The Final Supervisor: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
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(as of Apr 15, 2025 07:01:17 UTC – Particulars)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Baseball books don’t get any higher than this…Earl Weaver has finally been given his due.” —George F. Will
“Vivid…Most sports activities books are pop flies to the infield. Miller’s is a screaming triple into the left subject nook.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Occasions
The primary main biography of legendary Baltimore Orioles supervisor Earl Weaver—who has been described as “the Copernicus of baseball” and “the grandfather of the trendy recreation”—The Final Supervisor is a wild, thrilling, and hilarious journey with baseball’s most underappreciated genius, and one in all its biggest characters.
Lengthy earlier than the Moneyball Period, the Earl of Baltimore reigned over baseball. Historical past’s feistiest and most colourful supervisor, Earl Weaver reworked the game by accumulating and analyzing knowledge in visionary methods, in the end profitable extra video games than anyone else throughout his time operating the Orioles from 1968 to 1982.
When Weaver was employed by the Orioles, managers had been nonetheless seen as coaches and inspirational leaders, extra academics of the sport than strategists. Weaver invented new methods of constructing baseball groups, prioritizing on-base common, elite protection, and strike throwing. Weaver was the primary supervisor to make use of a contemporary radar gun, and he pioneered the usage of analytical knowledge. By shifting six-foot four-inch Cal Ripken Jr. to shortstop, Weaver paved the way in which for a technology of plus-sized famous person shortstops, akin to Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. He foreshadowed virtually all the things that Invoice James, Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, and lots of of different big-brain baseball sorts would later current as improvements.
Past being a terrific baseball thoughts, Weaver was a uncommon baseball character. Main League Baseball is present enterprise, and Weaver understood how a lot of his job was leisure. Weaver’s legendary outbursts provided gamers cathartic reduction from their very own frustration, signaled his concern for the group, and fired up followers. In his frequent arguments with umpires, he hammed it up for the crowds, faked coronary heart assaults, ripped bases out of the bottom, and pretended to toss umpires out of the sport. Weaver additionally fought along with his gamers, particularly Jim Palmer, however that inventive stress contributed to gorgeous success and a hilarious clubhouse. Throughout his tenure as major-league supervisor, the Orioles gained the American League pennant in 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1979, every time profitable greater than 100 video games.
The Final Supervisor uncovers the story of Weaver’s St. Louis childhood with a mobster uncle, his years of minor-league heartbreak, and his unlikely street to turning into a big-league supervisor, whereas tracing the evolution of the sport from the old-time baseball of cross-country trains and “desk contracts” to the trendy period of free company, video evaluation, and highly effective participant brokers. Weaver’s profession is a vital juncture in baseball historical past. He was the one supervisor to carry a job through the 5 years main as much as and the 5 years after free company upended the game in 1976.
Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Corridor of Fame in 1996. “No supervisor belongs there extra,” wrote Tom Boswell. “Weaver encapsulates the fireplace, the humor, the brains, the childishness, the knowledge and the goofy enjoyable of baseball.” The Final Supervisor tells the story of 1 man—belligerent, genius, notorious—who left his mark on the sport for generations.
Writer : Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (March 4, 2025)
Language : English
Hardcover : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1668030926
ISBN-13 : 978-1668030929
Merchandise Weight : 1.14 kilos
Dimensions : 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
Prospects say
Prospects discover the guide extremely participating and entertaining, with informative anecdotes all through. Furthermore, the biography successfully brings Weaver to life, and prospects take into account him one of many biggest defensive managers of all time. Moreover, one buyer notes that the guide retains the main target fully on baseball.
6 reviews for The Final Supervisor: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
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Original price was: $30.00.$27.00Current price is: $27.00.
Barry Sparks –
Fiery genius was obsessed with winning
It’s been 40 years since Earl Weaver managed a major league baseball team, but the fiery genius left an indelible impression upon the game, the players and the fans. Author John W. Miller refers to Weaver as The Last Manager because data analysis and free agency has shifted control to general managers and the players. Managers are no longer the dominant forces as they were in Weaver’s day.Weaver was obsessed with finding the winning edge, bringing out the best in each player and tweaking baseball to see where it would go. His intensity (he said his epitaph should read: “here lies the sorest loser ever”) was always geared toward winning. It’s what bonded him with his players, despite his many disagreements with Jim Palmer, Rick Dempsey and others. Players also respected Weaver because he was a straight shooter. His golden rule was: No promises to any one and no lies.Weaver invented new ways of building baseball teams. He prioritized high on-base percentage, elite defense and throwing strikes. Later, he added the three-run homer to mantra.Weaver was the first manager to use the radar gun and was a pioneer in using data to create the most effective lineups. He was decades ahead of his time.Thomas Boswell of The Washington Post wrote, “Earl was open to new data, changing trends, new insights into his players or even how to play the game. In other words, though he wouldn’t claim it, he was an original thinker.”All these traits led to an impressive managerial career that includes 11 seasons of 90 wins or more. From 1968 to 1982, not including the strike-shortened 1981 season, Weaver averaged 97 wins.Author John W. Miller provides great insights into Weaver and particularly his minor league career. Weaver was a much better minor league player than most people remember him as. He would probably have made the 1952 St. Cardinals as a 21-year-old back-up second baseman, if manager Eddie Stanky hadn’t taken that position for himself. Weaver never recovered from the heartache and disappointment.Miller covers Weaver’s influences growing up, the relationships with his wives and children and his drinking. He delivers a full picture of Weaver.When Weaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Boswell wrote, “No manager belongs there more. Weaver encapsulated the fire, the humor, the childishness, the wisdom and the goofy fun of baseball.”Author Miller spent five years researching and writing this biography, and it shows. He visited many of the places where Earl played and managed, interviewed his three children and his widow, Marianne, and talked to many of his former players, as well as three umpires.This book should be a delicious, satisfying treat for most every baseball fan.
Brian Lewis –
Pitching, Defense and Three Run Homers
I really wanted to give this book five stars. But I have a rule. If I can imagine that the book would have been better if it was written by someone else, I take off a star. And this book is absolutely screaming for Bill James, the guru who launched baseball’s statistical revolution, to be the author.John W. Miller has written a merely good baseball biography about a great baseball subject, longtime Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver. Weaver was a St. Louis native with an upbringing that sounds like something out of Damon Runyon, and had ties to the Cardinal Gas House Gang of the 1930s. As a manager, he anticipated the changes to the game that came with computers and statistical analysis. I expected something on the connection between the familiarity of small time gambling with the hair splitting nuances of contemporary corporate team management.To Miller’s credit, he keeps the focus entirely on baseball, with chapters describing Weaver’s managerial career, season by season. But the reason Weaver was a great biographical subject was because he was part clown, part genius, and Miller focuses mostly on the raging clown.One chapter asserts that Weaver was the greatest defensive manager of all time, and that his Orioles were the greatest defensive dynasty in baseball history. It features a neat 2-3 page profile of shortstop Mark Belanger and made me wonder why the book could not have been more like that, instead of having so much space devoted to the arguments with umpires.Another chapter, quite near the end, speculates that Weaver, and managerial rival Billy Martin, would not even want to manage in today’s game, with the Internet, empowered players and so many bossy owners. This strikes me as utterly sentimental and exactly the “good old days” garbage that ruins so much historical writing. Weaver took over the Orioles in the late 60s. The world was falling apart then, too.Highly recommended for any baseball fan. I actually feel it is superior to Jane Levy’s biographies of Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax. But I also feel it could have been a classic. The author swung and missed at a fastball right down the middle.
Mark Fichman –
Great portrait of a pioneering manager.
I just finished reading “The Last Manager.” It is a great read. It delves into baseball history and the life of Earl Weaver in a very interesting and entertaining manner. The book taught me a lot about how Earl Weaver thought and operated. His interactions with players, particularly Jim Palmer, were enlightening. Miller’s contrasting portraits of modern managers with Earl Weaver’s style were engaging. All in all, an excellent biography.
Tim C. –
Excellent Read
Loved this bio of Weaver. Easy read and very informative. Loved the descriptions of his arguments with the umps. Felt that it was a very fair description of Weavers faults and his strengths.
William D Copenhaver –
great book and stories
This was an enjoyable book about Earl. Fantastic stories and the Orioles and all the great players that Earl coached. What a great manager and was way ahead of his time for a manager
jomargie –
thought it would never end… C review
A tremendous amount of data went into this book, which took an incalculable amount of research aka time to pull it all together. There is something relative for any one born after, say, 1945 as the Orioles and baseball has changed drastically over the subsequent years. I grew up with the Red Sox so I didn’t have much love for the Birds but respected them and rooted for them in the World Series.