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Earl Sidney Weaver
Baltimore Orioles
Manager
Born: August 14, 1930, St. Louis, MO
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
As a Manager: Baltimore Orioles 1968-82, 1985-86
Died: January 19, 2013, Caribbean Sea (age 82)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1996
After a relatively successful 13-year career in the minor leagues as a second baseman in the Cardinals, Pirates and Orioles organizations, Earl Weaver began his second career as a full-time manager, leading the Orioles to a World Series title in 1970, and earning enshrinement in Cooperstown in 1996. Weaver was a minor league player-manager with the Orioles between 1956 and 1960, retiring as a player in 1961. After seven years climbing the managerial ladder in the Orioles' minor league system, and winning three minor league championships, Weaver began the 1968 season as the Orioles' first base coach. He took over as manager on July 11, 1968, replacing Hank Bauer (#124), and he'd lead the Orioles for the next 14 1/2 seasons. The Orioles won American League pennants under Weaver in 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1979, defeating the Reds in five games int he 1970 World Series. He retired following the 1982 season, but was briefly coaxed out of retirement for the 1985 and 1986 seasons.
Weaver's Orioles teams won 90 or more games in ten of his 14 full seasons at the helm between 1969 and 1982, based on his philosophy of "pitching, defense, and the three-run homer." His lifetime record of 1,480 wins to 1,060 loses earned him induction into the Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Orioles retired his #4 upon his first retirement in 1982. At the time of his retirement, Weaver's 96 career ejections ranked third all-time.
Died: January 19, 2013, Caribbean Sea (age 82)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1996
After a relatively successful 13-year career in the minor leagues as a second baseman in the Cardinals, Pirates and Orioles organizations, Earl Weaver began his second career as a full-time manager, leading the Orioles to a World Series title in 1970, and earning enshrinement in Cooperstown in 1996. Weaver was a minor league player-manager with the Orioles between 1956 and 1960, retiring as a player in 1961. After seven years climbing the managerial ladder in the Orioles' minor league system, and winning three minor league championships, Weaver began the 1968 season as the Orioles' first base coach. He took over as manager on July 11, 1968, replacing Hank Bauer (#124), and he'd lead the Orioles for the next 14 1/2 seasons. The Orioles won American League pennants under Weaver in 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1979, defeating the Reds in five games int he 1970 World Series. He retired following the 1982 season, but was briefly coaxed out of retirement for the 1985 and 1986 seasons.
Weaver's Orioles teams won 90 or more games in ten of his 14 full seasons at the helm between 1969 and 1982, based on his philosophy of "pitching, defense, and the three-run homer." His lifetime record of 1,480 wins to 1,060 loses earned him induction into the Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Orioles retired his #4 upon his first retirement in 1982. At the time of his retirement, Weaver's 96 career ejections ranked third all-time.
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Bagger's Auctions)
I wrote a full write-up of The Philly Show from December over at The Phillies Room. Having added another 145 commons to our 1969 Topps set build, and then securing autographs from Tom Herr and Bobby Wine (#648), Doug and I were ready to call it a day.
On our way out, I stopped at a table near the exit when I noticed a display with baseball cards from the 1930s, including a few Diamond Stars cards. I had been watching the Carl Hubbell card from that set for a while on a few eBay auctions, and given the reasonable price tag on this card for $110, I started a short negotiation with the dealer. He pointed out there were some other Diamond Stars cards in a bargain bin next to the case, and I was pleasantly surprised to find an extremely reasonably priced Ducky Medwick card to pair with the Hubbell purchase. A reasonable person would have stopped there, but this Weaver card along with the card of his regular third baseman, Brooks Robinson (#550), seemed too good to pass up, especially from what was deemed to be a bargain bin. I bundled the Medwick, Weaver and Robinson cards together, made a fairly low offer for the trio, and had my offer accepted. It likely helped I had already committed to buying the more expensive Hubbell card.
We quickly exited the show soon afterwards, given my now completely empty wallet.
This serves as Weaver's rookie card, and the only contemporary baseball card from his playing days appears to be from the 1950 Winston-Salem Cardinals Photos set. The photo seems to have been taken at night. The back of the card highlights his three MVP wins while in the minor leagues. A quick search of his biographies showed no details for these wins, and I have to imagine these came while he was a minor league manager, not a minor league player. His best year as a player was likely 1949, when as an 18-year-old, Weaver batted .282 with 101 RBIs and 17 stolen bases for the Class C St. Joseph Cardinals.
The caricature on the back of the card is simply the reverse of the photo on front, with some graphic-y touches applied. Topps reprinted the card for the 1997 Topps Stars Rookie Reprints insert set.
Accuracy Index: Weaver's rookie card scores a +5.
1969 Season
Weaver's Orioles won 109 games and the American League pennant in his first full season as manager. They swept the Twins in three games in the first ever ALCS, but fell to the underdog Mets in the World Series in five games. On August 13th, future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (#573) threw the only no-hitter of his career, against the Athletics. Mike Cuellar (#453) and Dave McNally (#340) were both 20-game winners for the team, with Eddie Watt (#652) and Pete Richert (#86) essentially platooning as the club's closer, with 16 and 12 saves respectively.
Right fielder Frank Robinson (#250) (.308, 32 home runs, 100 RBIs) and center fielder Paul Blair (#506) (.285, 32 doubles, 26 home runs and 76 RBIs) were offensive forces for the Orioles. First baseman Boog Powell (#15) slugged 37 home runs and drove in 121 runs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #516
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1969-81, 1983, 1985-87
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2024 Topps Living #741
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 280 in the Beckett online database as of 12/9/24.
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First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #516
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1969-81, 1983, 1985-87
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2024 Topps Living #741
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 280 in the Beckett online database as of 12/9/24.
Update Cards
For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series. With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series. The Orioles are fairly well represented in the set, but these five players deserve a card in my imaginary update series.
- Merv Rettenmund (of) - Outfielder Merv Rettenmund is sharing a Rookie Stars card with pitcher Mike Adamson (#66) and I've give him a solo card.
- Chico Salmon (inf) - Chico Salmon (#62) is in the set with the Pilots, but he played in 52 games for the Orioles after a trade to Baltimore in late March.
- Marcelino Lopez (lhp) - Two of the top five relievers for Weaver's Orioles aren't in the set, starting with Marcelino Lopez. Lopez and Dick Hall made 27 and 39 appearances, respectively, throughout the season.
- Dick Hall (rhp)
- Terry Crowley (1b) - Long-time Oriole Terry Crowley was a September call-up in 1969, appearing in seven games. He'd earn a rookie card in the 1970 Topps set.
Baseball Reference - Weaver / Baseball Reference - 1969 Orioles / SABR / Wikipedia
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
#515 Dick Green - Oakland Athletics / #517 Mike McCormick - San Francisco Giants
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