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When introducing the Orioles’ new manager in 1968, general manager Harry Dalton said, “In short, I believe Earl Weaver is a winner.”1 Weaver was short. And he was a winner. For the next 14½ seasons the Orioles won more games than any other team, piling up six division titles, four pennants, and one World Series […]

All managers think about strategy, but one can argue that no manager this side of John McGraw changed our prevailing understanding of baseball strategy as much as Earl Weaver. In his seminal work, Weaver on Strategy, and in various quotations uttered while holding court, Weaver presented insights that may have long been implicitly understood by […]

Two seasons ago, I witnessed the Florida Marlins attempt to execute a classic Earl Weaver maneuver. It was the fifth inning of a game in Milwaukee. The Marlins, down 1–0, had runners on first and third with two outs. As the pitcher was winding up for the next batter, I nudged my buddy in the […]

“The show gets better every nightAs Weaver’s cork blew out of sightAnother wild one to the lastToo bad the Tribe again got gassed”1   The Cleveland Indians were about as hot as they got in the 1970s. As the month of May 1979 came to a close, the Indians were in sixth place with a […]

The managerial move was finally made during the All-Star break. By most accounts, it was not a surprise. Baltimore’s record in the first half of the 1968 season was 43-37, but the Orioles did not appear to be headed to the World Series. So, Orioles personnel director Harry Dalton promoted Earl Weaver to take the […]