Orioles Unveil Sleeve Patch to Honor Earl Weaver

The Orioles have unveiled the sleeve patch they will wear to honor Earl Weaver. The Birds will also honor the Earl of Baltimore before their game tomorrow, as they open their Grapefruit League schedule. They will obviously have something planned for Opening Day, but nothing has been announced (if even decided upon).

Here is the relevant section of the Orioles’ press release on the subject:

REMEMBERING EARL

The Orioles lost a beloved member of their family in January when Hall of Fame Manager EARL WEAVER passed away. The greatest manager in Orioles history, Weaver compiled 1,480 wins and a .583 winning percentage over 17 seasons as the team’s skipper from 1968-82 and 1985-86. A minor league second baseman for 13 years, mostly in his hometown St. Louis Cardinals organization, the “Earl of Baltimore” began his managing career in the minors in 1956 and joined the Orioles organization a year later. He came up to the Orioles as first base coach in 1968 and was named manager on July 11 of that year. From 1969 through 1982, he won six AL East titles, four AL pennants and one World Series, beating the Cincinnati Reds in 1970. Earl’s Orioles won at least 100 games five times, and he earned Manager of the Year honors three times.

He retired following the 1982 season, which ended one game shy of another AL East title when the Orioles lost to the Milwaukee Brewers on the final day of the season. He came back to manage in the middle of the 1985 season for 1 ½ years before retiring for good.

Living in Florida after his retirement, Earl was a frequent visitor to Orioles’ spring training and Dream Week. He also made regular visits to Baltimore, including multiple trips with his wife Marianna for the Orioles Legends Celebration Series in 2012. Earl’s sculpture was unveiled in the bullpen picnic grove at Oriole Park on June 30, 2012.

The Orioles will honor Earl prior to tomorrow’s game in a pre-game moment of silence and video tribute. In addition, Earl’s uniform number 4 will be stenciled onto the grass outside of the Orioles dugout in foul territory.  An orange patch depicting the number 4 and the words “Earl Weaver” and “Hall of Fame” in black will also be worn on the home, road and two alternate in-game jerseys beginning tomorrow and throughout the entire 2013 season. An image of this patch is attached to this release.