eaver: the baseball wizard
THE BATTALION Page 13
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1979
United Press International
BALTIMORE — You look at Earl
laver and see how everyone is
nping on his bandwagon now,
I it’s hard to imagine you’re look-
| at a man who could go into the
orcl books as one of baseball’s
latest managers.
IVhat makes it so hard to think of
in that context is because he
bsn t fit into the same general
lid as the vast majority of great
Jnagers before him, men like
nnie Mack, John McGraw, Miller
[grins and Joe McCarthy.
Vor the most part, all of them
jre austere, solemn and not
Idily given to laughing or joking
land with their players. Earl
[aver does both.
It doesn’t seem to impair either
] or their effectiveness, though.
|Veaver begins participating in
sixth American League playoff
|h the Orioles against the Califor-
] Angels tonight in Baltimore, in
[at he hopes will lead to their
[rth pennant and second world
ampionship under him in 12
lis winning percentage of .597
J that period, representing 1,101
Itories compared with only 743
losses, is higher than the figures
compiled by Mack, McGraw or
Huggins and isn’t that far off McCar
thy’s astronomic .614.
Weaver becomes a bit self-
conscious whenever someone asks
him how it feels to be regarded the
best manager in baseball.
“I try not to think about it be
cause there’s a lotta people in the
country who don’t think so,” laughs
the Orioles’ stocky little pilot.
“Generally, the only thing I ever
think about is how to win the next
one — like tonight’s game with
California.”
If Weaver does go on to rate with
the greatest managers after he’s all
finished, he’ll have one thing in
common with Joe McCarthy.
Neither ever played a single game
in the major leagues.
“That was my dream — to be a
big league ballplayer,” says the 49-
year-old Weaver. “I never made it.”
Weaver grew up in St. Louis,
which had two big league clubs at
the time, the Cards and the Browns.
His father, Earl, Sr., had a dry
cleaning shop not far from old
Sportsman’s Park and the senior
Weaver did the uniforms for the
players of both clubs.
“I was a pretty fair second base-
man around St. Louis as a kid and
my Dad wanted me to sign with the
Browns,” Weaver says. “I worked
out with them. My Dad was a good
friend of Freddie Hofmann, who
was a scout for the Browns, and after
Freddie watched me for awhile, my
Dad said to him, T want you to tell
me the truth — how good is he?’
“Freddie told him, ‘Class A —
tops.’
“My Dad was so mad, he didn’t
speak to him for over a year. ”
Weaver and his father then went
over to the Cardinals where Walter
Shannon, now with the Brewers,
was overseeing the club’s farm sys
tem.
“Shannon is a helluva salesman,”
Weaver says. “He took me over to
one of the windows in the office
where I could look down onto the
field, and he said to me, ‘See second
base out there. You’ll be playing
there in four years.’ That was all I
had to hear.”
Weaver’s father felt they should
check the Browns once more, so
they did. Jim McLaughlin who was
the farm director was completely up
front with him. So was Bill DeWitt,
who was running the club.
“They told me they didn’t know if
I could hit good enough,” Weaver
remembers. “They said ‘Your speed
is questionable and we don’t know if
your arm is good enough, but we ll
give you a Double A player’s con
tract with San Antonio. That’s the
best we can do.”’
Weaver decided to sign with the
Cardinals, who optioned him to
West Frankfort in the Illinois State
League. He didn’t break down any
fences there as a rookie in 1948 nor
at St. Joseph or Winston-Salem the
following seasons.
When Red Schoendienst, the
Cardinals’ regular second baseman,
held out early in 1952, Weaver was
invited to spring training with St.
Louis.
“I hit .260 or .270 in spring train
ing and had some outside hope, but
after Schoendienst signed, I was
sent back to the minors and never
got another shot,” Weaver says.
“Now I look back and say Jim
McLaughlin and Bill DeWitt were
just being honest with me. As a
manager, I appreciate that more
than ever now. I’ll tell you one thing
about my not making the big
leagues as a ballplayer. Nobody
could’ve tried harder than I did. ”
oto by I
itching could decide AL, series
United Press International
ALTIMORE — California’s
bn Ryan, scheduled to pitch
day aniilflinst Baltimore’s Jim Palmnsays
American League playoffs, like
st short series, will turn on pitch-
ll think our pitching is going to
[e to keep us in the ballgame,”
1 Ryan, the righthander, who can
I fling a baseball close to 100 mph
despite his 32 years and a history of
occasional injuries.
“Baltimore pitching has been
very tough on us all year,” he con
tinued. “Our pitching is going to
have to give our hitters a chance to
score some runs.”
Baltimore, which won the East
Division by eight games with 102
victories, most in baseball, features
n said. 11
:tion out (I
hitey isn’t rehired
1 58.4 per; I United Press International
attempt! KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kan-
lan he’si |City Royals, who failed this sea-
are sprt I to make the American League
>ption to«yoffs for the first time in four
ie ball mu lars, said Tuesday manager
liitey Herzog would not be re-
ics have 'Bed for the 1980 season,
of the Ag R Royals’ spokesman said Herzog
ed out tk It with executive vice president
a thetesml general manager Joe Burke
ackles ol Irh in the day to discuss his situa-
■ads thei on.
e Little e IWe did not offer Whitey Herzog
Tying
Wilsoil
OTH WORKING?
a contract, the spokesman said.
“Joe said he made the decision for
the best interests of the Royals or
ganization. The coaches are also free
to seek employment elsewhere.”
This season the Royals finished
second in the American League
West, three games behind the
front-running California Angels.
Herzog had guided Kansas City to
the Western Division championship
in his three previous full seasons at
the Royals helm.
a deep, well-balanced pitching staff
that includes not only Palmer but
lefthander Mike Flanagan, the fa
vorite for the Cy Young Award.
By contrast, the Angels are the
hittingest team in the game, scoring
866 runs or 5.3 per outing en route
to an 88-74 record and their first-
ever divisional title. Nevertheless,
Ryan feels pitching is the key.
“I have the feeling that every
thing is coming together at the right
time,” said Ryan.
Lefthander Frank Tanana and
righty Chris Knapp, two starters
who endured virtually lost seasons,
are both healthy and pitching well.
Mark Clear, the 23-year-old reliever
who was in the running for the
Rookie of the Year Award until he
hurt his shoulder, says he feels
nearly 100 percent.
Still, the Angels’ No. 1 hope is
Ryan, who has not had good success
against Baltimore.
“They’ve been one of the tougher
teams in the American League for
me,” Ryan admitted. “I don’t have
any reason for it. But I feel very
comfortable starting this game.”
California will be without infiel
der Willie Aikens (knee surgery),
outfielder Joe Rudi (right Achilles
tendon), and pitcher Jim Barr (bad
knuckle on pitching hand).
For Baltimore, outfielder Gary
Roenicke was examined Monday
after being struck in the left elbow
during batting practice Sunday and
X-rays proved negative. He should
be able to play Wednesday as
should shortstop Mark Belanger and
outfielder John Lowenstein, both of
whom have been injured.
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THURSDAY NITE (7-12)
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A&M-Tech
to he seen in
G. Rollie
Tickets are on sale now for the
closed-circuit showing of the
Texas A&M-Texas Tech football
game Saturday night in G. Rol
lie White Coliseum.
The tickets are $3 for A&M
students, faculty and staff and
$5 for the general public there
will be no reserved seats and the
coliseum can accommodate
about 7,000 fans. The game will
be in color and shown on a 16-
foot screen.
The ticket office in G. Rollie
White Coliseum will be open
from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 4
through Friday.
Tickets will also go on sale at
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game’s kickoff in Jones Stadium
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StargelFs homer and
Pirates beat Reds, 5-2
The Pittsburgh Pirates won the
first game of the National League
playoffs, beating the Cincinnati
Reds 5-2 on a three-run home run
by Willie Stargell in the 11th in
ning.
Phil Gamer started the scoring
for the Pirates when he blasted a
home run over the right-field fence
in the third inning. Then Omar
Moreno scored o
nificyto ight field giving the Sues a
2-0 lead.
The Reds tied the score in the
bottom of the third on a George
Foster home run and the score re
mained tied until the 11th nning
whemy Pirates’ Tim Folud off with a
single. Dave Parker followed with a
single. Stargell brought both of
them icqh his three-run shot oxf
Cincinnati reliever, Tom Hume.
* \
The Reds loaded the bases in the
bottom of the 11th but the threat
was killed when Ray Knight struck
out to end the game.
The second game of the best-of-five
series will be played in Cincinnati
again, starting at 2:15 (CDT) today.
Volleyballers host Horns
The Texas A&M women’s vol
leyball team, ranked eighth in the
nation and second in the state, will
host the University of Texas tonight
at 7:30 p.m. in G. Rollie White Col-
The Aggies are 9-7 on the year
and defeated the Longhorns in Aus
tin earlier this year, winning three
out of five games.
“Texas had a very strong, hard
hitting team,” said A&M coach
Dave Schakel. “We will have to play
good defense and be consistent to
win.”
Tonight’s match is free to the pub
lic.
BUY, SELL, RENT, ANNOUNCE .
Battalion Classifieds 845-2611
The AMERICAN PARACHUTE CENTER takes great pride in joining
with the TEXAS A&M SPORT PARACHUTE CLUB in announcing the
names of the people that experienced sport parachuting for
the first time during the month of September
JIM ADAMS
JAMAL KHATTARI
BOB AREND
RAY ARNOLD
BRUCE AVELLANET
MATT BAKER
JIM BELL
RICHARD BERTHELSON
GRADY CARLILE
TERESA CARTER
CHARLES CASTEEL
CHRIS COLDWELL
MYLES COLEMAN
CHRIS CRAIG
KRISHAND DAS
RICHARD ELLIS
ALISON ELLWOOD
GREGG FALCONE
DENISE FARES
BILL FINK
FADY JOSEPH FREM
PATRICK R. GORDON
ROGER GREMILLION
DALE L. HARBER
RICHARD B. HARRIS
HOLLIS HILTY
GLENN HOLLOWELL
DWAYNE HURST
JORGE H. JAIME
PAUL M. LANE
JOSE LARDIZABAL
DAVID MCKENZIE
ROBIN MARTINEZ
JOHN MAYBIN
STEVE MEYER
JOHN MOTLEY
BERNARD MOUSSALLI
LEO PHELPS
BARTON W. ROFFEE
JONATHAN SANCHEZ
STEVE SCALES
MICHAEL SISSON
PHILIP E. SMITH
PAUL STIRLING
ROBERT WAGNER
GLEN D. WALDIS
LARRY WHYDE
TEXAS A&M SPORT PARACHUTE CLUB
Next scheduled regular meeting is
at 7PM Room 201 Rudder Tower on
October 3rd for information on
1st Jump Classes please attend or
call 846-9038 or 693-3317 evenings
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