Don't Worry, the Fans Don't Start Booing Until July

Earl Weaver

Earl Weaver, manager of the Baltimore Orioles for 17 seasons, has said some amazing things over the years, and here are a few of them.

1. A manager's job is simple. For one hundred sixty-two games you try not to screw up all that smart stuff your organization did last December.
2. A manager should stay as far away as possible from his players. I don't know if I said ten words to Frank Robinson while he played for me.
3. Bad ballplayers make good managers, not the other way around. All I can do is help them be as good as they are.
4. Coaches are an integral part of any manager's team, especially if they are good pinochle players.
5. Don't worry, the fans don't start booing until July.
6. Economics played a role. Raleighs have gone from six fifty to nine dollars a carton, but there's a three-quarter cent coupon on the back. You can get all kinds of things with them, blenders, everything. I saved up enough one time and got Al Bumbry.
7. Every time I fail to smoke a cigarette between innings, the opposition will score.
8. I don't think, in all the years I managed them, I ever spoke more than thirty words to Frank (Robinson) and Brooks Robinson.
9. If you know how to cheat, start now.
10. I never got many questions about my managing. I tried to get twenty-five guys who didn't ask questions.
11. I think the National League has better biorhythms in July.
12. I think there should be bad blood between all clubs.
13. It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
14. Nobody likes to hear it, because it's dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same - pitching.
15. No one's gonna give a damn in July if you lost a game in March.
16. On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.
17. The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager, because it won't hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game.
18. The key step for an infielder is the first one, to the left or right, but before the ball is hit.
19. The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers.
20. The only thing that matters is what happens on the little hump out in the middle of the field.
21. This ain't a football game, we do this every day.
22. We're so bad right now that for us back-to-back home runs means one today and another one tomorrow.
23. You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and five the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all.
24. You got a hundred more young kids than you have a place for on your club. Every one of them has had a going away party. They have been given the shaving kit and the fifty dollars. They kissed everybody and said, 'See you in the majors in two years.' You see these poor kids who shouldn't be there in the first place. You write on the report card '4-4-4 and out.' That's the lowest rating in everything. Then you call 'em in and say, 'It's the consensus amoung us that we're going to let you go back home.' Some of them cry, some get mad, but none of them will leave until you answer them one question, 'Skipper, what do you think?' And you gotta look every one of those kids in the eye and kick their dreams in the ass and say no. If you say it mean enough, maybe they do themselves a favor and don't waste years learning what you can see in a day. They don't have what it takes to make the majors, just like I never had it.
25. You win pennants in the off season when you build your teams with trades and free agents.

Earl is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and his plaque reads:

"Earl Weaver managed the Orioles with intensity, flair, and acerbic wit for 17 seasons. He fashioned an impressive .583 winning percentage bolstered by five 100-win seasons (1969-1971 and 1979-1980). Known for his innovative managerial style and his colorful confrontations with the men in blue, the "Earl of Baltimore" won 1,480 games, six American League East titles, four pennants and the 1970 World Series."

Courtesy of Brainyquote.com, BaseballLibrary.com and BaseballHallofFame.org