That report comes to us straight from the fiery ex-manager of the Baltimore Orioles, who was the subject of a rather weird and wildly incorrect lead to a New York Times political column over the weekend.
While beginning his regular piece, writer Ross Ramsey stated that "Texas Democrats have become the Baltimore Orioles of politics. Somewhere in heaven, Earl Weaver and [former Texas governor] Ann Richards are comparing notes on what went wrong with the teams they left behind."
Why you'd start an article about the Lone Star State politics with a reference to a Baltimore manager who hasn't put on a uniform since 1986 is anybody's guess, but that isn't the biggest issue here. The larger bone to pick would be the fact that Weaver is still existing above the top soil and enjoying a Sunshine State retirement at age 80.
He even says so himself.
Reached today at his home in Florida, Weaver denied the allegations.
"I'll be damned," said the Hall of Famer, who managed the Orioles to four American League pennants and a World Series title. "All I can do is say, that's false.
"I'm still here, although my knees have given out, so I don't play golf anymore."
Whoops. The New York Times has since issued a correction and you can see where Ramsey might have assumed that Weaver was dead as the O's skip hasn't kept a very high profile since retiring and then being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.
Still, you have to double check that the man famous for kicking dirt on others has definitely had dirt kicked on his own self. I mean, imagine what Terry Crowley or Alice Sweet (and her tomato plants) thought when they read that column?
Big BLS H/N: Baseball Think Factory
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