Earl might terrorize umpires, fight his players, and cuss, drink, and smoke to excess, but he was also a curious, charming, and sensitive man who gardened, cooked, and played ukulele. He loved poodles and Elvis. And despite his abuse of the King’s English, he was full of wisdom. The tragicomic Shakespearean (and yes, he once quoted Shakespeare to an umpire) depth of Earl Weaver—Prospero (or maybe Falstaff) in cleats—touched everyone from Sparrows Point steelworkers to George Weigel, the biographer of Pope John Paul II, who likened Earl Weaver talking baseball to Homer reciting the Iliad.
