Key Takeaways from One of Baseball's Top Teams of the 1970's

Earl Weaver's Orioles were a Dynasty of Defense from 1969-1986

This spring and summer, I have been reading John W. Miller's The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball. This book has been an excellent look into the life and success of Earl Weaver as a baseball manager. Compared to his peers at the time, Earl was ahead of his time. He would look at statistics and analyze tendencies of the opponent to develop a game plan to beat his opponent. This came from Weaver's upbringing and being around many bettors who bet on a plethora of sports, predominantly baseball. While I highly recommend this book, there is one chapter in there that was eye-opening regarding Weaver's tenure as the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, and that is their defense. From Miller's research from the time span of 1969-1986, the Orioles defenders saved a total of 831 runs. The next closest team to them was the Athletics at 322 defensive runs saved. To understand what made them so different, let's look at a few areas. 

Weaver's Orioles clubs would practice countless hours, especially during spring training, to ensure that each defender was prepared for anything while having confidence in their teammate to make the right play. Pitchers were also included in this as well. Miller wrote that Orioles pitchers would total fifteen hours of defensive work on bunt defense and pitcher fielding practice. The infield and outfield would receive hundreds of ground balls and fly balls each day. 

One of the O's keys to success at this time was their pitchers. Weaver's Orioles focused on pounding the strike zone. This emphasized keeping the defense engaged. This makes a lot of sense due to what the defnese did when developing a adjustments per at bat and pitch for each specific hitter. For example, the middle infielders would understand what pitch was coming from the catcher, how the pitcher's pitch moved, and read the hitter's bat angle to adjust where to play to record the out. In Earl Weaver's book Weaver on Strategy, he wrote "The key step for an infielder is the first one- left or right- but before the ball is hit."

One of Weaver's best defenders was Mark Belanger. Growing up Belanger used intentional practice to work on his defensive prowess. Belanger would typically throw a ground ball off of the wall to work on fielding the ball at different angles all the while having a situation being played in his head. These skills, standards, and intentionality makes for a high level defender who is prepared for multiple situations that the game of baseball may throw at them. 

For a coach these tips are a great reminder of the key ingredients of developing a solid defense. Additionally, any baseball player that works on improving their craft with solid fundamentals, improving their trust and knowledge to accomplish any task within what the game calls, and lives to a high standard like Weaver's Orioles can accomplish many things in this great game of baseball.