The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball

by John W. Miller

One afternoon before a game, Weaver walked in on Kelly reading the Bible. Kelly was a terrible baserunner. “Pat, can you find a chapter on baserunning in there?” Kelly closed the Bible. “Earl, when was the last time you had this book open?” Not since the start of the season, Weaver confessed. “When was the last time you got down on your knees and prayed?” “Last night—when I gave you the steal sign.” Kelly, not amused, told Weaver: “You’re going to hell! You’ll never get to heaven!” They went at it, until somebody yelled, “Give it a rest!” and they quieted down. Once, seeing Al Bumbry heading to chapel service, Weaver said: “Take your bat.” On the last day of 1983 spring training, manager Joe Altobelli called Bonner into the clubhouse. “You’re taking this Jesus thing too far,” he told Bonner. “Joe, He lives in my heart, so He goes where I go.” “Well, He ain’t going to Baltimore.”