August 03, 1996
In his prime, Earl Weaver could be loud, profane and abusive. And that was around his friends. To umpires, he was the manager they loved to hate. To Jim Palmer, he was Napoleon, only shorter. And tomorrow, they put him in the baseball Hall of Fame as one of the winningest managers of all time.
Well, there have been lots of good managers, but only one who could come up with this exchange. Outfielder Pat Kelly wanted to lead a chapel meeting in the clubhouse, but Weaver objected. Said Kelly: "Earl, don't you want me to walk with the Lord?" Growled Weaver: "I'd rather have you walk with the bases loaded."
Weaver has long since retired to Florida and a life of golf. Maybe he has mellowed. Or maybe he's kicking dirt on his golfing partners. Wherever he is and whatever he's doing, he's still the Earl of Baltimore, a town with a definite soft spot for loudmouths. H.L. Mencken wrote like a loudmouth. William Donald Schaefer governed like a loudmouth. And Earl? If Sam Kinison had lived, he could have played him in the movie.
Of course, not every loudmouth wins our hearts. Some we love. Some we hate. Sometimes, we can't tell the difference. Here's our own Hall of Fame, the loudmouth wing. Take a stroll through the not-so-hallowed halls with us. Earplugs optional.
LOUDMOUTHS WE LOVE: .... LOUDMOUTHS WE HATE:
Earl Weaver ............ Marge Schott
Laura Schlessinger ..... Rush Limbaugh
Rosie O'Donnell ........ Roseanne
Barbara Mikulski ....... Newt Gingrich
Kate Smith ............. Courtney Love
William Donald Schaefer .William Donald Schaefer
Howard Cosell ........ ..Howard Stern
John Madden ............ John McLaughlin
Muhammad Ali ........... Dennis Rodman
Fred Flintstone ........ Fidel Castro
Ethel Merman ........... Madonna
Patrick Henry .......... Mussolini
H.L. Mencken ........... Sam Donaldson
Ralph Kramden .......... Ralph Nader
Teddy Roosevelt ........ Pat Buchanan
Jackie Gleason ......... Sam Kinison
Lucille Ball ........... Jane Fonda
Pub Date: 8/03/96
