Wow. Two of baseball's biggest characters, and most legendary figures have passed away. On the same day, no less. It really is sad, because I had all the respect in the world for one of them.
Stan Musial was one of the most legendary baseball players on his time. He played for one team over a stretch of time, played until he was 43, and captivated the hearts of Cardinals fans. No St. Louis played down the line could top his classiness, his memorability, and his stats, though Ozzie and Albert came close.
He was a hell of a player, and he'll be missed.
So there. A lot of great words for a great man. Many of those same words won't be used to describe Earl Weaver.
Yes, Earl Weaver was one of the greatest strategic managers of all time, treating the game like a battlefield, and planning his roster like no man before him. He deserves every accolade met.
But, as a Yankee fan, I tended to really dislike the guy. Sure, he's smart and a great manager, but he also terrorized my Yankees for years. He also cursed out every working umpire from the 60's up to the 80's. He was a loudmouth, rude, mass of a human being. The m there was intentional.
So yeah, Stan the man was amazing and will be missed. Earl will be missed alright. Just not as much by me.
(Please don't kill me O's fans)
I disagree with your assessment of Earl. Would you say the same about Bobby Cox, who was ejected many more times than Earl was? John McGraw? How about how Weaver has the sixth best win percentage among managers all-time? Better than Billy Martin. Better than Joe Torre. I'm not a Yankee fan, but I would never begrudge Torre, Joe McCarthy, Stengel, just because I might not have agreed with them or that they were Yankees.
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