I fully realize that we are not a blog here at HSH; however, I am going to break that rule this one time during this post. So please forgive me.
As most baseball fans know by now, Earl Weaver passed away today at the age of 82. A giant loss for one of baseball’s true throwbacks. To get an idea of just how throwback he and other managers were– I am going to subscribe to a story that my dad has told me many times from when he first moved to Fort Myers, Fl.
It was the early 1980′s and the Kansas City Royals trained at Terry Park which was only a couple of blocks from my dad’s office. He would go there often times on lunch and watch them practice and scope out many of baseball’s legends like George Brett, Dan Quisenberry, Amos Otis, and Frank White. As a result, he developed a little bit of a fanhood for the Royals and would often attend many of their spring training games.
One game he attended was against another American League powerhouse, the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s were led by Eddie Murray, Scott McGregor, and the underwear-man himself Jim Palmer; however, the biggest character on that team was future hall of fame manager, Earl Weaver.
During this contest, an umpire made a controversial call that Weaver didn’t agree with. He did the routine run out, argue with the umpire, kick dirt, and get ejected. When Weaver walked off the field though is when this gag stepped away from the routine. An irate Weaver demanded all his players get off the field and follow him to the team bus. Minutes later, the bus departed and the game was canceled.
Many fans were wonder to themselves what had just happened but all my dad could do is laugh about it. Earl Weaver was old school and this move was as old school as it got.
My father doesn’t recall the consequences for the move nor has he ever googled it but he swears it happened. And if you judge the character that was Earl Weaver– you would believe him.
