On April 5th, 1979, Future Hall of Fame Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver wins his 1,000th game as a skipper. He would end up with 1480 in his career.

Earl Weaver was the manager for Orioles between 1968 and 1986. I say “between” because like most managers he was fired a few times during that period. As manager of the Orioles he won:

• 1 World Series (1970)
• 4 American League Pennants (1969, 1970, 1971, 1979)

He was the manager of such Hall of Famers as:

• Brooks Robinson
• Frank Robinson
• Jim Palmer
• Cal Ripken

A universally acknowledged character, here are some great quotes from the Hall-of-Famer.

The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers

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You can’t sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You’ve got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That’s why baseball is the greatest game of them all.

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Bad ballplayers make good managers.

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There ain’t no genius here. Strategy in baseball is overrated. People say, ‘That Weaver, he plays for the long ball too much.’ You bet I do. Hit ’em out. Then I got no worry about somebody lousing up a bunt, I got no worry about the hit and run – and that’s really overrated – I got no worry about base-running errors. And I can’t screw it up myself.

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A winning player is nothing more than a player on a winning team. A losing player is a guy who played on a losing team that year.

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People always make a lot about how I don’t carry grudges. That’s my religious upbringing. I went nine years without missing Sunday school. Lutheran. I can’t live with hatred inside of me. That’s what I learned. I ain’t scared of dying, either.

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The only thing I’d ever wanted in my life was to be a major-league ballplayer, but I had to admit to myself that I wasn’t good enough. It broke my heart.