Friday, May 10, 2024

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1971 EARL WEAVER

On the blog today, a fun little "tweak" to Earl Weaver's 1971 card, this an All-Star designation as the American League's skipper in the 1970 Midsummer Classic, something I did with the starting nine for both leagues almost ten years ago:


Weaver had the honors of leading the A.L. in the 1970 All-Star game based off his pennant winning season of 1969, when the Orioles were stunned in the World Series by the "Miracle Mets".
It was Weaver's first full season as a Major League manager, taking over at mid-season the year before for Baltimore and leading them to a second place finish before his run of three first place finishes between 1969 and 1971.
I loved Earl Weaver as a kid, who paired up nicely with my favorite manager, Billy Martin: fiery, combative, and always ready to stick his neck out for his team.
By the time he retired after the 1986 season, Weaver finished with a record of 1480 wins against 1060 losses, for a very nice .583 winning percentage, with four Pennants and a World Championship in 1970, posting a winning season every year of his tenure except his very last, when he finished 73-89.
In 1996 he was voted into the Hall of Fame as a manager, celebrating one of the most colorful managers of the era, and rightly so!

 

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER...

@wthballs
Everything baseball: cards, events, history and more.