The Earl of Baltimore

Earl Weaver died yesterday at the age of 82. He was the best manager the Baltimore Orioles ever had and he learned to manage in their farm system. I first saw him in 1960 when he still harbored dreams of playing in the Major Leagues. He was listed in the program as the player-manager of the Fox Cities Foxes of the Class B Three-I League, but his managerial skills outshone whatever playing skills he still had. The Foxes won the league that year with an 82-56 record, led by Boog Powell, Cal Ripken, Sr., Pat Gillick and Dean Chance. Topeka's team, managed by Johnny VanderMeer, finished dead last.

In 1961, the Topeka Reds asked me to be their batboy. I shared the locker room with future Major Leaguers such as Tommy Harper, Tommy Helms, Art Shamsky, Vic Davalillo, Mel Queen and the team's manager, up-and-comer, Dave Bristol. Topeka won the Three-I League Championship that year and Bristol and many of the players, soon moved up to the Major Leagues.

Earl Weaver managed the Fox City Foxes again in 1961, but the stars of the previous years' pennant-winning team were gone. Weaver's team of career minor leaguers finished fourth at 67-62. Looking back, Weaver managing this team of irregulars to an above .500 finish was probably a greater achievement than Bristol winning the pennant with a handful of future stars.

I remember the Reds loved to compete against Weaver's teams! In his book, The Magnificent Seasons: How the Jets, Mets and Knicks Made Sports History, Art Shamsky described Weaver as, "...a fiery little guy with a sort of gravelly voice..." and wrote that he was "...boisterous and inclined to be on the first step of the dugout, always looking for something to argue about...." He was all that and more.

I remember vividly one occasion when Weaver was tossed out of the game in Topeka's Community Park, a cozy little ballpark where the fans in the stands sat close to the field. Of course, I don't remember the cause of Weaver's eviction, but I'm sure he argued his point way beyond the bounds of acceptable decency. Upon being thrown out, he had to leave the field, which for a visiting player or manager wasn't easy to do. In most ballparks, the dugout is connected to the locker room via a tunnel and the evicted player simply walks up the tunnel to his clubhouse. But, at Topeka's Community Park the Visitor's Locker Room was only accessible from outside the ballpark. The players and manager dressed in their locker room and then walked outside the park to a gate on the third base side of the field where they entered the field. Naturally, when a player or manager was tossed from the game, they had to follow this same route in reverse, walking from the dugout down the third base line to the gate. On this occasion, the Reds players assembled on the top step of their dugout taunting Weaver with shouts of "Go soak your head" and many profanities. A few nearby fans hooted and jeered at Weaver as he walked past them, and on this occasion, Weaver came right back at them. In short order, Weaver was arguing with a handful of fans to the point where his own players had to restrain him and escort him off the field for his own safety. It was a great show and I thought police protection would be necessary before it was over. Earl always said he wanted engraved on his tombstone "Here lies the sorest loser ever." He hated to lose, and he was a great manager.