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| Source:ESPN- The Earl of Baltimore: Earl Weaver. |
" Earl Weaver always was up for an argument, especially with an umpire.
At the slightest provocation, the Earl of Baltimore would spin his hat back, point his finger squarely at an ump's chest and then fire away. The Hall of Fame manager would even tangle with his own players, if necessary.
All this from a 5-foot-6 pepperpot who hated to be doubted.
Although reviled by some, Weaver was beloved in Baltimore and remained an Oriole to the end.
The notoriously feisty Hall of Fame manager died at age 82 on a Caribbean cruise associated with the Orioles, his marketing agent said Saturday.
"Earl was a black and white manager," former O's ace and Hall of Fame member Jim Palmer said Saturday. "He kind of told you what your job description was going to be and kind of basically told you if you wanted to play on the Orioles, this was what you needed to do. And if you couldn't do it, I'll get someone else. I know that's kind of tough love, but I don't think anyone other than Marianna, his wife, would describe Earl as a warm and fuzzy guy."
Weaver took the Orioles to the World Series four times over 17 seasons but won only one title, in 1970. His .583 winning percentage ranks fifth among managers who served 10 or more seasons in the 20th century.
Dick Gordon said Weaver's wife told him that Weaver went back to his cabin after dinner and began choking between 10:30 and 11 Friday night. Gordon said a cause of death has not been determined.
"It's a sad day. Earl was a terrific manager," Orioles vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said. "The simplicity and clarity of his leadership and his passion for baseball was unmatched. He's a treasure for the Orioles. He leaves a terrific legacy of winning baseball with the Orioles and we're so grateful for his contribution. He has a legacy that will live on."
Weaver will forever remain a part of Camden Yards. A statue of him was dedicated last summer in the stadium's flag court, along with the rest of the team's Hall of Fame members."
From ESPN
Earl Weaver's memory and legacy will live forever as long as there's Baltimore Orioles baseball because he taught the Orioles how to win not just for one season but how to win season after season. He built the foundation with the players he had on how to win each game and win each season. And his philosophy was so fundamentally sound because it was all about fundamentals. You win baseball games by beating your opponents, not by beating yourself.
Earl's philosophy was you pitch and execute your pitches well, you play good defense and you get timely hitting. You don't win games by consistently leaving runners in scoring position or by giving your opponents extra outs or by hanging hittable pitches in the strike zone. And because of this there might of been amore fundamentally sound baseball manager in MLB history because The Earl's message was all about fundamental. And his players knew that if they didn't execute, they didn't play.
The Orioles didn't win so much and so often in the 1970s and 80s because they had so much more talent than their opponents, but because they were so much more fundamentally sound than their opponents. When other teams were relying on great talent to win games and relying on a handful of players to win, the Orioles were relying on their whole team because of their great depth and because they had so many players who knew how to play the game the right way and avoided making big mistakes. Which is something the Orioles got way from in the last decade and are finally getting back to now.
