Earl Sidney Weaver (August 14, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball manager, author, and television color commentator. Weaver played in minor league baseball as a second baseman from 1948 to 1960. In 1956, he began his managerial career, serving as a player–manager for five seasons before he stopped playing to concentrate on managing, without ever having played in Major League Baseball (MLB). He progressed through the minor league system before going on to become a manager in the Major Leagues with the Baltimore Orioles (1968–1982; 1985–86), winning a World Series championship in 1970. He was a three-time Manager of the Year. In 1996, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Early life Weaver was born on August 14, 1930, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the son of Earl Milton Weaver, a dry cleaner who cleaned the uniforms of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns (who would later become the Baltimore Orioles), and Ethel Genevieve Wakefield. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, who pitched under Weaver for 14 seasons in the major leagues, wrote that his manager was "brought up in St. Louis on the bad side of a street where even the good side isn't too good."Palmer and Dale, p. xi The Weavers lived in a crowded section of St. Louis, within a mile of Sportsman's Park, home to the Cardinals and Browns. As a child Weaver accompanied his father into the team's clubhouse to make pickups and deliveries of their uniforms.
Weaver was an avid baseball fan. His baseball hero was Cardinals' shortstop Leo Durocher, who would go on to become a Hall of Fame manager. He was fascinated with managers and studied them carefully, even as an adolescent and teenager. Among the managers he studied was Cardinals skipper and future Hall of Famer Billy Southworth (1940–45), whose teams won at least 105 games each season from 1942 to 1944. The next team to win over 100 games three consecutive years would be Weaver's Baltimore Orioles (1969–71).
In his teens, Weaver was a three-sport athlete at at Beaumont High School in St. Louis, also playing for its state championship basketball team and serving as a co-captain of its football team. He played on his father's St. Louis city league baseball team that went 53-2 and won three city titles and also played four years of American Legion baseball in St. Louis.
Playing career The St. Louis Cardinals signed the 17-year-old Weaver in 1948 as a second baseman. Playing for the Class D West Frankfurt Cardinals in 1948, he had a .268 batting average, with 92 bases on balls and 96 runs scored and only 24 strikeouts. He was named an All-Star. Playing for the Class C level St. Joseph Cardinals in 1949, his average improved to .282, with an on-base percentage of .382, 75 bases on balls, 101 runs batted in (RBI), 80 runs scored and 17 stolen bases. In 1950, he hit .276 playing Class B baseball for the Winston-Salem Cardinals of the Carolina League; though he had been hitting around .300 before a thumb injury. In 1951, he hit .279 with the Single-A Omaha Cardinals, and was again an All-star. He was known for his defensive ability and aggressive style of play. However, he did not hit with power, lacked speed, and had a weak throwing arm overall.
Weaver's opportunity to make the St. Louis Cardinals major league roster came in the Cardinals' spring training of 1952 when he was part of the team's 40-man roster. He performed well and many believed he could make the team as a backup second baseman. But his competition for backup second baseman was the Cardinals new manager, 35-year old Eddie Stanky, who had final decision making authority over who made the Cardinals final roster. Stanky ultimately chose himself over Weaver. Weaver became dispirited, falling into drink and depression. He spent the next nine seasons in the minor leagues, serving as a player-manager from 1956 to 1960.
Following the 1953 season, his rights were sold to the Denver Bears in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. In 1956, he played for the independent Montgomery Rebels. By 1957, he was in the Orioles farm system.
Managerial career Two of Weaver's minor league managers influenced his own future as a manager: George Kissell at Winston-Salem and Andy Cohen in Denver. Kissell had worked with Branch Rickey in building the Cardinals' farm system and influenced the club's style of play. Cohen, who taught Weaver about the psychology of handling players, had played under Hall of Fame manager John McGraw. Weaver considered Kissell and Orioles manager Paul Richards to be his greatest managerial influences. In addition to Weaver, Kissell was a mentor to Hall of Fame managers Sparky Anderson, Joe Torre, and Tony La Russa.
Minor leagues Weaver started his managerial career in 1956 with the unaffiliated Knoxville Smokies in the South Atlantic League. Baltimore Orioles' assistant farm system director Harry Dalton recommended to farm system director Jim McLaughlin that the Orioles consider Weaver as a potential manager for the Orioles' farm system. McLaughlin had seen Weaver play in high school, when McLaughlin held the same farm system position with the St. Louis Browns. McLaughlin sent Orioles' scout Jim Russo to observe Weaver managing in Knoxville. Russo only attended one game, and appreciated what he saw in Weaver; but he could not evaluate Weaver from observing a single game. Russo told McLaughlin that McLaughlin already knew about Weaver's determination and leadership qualities or he would not have bothered to send Russo, and McLaughlin decided to hire Weaver as a manager in the Orioles' farm system.
Weaver joined the Orioles in 1957 as player-manager of their Fitzgerald, Georgia club in the Class D Georgia–Florida League, finishing the season with a 65–74 record. In 1958, the Orioles' team in the Georgia-Florida League was now in Dublin, Georgia, and retained Weaver as player-manager; finishing the season 72–56. In 1959, the Orioles' moved Weaver up to manage the Class C Aberdeen (South Dakota) Pheasants of the Northern League. The Pheasants had a 69–55 record under Weaver, with Weaver still appearing in 13 games as a player.
In 1960, Weaver was promoted to manage the Class B Fox Cities Foxes in Appleton, Wisconsin, in the Three-I League (still as a player-manager). The team came in first place, with an 82–56 record. His players included future Orioles star Boog Powell, future Orioles manager Cal Ripken Sr., future Orioles and Hall of Fame general manager Pat Gillick, and future major leaguers Dean Chance and Pete Ward. He managed the Foxes again in 1961, as a full-time manager only. Weaver also became the director of the Orioles' minor league spring training camp in Thomasville, Georgia in 1961.
He was advanced to the Elmira Pioneers in 1962, part of the Single-A Eastern League. His players that season included, among others, future Baltimore Orioles starters Mark Belanger, Andy Etchebarren, and Dave McNally; and future 16-year Major League pitcher Darrold Knowles. Weaver coached at Elmira for three more years in the Eastern League (1963 to 1965), which had become a Double-A level league during those three years.
In 1963, Weaver managed future Orioles player and manager Davey Johnson, as well as Curt Blefary and Tom Phoebus, in addition to Knowles. Knowles was the Pioneers' best pitcher that season, with a 16–7 record and 2.73 earned run average (ERA). Years later, Weaver told Knowles that Knowles' success under Weaver that season was one of the reasons Weaver made it to the major leagues.
In 1964, Elmira had an 82–58 record under Weaver, finishing in first place in the Eastern League. His players now included future Orioles' gold glove center fielder Paul Blair and future Orioles' relief pitcher Eddie Watt. Weaver was named Eastern League Manager of the Year. In 1965, the Pioneers were 83–55, finishing in second place in the Eastern League, one game from first place.
In 1966, Weaver was promoted to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings of the International League. The team had an 83–64 record, and finished the season in first place, losing in the playoffs to the Richmond Braves. Under Weaver in 1967, the Red Wings finished the season 80–60, tied with the Richmond Braves for first place. The Braves defeated the Red Wings in a one-game playoff for first place. The Columbus Jets then defeated the Red Wings in the playoffs that season.
Weaver was very popular among Rochester's fans during his two years there, both because of the team's success, and his frequent arguments with umpires (who ejected him 21 times in two years). The team's owner appreciated Weaver because he improved attendance and made the team financially viable. At the end of the 1967 season, the Orioles awarded Weaver their Fred Hofmann Award for his service in their minor league system. Weaver was not so popular among his players, however, as he could be harsh and demanding; but this was not a primary concern to Weaver so long as they played up to his standards and his teams were winning.
In eleven minor league seasons as a manager, he compiled a record of 884 wins and 760 defeats (.538).
Steve Dalkowski Weaver also managed pitcher Steve Dalkowski in 1959 at Aberdeen and from 1962 to 1964 at Elmira. Dalkowski holds a significant place in baseball history because of the extraordinary velocity of his fastball when compared to all other pitchers to have ever played baseball; with debate over whether he threw the hardest fastball in baseball history. Dalkowski never played Major League Baseball, however, in significant part because of an equally extraordinary lack of control over his pitches during much of his career. Dalkowski had seasons where he would walk more batters than he would strike out in a season, and he would throw wild pitches that were far from home plate. In 1959 under Weaver, Dalkowski struck out 99 batters in 59 innings, but also walked 110 batters and had 13 wild pitches. He pitched the only no-hitter of his career under Weaver that year, with 21 strikeouts and eight walks in that game. Weaver considered Dalkowski the fastest pitcher he ever saw.
It has been reported that in 1962, the Orioles under Paul Richards had all of the players in their organization take an IQ test, and it was discovered that Dalkowski had a lower than normal IQ. In another telling, it was Weaver who had Dalkowski take an intelligence test along with the team's most intelligent player (Mickey McGuire), for comparison, and Dalkowski scored in the lowest percentile. Weaver concluded that Dalkowski's pitching control difficulties arose because of a limited mental capacity. Weaver simplified the game for Dalkowski by (1) reducing his pitching repertoire to a fastball and slider, and (2) telling Dalkowski to simply throw his fastball down the middle of home plate every time. Weaver was not worried if Dalkowski's fastball crossed the plate at a location that would normally allow a batter to hit the ball, because Dalkowski's fastball was typically unhittable. Weaver also believed that if Dalkowski missed the middle of home plate, he still might end up throwing it on the corners of the plate for a strike anyway.