Earl Weaver, the legendary firebrand baseball personality has passed on to the big diamond in the sky at the age of 82. While Weaver was known as a man who could produce wins on the field, he was probably better known for his ability to get tossed from a game for arguing with umpires.
Weaver’s hot-headed, dirt-kicking antics got him ejected nearly 100 times over the course of his career, and also helped him receive no less than 4 multi-game suspensions (a feat rarely awarded to a team manager/coach). However, what made Weaver so lovable was his ability to make light of the situations. One minute he would be in up in your face, and the next laughing about it off the field.
While Earl Weaver may not have always come out victorious in his arguments with on field baseball officials, one thing he could do is put together wins on the field with the teams he managed. Weaver was best known for his baseball statistics philosophy and how he utilized the tools that he had available to him. Weaver was known for his use of statistics to make the best of match-ups between players and pitchers, which in turn helped to make otherwise low-level players demonstrate the true potential that they had. Weaver would pick up players off the bench and put them into situations where he felt that they were matched for success – and his statistical analysis often paid huge dividends. With almost 1,500 games won behind the bench with Baltimore Orioles, and a 1970 World Series Championship, Weaver earned himself a rightful place in the hall of fame in 1996.
Weaver was also well known personality off the field, a top ABC broadcaster and well known for his key contribution for Earl Weaver Baseball the video game. In his own way he entrenched his personality into the game of baseball on many different levels.
While a cause of death has not yet been determined for Weaver, the reason is irrelevant. Today baseball lost of one its most charismatic personalities – someone who set the temper level for managers like Bobby Valentine, Ozzie Guillen and Lou Pinella. We’ll miss you Earl, keep giving ’em hell from wherever you are.
… and that is the last word.
