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

by John W. Miller

In 1979, during a game in Cleveland, Weaver ran onto the field with a rule book, claiming that a runner had interfered with Dempsey’s fielding on a bunt. Weaver opened the book at the page dealing with interference. Larry Barnett tossed him. Weaver ripped the book into shreds of paper, littering the infield. He picked up pieces and handed them to another umpire. Players in both dugouts howled with laughter. The crowd of 34,333 went wild. To a standing ovation, Weaver tipped his hat and left the field. The Orioles won, 8–7. “There ain’t no rule that says you can’t bring a rule book on the field,” fumed Weaver. “I told them guys that they made the wrong call. I told them it was in black and white. They wouldn’t look so I ripped it up and it was all over the field in black and white.” Sounding like a repentant serial killer, he added that it was “the first time” he’d ever ripped up a rule book, “and I hope I don’t ever do it again.”