THE LAST MANAGER How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball

Earl Weaver, the legendary manager of MLB's Baltimore Orioles for 17 seasons, was known for his on-field theatrics as much as his strategy. Johnny Heller's gravelly voice, conversational tone, and high energy do a good job of conveying Weaver's character. Heller is mostly comfortable with the baseball jargon and stats--always a potential pitfall for narrators--and even with the inevitable profanity for which the Earl of Baltimore was infamous, especially when chewing out umpires. This biography draws heavily on interviews with Weaver's contemporaries, and these are narrated without adornment. A story emerges about a seemingly old-school manager whose style foreshadowed the way the game is played today. D.B. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2025]