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"I'm elated," said Weaver. "There are so many people to thank -- Brooks
and Frank and Boog and Blair and Buford -- so many who made it possible.
"I loved managing those kids. I always thought, 'Let me manage as long as
I can, and when I get run out of town, let me become a scout.' "
That never happened.
Weaver will enter Cooperstown with "Foxy" Ned Hanlon, another Orioles
manager who guided Baltimore to three straight National League titles in the
1890s; former pitcher Jim Bunning, a 224-game winner; and Negro leagues star
Bill Foster. Induction ceremonies are Aug. 4.
Hall of Fame officials said it was the first time two managers
representing the same city were elected together.
"It's a feather in Baltimore's cap," said Hank Peters, for- mer Orioles
general manager and a member of the selection committee. "There wasn't much
doubt that Earl deserved to go. And Hanlon was much the same innovative-type
manager.
"Both were ahead of their times in the way they did things. It's fitting
that they should go in in tandem."
Weaver, 65, who was playing golf near his Florida home when he got the
news, refused to leave the course until he'd finished the round nearly three
hours later.
"Competition is competition," he said. "That's how I get my thrills.
"When I heard the news, my knees got weak and I could hardly hold the golf
club."
He bogeyed the hole, but won the match.
Weaver's peers and former players toasted the vote.
"He won almost 1,500 games, he had one losing season and he was never
fired," said former Detroit manager Sparky Anderson, who was let go by the
Tigers last year. "Earl walked away on his own, and a manager should cherish
that more than anything else."
Weaver's lone world championship, in 1970, came at Anderson's expense,
when the Orioles defeated Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, four games to one.
"Earl was Earl," Anderson said. "He never tried to be Casey Stengel or
Walter Alston. He was a great leader because he was fearless.
"So many people in life are afraid. Earl stood his ground on everything.
He wasn't always right, but he never ran. What more can you ask of a guy?"
Weaver managed the Orioles from 1968 to 1982 and was coaxed out of
retirement to lead them again in 1985 and 1986. In 17 years, his teams won
1,480 games and lost 1,060 for a winning percentage of .583 -- fifth all-time
among managers of the modern era.
"The vote is a validation of how good he really was," said Orioles Hall of
Famer Jim Palmer. "It's like a USDA meat approval. He's just gone from
'choice' to 'prime' -- though I never really thought of Earl Weaver as a
tenderloin."
Palmer -- who, along with Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Reggie
Jackson, is one of four Hall of Famers managed by Weaver -- had campaigned
openly for his manager, sending veterans committee members a two-page letter
(single-spaced) praising his candidacy. The committee, composed of five Hall
of Fame players, five sportswriters and broadcasters and four baseball
executives, selected from a ballot of 20.
"Earl was the best manager of his era," said Palmer, who, as a player, had
a fractious relationship with Weaver. "He was scrappy, loyal and never held a
grudge. He knew what buttons to push, and he wasn't afraid to push them.
"He was never afraid of losing his job, though he managed most of his
career with one-year contracts. He was fearless. He never left spring training
with a 'political' roster. No player made the team because the front office
wanted him there. These were 25 pieces of Earl's puzzle and his alone."
One of those pieces was an infielder from Aberdeen who, thanks to Weaver,
endured a rocky beginning to his major-league career.
"I'm glad that I had the opportunity to start out with Earl," said Cal
Ripken Jr. "He was a little intimidating at first, but he showed a lot of
confidence in me. I started off 9-for-73. A less-experienced manager might not
have stuck with me as long.
"Once I got my feet on the ground, he moved me to shortstop, which
significantly changed the direction of my career. Looking back, my career
might never have gotten off the ground without the strength of Earl Weaver."
Like Hanlon, Weaver won three consecutive league pennants (1969 to 1971).
Hanlon, a cunning strategist and deft trader, turned a floundering Orioles
team into one of the legendary clubs of the 19th century. A short, stocky man
not much taller than 5-foot-8 Weaver, Hanlon took over a National League team
that had finished 54 1/2 games off the pace in 1892, swapped for three future
Hall of Famers (Willie Keeler, Hugh Jennings and Joe Kelley) and won a pennant
two years later.
"I'm floored," said Edwina Reeve of Lutherville, Hanlon's granddaughter,
on learning of his election. "I'll bet Foxy Ned is up there now saying, 'I've
got this thing worked out.' "
Hanlon's Orioles were pioneers in the use of "scientific" baseball tactics
-- some legal, some not. The bunt, hit-and-run and squeeze play were Hanlon
trademarks. So was scooting from first base to third when the umpire's back
was turned.
"He was always pulling something fast -- anything he could get away with
to win a game, kind of like Earl Weaver," said Hanlon's grandson, Albert
Thompson of Roland Park.
Hanlon's election to the Hall coincides with the 100th anniversary of his
greatest Baltimore team: The 1896 Orioles went 90-39 (.698). Seven players
became big-league managers, including Hall of Famers Jennings, John McGraw and
Wilbert Robinson.
Hanlon later led Brooklyn to two pennants, retired and became ** head of
Baltimore's Park Board. He died in 1937, on Opening Day.
"It wonderful that the man who started scientific baseball and the man who
picked up on it are going into Cooperstown together," said Mike Reeve of
Towson, Hanlon's great-grandson.
"The man from the old era gets to go in with the student."