Hello, Earl … goodbye, Earl

Umpire Ron Luciano exchanging pleasantries with Earl Weaver

Earl Weaver, the Orioles’ fiery Hall of Fame manager, finds himself ejected not once, but twice during a doubleheader split with the Texas Rangers 49 years ago today at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium.

Weaver is tossed in the opener – a 10-6 loss to the Rangers – by first base umpire Ron Luciano and then again by Luciano before the second game even starts.

Without Weaver, the Orioles win the second game 13-1 before a Friday night crowd of 18,636.

Earl Weaver

Weaver, of course, is no stranger to taking early exits from games during his 17 years in the majors.

His 96 ejections trail only fellow Hall of Famers Bobby Cox (162), John McGraw (121) and Leo Durocher (100) on the all-time, take-a-hike list.

Weaver also is no stranger to incurring the wrath of the normally jovial Luciano, who back in the mid-1960s when the two are in Class AA ejects Weaver six times during the 1965 Eastern League season and then eight times over eight seasons in the major leagues from 1969-76.

Scheduling adjustments follow to deliberately keep Luciano and Weaver from meeting over the final three seasons of Luciano’s time in American League.

“Throwing people out of a game is like learning to ride a bicycle,” Luciano later says of managers in general and Weaver in particular. “Once you get the hang of it, it can be a lot of fun.”