Orioles entered the final weekend of the season tied for second place in the AL East with the Red Sox, three games behind the division-leading Yankees, to play a scheduled three-game series against the Red Sox in Boston, while the Yankees played three at home against Detroit. The Red Sox won the first game of the series, 11-10, on September 30, eliminating the Orioles from division title contention; however, after the game Weaver insisted, in an interview with a reporter, that "we're still trying to finish second." The following day, the Orioles won, 8-7, eliminating the Red Sox (the Yankees having lost on both days) and leaving the teams tied for second place headed into the series' and the season's final game, which was rained out, resulting in the Red Sox and Orioles finishing in a tie for second place.
Weaver also insisted that his players maintain a professional appearance at all times. He allowed mustaches, but not beards, and, as a rule, players had to wear a suit or jacket and tie on board an airplane for a road trip.
Use of statistics
Weaver made extensive use of statistics to create matchups that were favorable either for his batter or his pitcher. He had various notebooks with all sorts of splits and head-to-head numbers for his batters and against his pitchers and would assemble his lineups according to the matchups he had. For example, despite the fact that Gold Glove shortstopShortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
Mark Belanger
Mark Belanger
Mark Henry Belanger was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played almost his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles...
was an inept hitter by any objective standard, in 19 plate appearances he hit .625 with a .684 on-base percentage and .625 slugging percentage against Jim Kern and would be slotted high in the lineup when facing him. Similarly, Boog Powell
Boog Powell
John Wesley Powell is a former major league first baseman who played for the Baltimore Orioles , Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers...
, the 1970 American League MVP, hit a meager .178/.211/.278 against Mickey Lolich
Mickey Lolich
Michael Stephen Lolich is a former Major League Baseball pitcher from 1962 until 1979 who played the majority of his career with the Detroit Tigers.-Baseball career:...
over 96 plate appearances and would be substituted, possibly with a hitter like Chico Salmon
Chico Salmon
Ruthford Eduardo "Chico" Salmon was a Panamanian Major League Baseball utility player. He played for the Cleveland Indians and the Baltimore Orioles...
, who hit a much more acceptable .300/.349/.400 against the same pitcher.
Use of the bench
Weaver made expert use of the bench. In the Oriole teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Weaver made frequent use of platoonsPlatoon system
The platoon system in baseball is a method of designating two players to a single defensive position—usually one right-handed and one left-handed. Typically the right-handed half of the platoon is played on days when the opposing pitcher is left-handed and the left-handed player is played otherwise...
, with the most obvious example being the use of Gary Roenicke
Gary Roenicke
Gary Steven Roenicke is a former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Montreal Expos , Baltimore Orioles , New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves .-Early career:...
and John Lowenstein
John Lowenstein
John Lee Lowenstein , is a former professional baseball player who played Major League Baseball primarily as an outfielder from to...
in left field, absent affordable full-time solutions. Weaver also exploited a loophole in the designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
rule by listing the starting pitcher as the DH. This gave him another opportunity to exploit pitcher-batter matchups, in the case that the opposing starting pitcher left the game early because of injury or ineffectiveness before it was the DH's turn in the batting order. A rule was created to stop the use of this tactic, allegedly (by Weaver) because it was distorting pinch-hitting statistics.
Weaver pioneered the use of radar guns to track the velocity of pitches during the 1972 spring training season.
Broadcasting career
Between his stints as manager Weaver served as a color commentatorColor commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television, calling the 1983 World Series
1983 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1983 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MarylandJohn Denver, whose Thank God I'm a Country Boy was played at the seventh-inning stretch of each Orioles home game, sang the National Anthem prior to this game....
(which included the Orioles) along with Al Michaels
Al Michaels
Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
and Howard Cosell
Howard Cosell
Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
. Weaver was the #1 ABC analyst in 1983
1983 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Baltimore Orioles over Philadelphia Phillies ; Rick Dempsey, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Mike Boddicker*National League Championship Series MVP: Gary Matthews...
, but was also employed by the Baltimore Orioles as a consultant. At the time, ABC had a policy preventing an announcer who was employed by a team from working games involving that team. So whenever the Orioles were on the primary ABC game, Weaver worked the backup game. This policy forced Weaver to resign from the Orioles consulting position in October in order to be able to work the World Series for ABC. Weaver later called the 1984 National League Championship Series
1984 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 2, 1984 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IllinoisBob Dernier led off the game for the Cubs with a homer, and things went steadily downhill for the Padres as Chicago romped to a crushing 13–0 win in their first postseason game since 1945. Gary Matthews also homered in the first...
for ABC alongside Don Drysdale
Don Drysdale
Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...
and Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
.
Manager's Corner
While managing the Orioles, Weaver hosted a radio show called "Manager's Corner", in which he would give his views on baseball and answer questions from fans. Weaver once recorded a prank version of the program, giving hilarious off-color answers to queries ranging from Terry CrowleyTerry Crowley
Terrence Michael Crowley is a former Major League Baseball player who now serves as the interim bullpen coach for the Baltimore Orioles.-Player career:...
, "team speed" and even growing tomatoes (one of Earl's hobbies was gardening). The tape, which was not broadcast at the time, has since become legendary in Baltimore sports circles and has even been aired (in heavily edited fashion) on local sports radio. (A short film by Skizz Cyzyk featuring the full unedited version can be found. Since 2004, its been regularly aired, uncensored, on SiriusXM Satellite Radio's 'Opie & Anthony' Show.
In media
In 19871987 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
, Weaver assisted in the development of the AI
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
for the computer game Earl Weaver Baseball
Earl Weaver Baseball
Earl Weaver Baseball is a baseball computer game , designed by Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower and published by Electronic Arts. The artificial intelligence for the computer manager was provided by Baseball Hall of Fame member Earl Weaver, then manager of the Baltimore Orioles...
, which was published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. The game was one of the precursors of the EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
line.
He also wrote three books: Weaver on Strategy (1984), It's What You Learn After You Know It All That Counts (1983), and Winning (1972).