Weaver, Earl Sidney
Earl Sidney Weaver, 1930–, American baseball manager, b. St. Louis. The pint-sized (5 ft 7 in.) scrapper began his baseball career in 1948 and until 1957 played second base in the minors. He became player-manager of the Baltimore Orioles' Fitzgerald, Ga., team in 1957, stopped playing in 1960, and spent his entire managing career in the Orioles organization. In 1968 he became the first-base coach for the major-league Orioles and later became manager; he skippered the team for 17 seasons (1968–82, 1985–86). Weaver's teams amassed five 100-win seasons, four American League pennants, and one World Series (1970). Nicknamed "the Earl of Baltimore" and "the little genius," he had a .583 lifetime winning percentage, with 1,480 wins and 1,060 loses. Often abrasive, he was one of the feistiest and funniest managers, particularly in his disagreements with umpires. Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
See his memoir (1982, with B. Stainback) and Weaver on Strategy (1984, repr. 2002, with T. Pluto).