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.
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 1959 under Weaver, Dalkowski struck out 99 batters in 59 innings, but also walked 110 batters and had 13 wild pitches. 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. He also walked less than one batter an inning for the first time in his career (6.4
walks per nine innings), after averaging 17.1 walks per nine innings just a year earlier. His 3.04 ERA was over two runs lower than his previous best. Dalkowski was invited to spring training with the Orioles in 1963, and the Orioles were planning to give him an opportunity to play for them, but Dalkowski suffered a career-altering arm injury pitching that spring. The velocity on his fastball dropped significantly and his career ended after two more minor league seasons (1964 and 1965) playing in the Orioles',
Pittsburgh Pirates' and
Los Angeles Angels' farm systems.
The Sporting News article reporting the end of Dalkowski's career was entitled "Living Legend Released". Dalkowski said of his pitching motion before this alteration, "I hit my left elbow on my right knee so often, they finally made me a pad to wear". Harry Dalton, now the head of Orioles' baseball operations, wanted Weaver to replace Bauer for the 1968 season, but Orioles' owner
Jerold Hoffberger was reluctant to fire Bauer since Bauer still had to be paid in 1968. Weaver formally replaced Woodling as the Orioles'
first-base coach at the beginning of October 1967. On Weaver's recommendation to Dalton,
George Bamberger replaced Brecheen as the team's pitching coach; holding that position with the Orioles from 1968 to 1977. The Orioles finished the season with a record 48–34 under Weaver, ending in second place behind the 103–59 Tigers, who went on to win the
1968 World Series. Weaver's contract was for one year, and he would continue to work under one-year contracts throughout his tenure with the team. During his time managing the Orioles from 1969 to 1982, he had a record of 1,306 wins to 885 losses; a .596 winning percentage. No team in Major League Baseball was within 70 wins of Weaver's total during that time. 1969 was the first year the American and National Leagues were split into two divisions, and held divisional playoffs to determine what teams would advance to the
World Series. From 1969 to 1982, Weaver's Orioles won a World Series (
1970) and four American League championships (
1969,
1970,
1971 and
1979). The Orioles were also American League Eastern Division champions in
1973 (losing three games to two against eventual
World Series Champion Oakland Athletics in the 1973 playoffs) and in
1974 (losing three games to one against the
Athletics in the 1974 playoffs, who again won the
World Series). Weaver's teams during this period won
100 games or more in a single season five times (109/1969, 108/1970, 102/1979, 101/1971 and 100/1980); won 90 or more games 11 times; and finished in second place six times.
1969–1971 In 1969, the Orioles were defeated in the World Series in five games by the New York Mets team known as the
Miracle Mets. He was ejected in Game 4 of that series by umpire
Shag Crawford for arguing balls and strikes. In 1970, the Orioles won the World Series by defeating the Cincinnati Reds (The "
Big Red Machine") in five games. In 1971, the Orioles had four 20-game winners, swept the Oakland Athletics in the playoffs, but lost the World Series in seven games to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Blair house rebellion Before the 1972 season, the Orioles traded 36-year old team leader
Frank Robinson, though they added rising stars
Don Baylor and
Bobby Grich. The Orioles would return to the playoffs in 1973, losing to the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series, 3–2. Weaver had a particular preference for scoring via three-run home runs, which Palmer would later call "a great plan if you have Boog Powells and Frank Robinsons and Brooks Robinsons." Even so, in 1974, the club hit just 116 total home runs, with Powell and Robinson combining for 19. With the team eight games behind the Red Sox in late August, the Orioles held a secret player's-only meeting at gold glove center fielder
Paul Blair's house. Their new strategy, according to Palmer, was to "squeeze every hit and every base and every run you can out of every play." According to Brooks Robinson, "It took Earl about three or four games to finally figure out what the heck we were doing in that situation, and I think he ended up saying, 'well, you'd better be right.'...It worked out well. And Earl loved us all, anyway."
1975–81 With the advent of free agency, the New York Yankees began to dominate the American League, winning the eastern division five times between 1976 and 1981, with four American League pennants and two World Series wins over that period. From 1975 to 1981, the Orioles won just one division title, in 1979. That year, Weaver used 140 different lineups during the regular season, but the Orioles still reached the
World Series again, this time losing in seven games to the
Pittsburgh Pirates. He expressed plans to retire following the
1982 season prior to Game 6 of that World Series on October 16. He had originally targeted the expiration of his contract upon the conclusion of the
1980 campaign to step away from the sport.
Cal Ripken Jr. and the modern shortstop In 1981, future Hall of Famer
Cal Ripken Jr. joined the Orioles from the Orioles minor league system. Ripken's father,
Cal Sr., had been a long time player, coach and manager in the Orioles farm system, and Weaver had known Ripken Jr. his entire life. Weaver had seen Ripken play shortstop as early as high school, knew Ripken was an excellent fielder as a shortstop, and saw shortstop as Ripken's best position on the Orioles. However, general manager
Hank Peters insisted the 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (99.4 kg) Ripken should play third base, as Ripken did not fit the prototypical lithe light-hitting, or at least non-power hitting, shortstop model of the time. In 1982, even after Peters had traded away
Doug DeCinces to make room for Ripken at third base, Weaver moved Ripken to shortstop, where he went on to be named Rookie of the Year, and redefined the position to open the way for future power hitting shortstops.
1982 and first retirement In 1982, Weaver announced he would retire at the end of the season. The Orioles played poorly for the first half of the year before climbing in the standings to just three games behind, going into a season-ending four-game series against the division-leading Brewers at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles beat them handily in the first three games to pull into a first-place tie. The final game of the series, and the season, on October 3, would decide the AL East title. Televised nationally on ABC, the Orioles suffered a crushing 10–2 loss. After the game, the crowd called for Weaver to come out. This tribute to the retiring Weaver provided intense emotion against the backdrop of the season-ending defeat, as Weaver, in tears, stood on the field and applauded back to the fans, and shared words and an embrace with Brewers manager
Harvey Kuenn.
Joe Altobelli was appointed his successor on November 12, 1982.
Second managerial stint Weaver finished his first stint as manager of the Orioles with a .596 winning percentage, never having had a losing season. The year following Weaver's retirement, Baltimore won the World Series under Altobelli, about which Palmer wrote, "we won with a team Earl put together." Owner
Edward Bennett Williams coaxed Weaver out of retirement midway through the 1985 season, In 1989, Weaver managed the
Gold Coast Suns in the new
Senior Professional Baseball Association. Less than a week into the season, Weaver was ejected from his first game. He later commented, "These umpires are high school rejects. The league went for the cheapest umpiring association. There should be no league if this continues." The Suns failed to make the playoffs in the 1989–90 season and folded after one season.
Disciplinary actions Weaver was notorious for his conflicts with umpires and is estimated to have been ejected from 96 regular-season games, the fourth-most all-time according to
Baseball Reference. He was ejected from both games in a
doubleheader on three occasions and was twice ejected from games before they even started, both times by
Ron Luciano. Luciano alone ejected him from all four games of a minor-league series and eight games in the majors. Sometimes, even after Weaver had been thrown out of a game, he would phone the Oriole dugout to tell the coaches what moves to make. 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, holding his 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, leading to the AL rearranging umpiring schedules for an entire year so that Luciano would not work Orioles games. Weaver would later publicly question Luciano's "integrity" after an August 26, 1979, ejection, for which he received a three-game suspension.
Marty Springstead was one of Weaver's least favorite umpires. On September 15, 1977, Weaver asked Springstead to have a tarpaulin covering the
Toronto Blue Jays bullpen area removed; the tarp was weighted down by bricks and Earl argued 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. The umpire declared the move a forfeit, still the only one in Orioles history. On another occasion, in Cleveland, Weaver stormed to the dugout and returned to the field with a rulebook in his pocket. "Don't take that book out or you're outta here," Springstead warned. Weaver pulled it out anyway and was ejected. After that game, Weaver said of Springstead, "He's a terrific guy... he's just not a very good umpire." 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. Weaver insisted his players maintained 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 road trips. Weaver "was fiercely loyal to his players," said Palmer, who recalled that in 1976 the manager took his side when he was negotiating for a raise with the Orioles' owners. "He just never got to know them," Palmer remembered, observing that the first time Weaver ran into
Dennis Martínez after retiring, all he had to say to Martínez was, "How's your curveball?" After he became the Orioles' manager, he hated being referred to as "Coach," complaining even when players mistakenly referred to him as that out of respect.
Use of statistics Weaver made extensive use of statistics to create favorable matchups and kept various notebooks with splits and head-to-head numbers for his batters and against his pitchers. In 1984, Weaver was credited by sportscaster
Craig Sager, then of
CNN, with being the first major league manager to have used computerized statistical records as part of his decision-making process.
Use of the bench In the Orioles teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Weaver made frequent use of
platoons. He was also known for exploiting a loophole in the
designated hitter rule by listing as the DH one of his starting pitchers who would not be appearing in that day's game, who would then be substituted before their first
at-bat, allowing him to use a pinch-hitter in the case the opposing starting pitcher left the game early before it was the DH's turn in the batting order. This strategy was made illegal by a later rule change.
Lack of knowledge about pitching In 1967, the Orioles sent Jim Palmer down to Rochester to rehabilitate a sore pitching arm. In his first game with the Red Wings Palmer was pitching with the bases loaded against 19-year old future Hall of Fame catcher
Johnny Bench. Palmer recalled that Weaver said to him on how to pitch Bench, "Throw the ball over the middle of the plate. . . . This guy's nothing". Bench hit a
grand slam home run, the only one Palmer gave up in his entire career. In light of that experience Palmer said, "I learned a lot from Earl Weaver. The first thing I learned was that he didn't know a thing about pitching."
Dave McNally similarly said: "The only thing Earl Weaver knows about pitching is that he can't hit it." Palmer did, however, credit Weaver's ability to recognize good pitchers. "He could spot them, trade for them, stick with them. He might have driven them crazy, but he knew which ones to drive crazy." Weaver was a fan of
sliders;
Mike Flanagan noted that Weaver got less angry when pitchers gave up hits on sliders than when they gave up hits on other pitches. Weaver believed in the primary importance of throwing strikes and was known to demote pitchers who did not throw strikes. Within this overall philosophy, he placed full trust in his pitching coaches,
George Bamberger (1968–77) and
Ray Miller (1978–82), to guide and teach the pitching staff. During his initial tenure as manager (1968–82), Oriole pitchers won all six of the team's
Cy Young Awards (Cuellar in 1969, Palmer in 1973,1975–76, Flanagan in 1979, and
Steve Stone in 1980). His pitchers had 22 different 20-win seasons, the most for any manager in over a century (since 1920). As a minor league manager with the Elmira Pioneers in 1962, Weaver had developed a successful pitching style for
Steve Dalkowski, legendary for both the historically high velocity of his fastball and an extraordinary lack of control over that fastball. None of Dalkowski's prior managers or coaches, including Weaver in 1959, were effective in harnessing Dalkowski's potential. Following Weaver's directives to simplify his pitching to a very basic level, Dalkowski showed dramatic improvements over his control in 1962. Dalkowski was on his way to making the Orioles' major league roster the following year when an arm injury effectively ended his career.
Managerial record ==Broadcasting career==