Longtime journalist and author John Miller reports back to Nestor with updates on his upcoming book on the life and mind of Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver and what made him an innovator in baseball with note cards that were a precursor to modern analytics.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
talked, baseball, earl weaver, earl, orioles, people, palmer, john miller, stories, url, book, louis, manager, baltimore, flanagan, man, write, working, great, left
SPEAKERS
John Miller, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
W n s t, Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore positive. We’re positively into the Fourth of July week. If you’re watching out on the XOOM cast YouTube cast, you’ll see I’m wearing my straight out of Dundalk shirt. I’m very proud of the Heritage fair. We’re gonna be doing heritage fair activities. This week all about courtesy our friends at wise markets, wise conversations, local people take care of local people get a lot of wise markets in Dundalk. We get three or four that I can think of right now. over on that side of town. We’ll be over there celebrating this weekend with the music on Sunday night crack sky and come on out, celebrate 100.7 Have a beer in the beer garden here the whole thing we’re going to be at fadeless on Thursday, doing the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery. I’ll be giving away these instant lottery scratch offs. Not as lucky a batch of spirits west but if anybody want 100 bucks over there, they didn’t tell me but we did have some winners help with the local and fallston as well as it falls oyster real. It’s been a really fun spring. We got to summer schedule ahead to do this with our friends at winter nation. 866 90 nation. I have the wacky floppy hat. I’ll have that on my head at fade Lee’s on Thursday morning. As we get ready for the Fourth of July. Like my last name is Aparicio it’s always baseball season around here, despite the fact that I’m wearing my straight out of Dundalk shirt made a lot of Dundalk baseball too, but lucky and some others but this guy here joined me earlier. He’s got a great name, because like John Miller means like a lot to Baltimore people and the loss of John Miller was probably the the original sin in the garden of Peter and, and Lou and John, back in the day. But this John Miller has an H in his name. He is up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and he’s an author and a real journalist, kind of like I used to be before they threw me out. I don’t know what happens when the establishment throws you out in your journalists probably makes you a real journalist. John Miller joins us now from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He’s doing a book on Earl Weaver we had a beautiful conversation. man feels like about nine months. It goes a long time ago. It was a football season actually, as I as I remember it, about you doing research on URL and you finding me through me? In some sort of weird way. I did the last interview with Earl Weaver. And I told that story. Last time it happened in my old home at the Royal seneste at Harbor cord. And Earl has been gone now. I remember I was on a bus to Foxborough for a championship game. So I guess it was couple weeks for the Super Bowl. So I guess URL has been going on was 10 years, a little more than 10 years. Yeah. And you have decided to go back and in the era of analytics in the era of all of these changes in baseball that began with URLs notecards in 1968. Go back and do something that I haven’t read. I haven’t really read a legitimate by biopic or inside the mind of Earl, I did my best to get inside his mind. You found me and I’m glad you’re a guest on my show. How’s the book going? Dude? What’s going on? Yeah,
John Miller 02:59
well, a lot actually. Because you know, when I called you is because I was touched by those interviews, because I hadn’t found many interviews where he was that thoughtful and profound, I guess it was it was because he was about to die and leave us. And I think he was a bit more honest. And I think you brought that out of him. So I credit you for that. Well, at that point, I had not yet sold the book. So the way that you know books work for nonfiction books is you write a proposal that’s like a sample chapter and a synopsis and a marketing plan. And you
Nestor Aparicio 03:28
teach me all of this rule, and they throw me out a radio after 30 years.
John Miller 03:32
I quit the Wall Street Journal. So I know all about leaving establishment media and trying to do your own thing I have never been DO I LOOK establishment?
Nestor Aparicio 03:42
Look at me. Anyway.
John Miller 03:46
So you know, you take that proposal to agents, basically, agents are the gatekeepers, you find an agent who digs your stuff. If they find one, they can sell it pretty quick because publishing companies trust them, but I failed 24 times to find with 24 different agents who rejected me or ignored me and was always interesting. Nestor is that the version of the book that was like, I’m going to tell you why Earl Weaver was so great in the 70s. And why the Orioles were so great, which they were that was not selling because I think people felt like they had read that story before. What did sell was. Here’s a story of a guy who did not make the Major Leagues even though he got very close. He failed for 20 years in the minors. He was a late bloomer. And then finally after 20 years, he made it and became the most successful manager and the most innovative manager of his day. And that’s why he’s in the book Moneyball. That’s why I thought it was a good idea to go back and revisit and explain who this guy was. And just find out some new stuff and you know, what’s, what are the earlier stories? We haven’t heard that all the stories are so cliche, it’s like pitching defense prevent homers and ripping up the
Nestor Aparicio 04:53
rule books. Fires and I mean there there had to be some genius in URL through all of that time around him as a young guy, it was very intimidating. He was always intimidating to say for being small man. I mean, first off, it was like a father figure to a kid who was five years old 1973 and watching him and the way he behaved made it okay to act like that in Eastwood Little League in 1979 My dad was a bit of a hothead as well. So, like the Earl Weaver hothead on the field, man, I was out there then like the Howler thing happened, where everybody’s laughing and his glove Flanagan and I, before we lost Mike, Mike and I had a hell of a laugh because Mike was the pitcher that night, moving off the mound, my wife and I, when we get to have a really bad day, we’ll YouTube the Earl Weaver Howler exchange about you know, f&m World Series and like all of that, right?
John Miller 05:49
You’re here for one reason, right to F us. Right. So I interviewed the production crew. I have a whole chapter on that argument and how that happened. Mike, they were doing a story about umpires. So hailer had a hot mic, and he forgot to take it off. And so that was in the first inning. Flannigan hit the first batter and then three pitches into the game tries to pick them off. And that’s when the book is called. That brings out URL, or else PR is freaking out. It was a John Blake, who now does PR for the Rangers. I
Nestor Aparicio 06:20
talked to John’s a great guy. Oh yeah, he
John Miller 06:23
was. He was doing orals PR. And he tried to physically fight the tape away from a guy named cheese who is the sound man who I’ve not been able to find but that’s the two other production guys told me that soy cheese is trying to keep this tape and he’s like, No, John, you ain’t getting this effing tape. And they’re fighting over this tape. They take it back to the studio. It goes viral ad style, like bootleg VHS tapes becomes like a smash hit of the underground baseball media.
Nestor Aparicio 06:51
Now listen to tomato patch audio hit me very early on in my career at 91 Always Available on cassette tape, I can I can burn it down for you.
John Miller 07:00
And that was Earl’s idea. Because the guy was really funny. And that’s the thing like you can say what you want.
Nestor Aparicio 07:05
It was it was Tebow is listening right now Brandon, their dad. I mean, Tom Maher was on CBS,
John Miller 07:11
or was up for it because he was hilarious. And he was just a funny, funny, smart guy that sports writers loved and that’s why it’s gonna be fun to spend 200 pages with him. I hope.
Nestor Aparicio 07:21
So I look I almost feel like I’m having a beer with you at this point. Because that’s where we are. It is some ROFO coffee and my co roofing mug as the co working people call me about my most recent flood. So I would just say this on I talked to you on the record off the record we did this on the air we’re now we did off the air trying to find every Billy Hunter trying to find everyone who’s alive who may have Ken Singleton, but I’m thinking of the people that are still very vibrant, that maybe have never been I mean, look Palmer’s done every cocktail, the conversation, every rubber chicken dinner. He was five feet I was seven feet together. We were 11 feet, we may bobble it, I mean and all of that frickin fracturing with Polymer. But I don’t know if it anybody’s really ever sat down with Jim Palmer and gotten real serious not about when a character Earl was or whatever. But but his mind and even with Palmer disagreeing with him or whatever their statistic is when you stick but I mean, they were together for 20 years. And you looked at a Hall of Fame. And I would think the amount of stories I mean, Phil Jackman is struggling and I feels like a like a father to me like an uncle. Love Phil. Phil would have a million stories for you and gave me a bunch of stories. But I’m thinking of every Richard justice and yeah, Virgin and Ken Rosenthal, those guys were all around the irascible end of Earl after Earl didn’t win. Agile broadcast. Joe Altobelli winning with his team. I’ve watched that tape many times on our go sell ribbon him and Reggie Jackson in the locker room like all of that, but then Earl came back and they stunk and Oakland get out of his way. And then or went to the Hall of Fame and I guess mellowed a little bit. But man, there got to be a lot of people that have really set the ball whether or not stick with oral baseball.
John Miller 09:17
The whole project started because I wrote Earl’s obituary for The Wall Street Journal and Tom Boswell, who was my childhood hero sent me an email saying this was really nice or would have loved this obituary. So I thought, well, maybe there’s more I can do about this guy that has not been done yet. So I’ve sat down with singleton Dempsey, I’ve talked to Tony Martinez. I’ve been out with Palmer we haven’t sat down yet but either have
Nestor Aparicio 09:41
i I’ve tried to get him for 31 years. Let him know that I’d like to like talk to Jim Palmer is the greatest Baltimore athlete there ever was. May probably there ever will be no. Cal Ripken or Brooks or
John Miller 09:58
Yeah, agree
Nestor Aparicio 10:00
8He don’t look at the stats. It’s a different level of when he’s in the we take him for granted polymer we really did I agree.
John Miller 10:07
I agree very talented and broadcasting and pitching incredible. But that’s the thing are we ever gets reduced to cliches man. And like he is a was a human being. He used to be a little boy growing up in St. Louis with a dream of being a major league baseball player. He made one big league spring training cap in 1952. And he was cut on the last week by his own manager who made himself the backup second baseman, and that they were we was 21 he was almost going to make the major leagues and that crushed him. And that’s when he started getting really depressed or drinking too much. And it took him 20 years to get back to the majors. So that’s kind of humans to 268 right. 16 years. Yeah, sure. Yep. Wow. Yeah, it took him
Nestor Aparicio 10:51
his pathway in a in a biopic sort of way with, because I know I talked to him about why he became a man. I don’t remember the conversation. Honest, honest, John, you’ll find this hard to believe I make the pizza and I serve it. And I rarely go back and eat it again. You know, I mean, like, and because I’m always making it I don’t even know what URL said to me that day, I should throw into my otter box and get the transcript thrown out. I should at least do that.
John Miller 11:18
Or I have done that. For the record. URL, URLs URLs from St. Louis. His dad was a business owner who owned the laundry mat wash uniforms for the Cardinals and the browns, the Gashouse gang teams of Dizzy Dean so Earl knew those guys knew Dizzy Dean and Joe medwakh and the famous Cardinals. He was also raised in part by an uncle who was a bookie who was kind of a tough guy and a gambler and a gangster. So that’s where else tough guy side came from. Earl was a great young young player. He signed out of high school
Nestor Aparicio 11:51
played a bear involved in that way anyway, St. Louis.
John Miller 11:55
Yeah, they play on the same Legion team, not teammates. Yogi was older. But they were on the same Legion program. So they knew each other I so I love
Nestor Aparicio 12:02
I’m a travel travel log, and I’m a foodie log and whatever. And when I went to St. Louis, Bernie Nicklaus, who I worked with 40 years ago, here in Baltimore, you know, and the St. Louis people I mean, our balls are was out there at the time covering the ribs. They all sent me to great places. I mean, I painted just Americana awesomeness, but the Little Italy, area of St. Louis. It has a different name than literally the hill, the hill, thank you has all of these Italian restaurants and everything about it is Yogi Berra, there’s a baseball field, the middle of the neighborhood. I mean, if you ever go to St. Louis and it’s not like hard to access, but it’s not like on the bus line or on on the on the rent, you have to like drive into it. It’s not downtown. It’s a neighborhood. And
John Miller 12:48
the fun facts are Earl’s mom was German. So she cooked German foods. So that’s where he grew up eating sauerkraut and cabbage and such. And they also gardens that his parents like the garden, that’s where he learned how to garden. And so he knew yogi, but they were not part of the same clan like yoga was Italian or or was German, or was more, you know, down and down by the docks kind of tough guy Street guy, whereas yogi was more Italian working class. Yeah, I want to tell those stories and and humanize him and his
Nestor Aparicio 13:18
uncle, St. Louis. Were there other people involved in
John Miller 13:21
Garagiola? A bunch of people went to his high school who played in the major leagues, Roy severs people whose names are forgotten, but his high school was a really good baseball
Nestor Aparicio 13:30
those baseball cards and I met Joe Garagiola. Other times. Yeah, so
John Miller 13:34
Earl went to a really good baseball High School, which graduated with a lot of pro baseball players, and he was gonna be one of them. And that was his dream and he got crushed. And that’s what set us on a path to being a manager but also accounts for his kind of anger and bitterness to that he really deserved. I think he deserved to make the Major Leagues he hit 300 In spring training and badder than the same lineup as Stan Musial his childhood hero, and then got cut, you know, crushed them.
Nestor Aparicio 14:00
Yeah, well, John Miller’s here to do it a book I always ask this because I mean, Eisenberg I’ve written a couple books myself I know how difficult it is. I’ve done it very in an unorthodox way running a radio station Domaining not with like a publisher and deadlines and editors and all of those those big league things that you would have what what when does it end for you I mean, at some point don’t be Tom Scholz make it Boston three, you know, don’t don’t make this 15 years. But there comes a point where I know from a book standpoint, I did mine on really tight deadlines because they were super bowl books that I wanted to get out by Father’s Day. So I like just I went Jack Nicholson up to the hotel and all work and no play makes you know Nestor adult boy, I think when you have something like this, you want to make it as great as you can make it but you don’t want to release it 2028 either, right.
John Miller 14:48
I agree. So I signed the contract in November after we talked very exciting with Simon and Schuster. It’s a big publisher. That book at the end of this year, my editor There’s also a Tom Brady’s out of there did Tom Brady’s diet book, that’s very exciting. So December 31,
Nestor Aparicio 15:06
man avocado ice cream out of this right thing you get
John Miller 15:09
90,000 words do end of this year, then we spent all of next year working on it. So I’ve been told spring 2025 That’s what I’ve been told.
Nestor Aparicio 15:18
So I’m early on this early two parties what you’re telling me Yeah, I do not even have your best stories yet on the radio as part of this whole thing? Because like, I bet you’re still gonna on Earth some stuff here. So you’re in hardcore, find people find stories? Yeah. What are you seeking that you don’t know about Earl Weaver that you’re looking for in the next conversation with the next when you sit with Palmer? Palmer is going to tell you, Palmer could write his own book. And I’m sure he could.
John Miller 15:49
I mean, here’s the thing that was weird is that they all they they all made fun of him. But yet they respected his leadership. And I think that’s really an important lesson about leadership that we all can learn from, as you know, they mock this guy and would tease him and imitate his voice and mess with him. But at the end of the day, he also led them to glory. And they all followed his lead, because he had baseball in his heart. So purely, I think, because he had done it since he was four years old. He has started dreaming of being a big league ballplayer when he was four, and didn’t stop for 50 years. And so why did these guys follow somebody they made fun of all the time, I think, is a really big question that I’m after.
Nestor Aparicio 16:29
Well, he was such a hero in Baltimore, right and in my childhood, and he was the manager the only and the way that whenever hardball leaves or Tomlin leaves Pittsburgh where you are people be like, I don’t even remember cower. I don’t even remember Billick, you know, because it’s starting to be like, a long, long time. And that’s, you know, I just mentioned a couple of football coaches, Bella checks and places like that. The NBA doesn’t have anything like that the NHL has nothing like Popovich in the NBA is like Popovich. Fair enough. Fair enough. But I mean, there’s no pedigree of that. And certainly in baseball, I hung around a while and some guys, Gerard Mia, some guys have hung around a little while. But this is what Earl did was in old world sort of thing to come in and win championships with two or three different eras of players.
John Miller 17:20
Here’s a stat for you between 68 and 82. And he was the manager. The Orioles employed one manager, every other major league team employed 300 combined. They change managers all the time the Orioles was he was the only one who was never fired in the 70s. And that’s the key to the greatness too is that he lost Frank Robinson he lost these players and
Nestor Aparicio 17:40
lost everybody. I mean, I lost everybody. I was a kid. What’s the sensational one of the angels at worst on Baylor? Hey, did we have Reggie here for five minutes? Holy cow. Where’s Where’s where’s Wayne garland? You know what I mean? Like every guy that played well here in the 70s left because we were broke to get used to rutschman you get used to Gunnar Henderson and Manny Machado, I mean, all of that the 90s in the amount of money and what the Orioles became and I’m researching that because I don’t know John, if you know this or not, they don’t have a lease. There’s no lease for the team. And I’m the only guy that’s actually talking about that because WPA al doesn’t employ journalists you know, Jason lock in for is now working for Masson so you know, there’s not gonna be any reporting on any of this. They don’t have a lease here. And I’m talking about that. But the baseball thing that’s been laid here, and the greatness of all of this and all the money the Angelo’s boys have made and every Palmero that came in here and and every Aubrey Hof that took millions of men all of this was laid by Brooks and by Palmer and Frank and Goog and my cousin and like all that in 66. Yeah, but boy weavers era, and Weaver’s leadership and hop burgers leadership as an owner and then EB W and that era is a case study, because because you don’t want to cook for the Orioles. They lost the Colts get lost every player other than Brooks and Palmer and everybody was afraid Palmer was I mean, it’s amazing. Palmer didn’t go pitch for the Red Sox of the Yankees. Yeah, I mean, it really is amazing, because we lost everybody else.
John Miller 19:23
Let me answer my question my own question here about what what made her feel so great. And you can make fun of the players made fun of them. And you know, they can make fun of the smoking and the drink King and the cussing, you know, but he really, really cared. And I think that’s what made him great is that he knew baseball and he cared and he kept on caring. And when he came back and 85 He came back for the money and his heart was not in it. And I think that is a lesson too that if your heart’s not in it, you’re not going to do well and he didn’t
Nestor Aparicio 19:51
well for you and researching him and 90,000 words which feels like a lot of words. So you have 130,000 You have to start to edit it it because I know I know about these things do not Yeah, it at some point you stop the research. Who else do you need to talk to besides Palmer? I mean
John Miller 20:12
I mean as many as people will talk to me like that was emailing with John maroon last week and hopefully talk to Kyle soon and you know, Eddie’s not talked to me yet. A few others from that. I mean, Brooks is not doing great. Now. Stan
Nestor Aparicio 20:26
Stan house talk to you. Yeah, I’ve
John Miller 20:28
talked to him. Yeah. He’s fun. But you know, the Orioles years to me, it’s not the key mystery. The key mystery is more the 30s 40s 50s who was Earl Weaver before he got to the Orioles. And going deeper in those years and the things we don’t know about, you know, this uncle was a gangster. I mean, the guy who taught him analytics through gambling. I mean, I think that’s fascinating. Like, that’s how Earl Weaver learned math was hanging out with his bookie uncle. And that story has never been told. I’m going to tell it and how it just is you just told it. I know. But well, not as
Nestor Aparicio 21:02
one that is that is that? Well, he
John Miller 21:06
says in his own book and his own memoir, he talks about his book Yonko. And then if you do more research, you find out the guy was arrested for all kinds of nasty stuff. I mean, you know, I’m beating up a congressman running the mayor’s dice game. You know, he was a real hoodlum, this guy in St. Louis in the 40s. And that’s who that’s who father.
Nestor Aparicio 21:26
Oh, Weaver’s gangster uncle.
John Miller 21:29
Yeah, that’s like a punk band. Right. And next, punk?
Nestor Aparicio 21:33
Well, you’re certainly picking a good time to write a book about oral history or a key person in the Orioles. You know, as I said, all of this from where we are right now, if you trace it back, if there’s no URL, I don’t know there’s any of this. There’s no
John Miller 21:48
I love this. I love this. I love this story. And by the way, no, I I live in Pittsburgh, but I love the Orioles. And I grew up listening to John Miller in Belgium, when I was in San Francisco as being 19, and wild and I talked my way into the broadcast booth to meet the real John Miller, the other John Miller. I’m also the real John Miller to meet the real brother, John Miller and just thank him for being my favorite broadcaster. And he signed my little journal when I was 19. Keeping a journal and so I met him and that was really fun. Then he I obviously love that guy.
Nestor Aparicio 22:21
She had been on the radio 31 years. So I was in the middle of all of the contrary, obviously, I’ve taken phone calls. When Peter fired him and threw him out sick, and blamed it on his wife on my airwaves. Peter came on my airwaves and blamed John miller’s wife for him leaving Baltimore John Mr. sat in my studio and sobbed on the air over the sheriff, Towson. And when he came back on a book tour, he had written a book when he was with the giants, and they were playing Philadelphia because there were no Washington’s 1997 I was before I even had NSD This is in my old, I’m celebrating 25 years of having the radio station in six weeks, five weeks, and on August 3, we’ll be at Dundalk. By the way I want to plug that because I’m straight out of Dundalk. We’re going to be in Costas on August 3 celebrating 25 years. So I brought to you by the Maryland lottery and our friends at window nation. I will be there all day on the third and then on the fourth we’re going to be drunk city celebrating the part of the so I mean, all the celebration, my lessons Aparicio. This goes back to baseball and baseball and football really being sort of these these root parts of our community. And Earl, you talk about him being a nephew of the gangster and all that stuff. But the baseball side of her I don’t think any of us ever thought of Earl Weaver playing baseball or even thought was the second baseman. What did he play? You know what I mean? Like it never occurred to me as a kid that URL ever played baseball?
John Miller 23:43
Yeah, I know because he looks so funny. And you know, he ate and drank too much. And so he gained some weight and was not in playing shape. You know, to be Martinez told me a story that he used to imitate that or replace the base runner when they would do pickoff moves. And so he’s on first base and he says the Flanagan Aren’t you gonna try to pick me off and flying and says I can’t see anybody. There’s somebody on first base, because they’re always making fun of how short it was.
Nestor Aparicio 24:10
Flanagan was a killer with it with the sense of humor, man. I mean, Flanagan would die shop. There’s no doubt about that. John Miller is here. He’s writing a book on Earl Weaver. It’s not due for a little while but I’m having him Tell me some stories anyway, in so the heart of this thing really. It’s not an oral story right at all. Like it’s an oral biography. And the Orioles are part of it, but you’re way more interested in and I’d say how we got there and now the heart how 16 years are hard. 16 years right.
John Miller 24:40
I would say half the book is the Orioles. But I mean, I think if you’re an Orioles fan you’re going to be fascinated because this is I’m going to tell you where this guy came from because he’s such a weird person. Like there’s nobody else like him in American baseball, even American history. I mean, don’t forget, he was on the cover of Time magazine. He was the Playboy interview between answer Adams and Ted Turner, you know, that’s how important he was to the culture. Like he was a big deal in American culture in the 70s and 80s. Playboy interview. Yes, he was.
Nestor Aparicio 25:10
Yeah. It was gonna cover what
John Miller 25:15
my wife says, I feel like that magazine is in every room of the house. 1983 Yeah, you can find it online. Yeah.
Nestor Aparicio 25:23
And yeah, what did he say? That’s an interesting time in his life, right. Like he had just walked away written off on the car, sudden beat Palmer, we could have, you know, like the whole deal. Yeah, he was
John Miller 25:34
trying to become more of a TV personality. And it turns out, he wasn’t that good at it. And so ABC did not renew his contract, after the 84 season. And that’s one of the reasons he came back and managed was it didn’t work out on TV, but he was trying to increase his profile. And again, he was really famous, you know, even among people who are not baseball fans in the 70s and 80s. That’s kind of the point of my book two is the manager of baseball has lost that cultural relevance. He used to have an Earl had that. So what did he say? I mean, he talked about his life and they asked him about, you know, religion, sex, those kinds of things, that Playboy interviews are about what’s what’s he up to now garden? Well,
Nestor Aparicio 26:09
that’s why I asked because, like, that’s an interesting 92 it’s kind of edgy mean, Earl had the little curly hair going. It was kind of like, yeah, it didn’t have to like work in baseball anymore. He was a celebrity. He wasn’t a manager anymore. He was a celebrity at that point. Right. That’s
John Miller 26:26
right. Yeah. Which is, which is funny. Yeah. So yeah, he got pretty deep, though. I mean, I talked about his deal. We talked a lot about how he was trying to enjoy life and not be a baseball person, and that kind of quest for his own identity. And he said, I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life watching the sun go down behind the left field grandstand. Like he wanted to have a life and he was somebody who was Dad wanting to be a ballplayer dressed him up as a ballplayer and he was four years old sign when he was 17 out of high school, you know, it’s all he ever did or cared about, and all of a sudden, he’s 53. You know, who am I? What am I doing? And I play golf,
Nestor Aparicio 27:05
the rest of his life smoke cigarettes, right? Like, literally, that’s all he did the last 30 years, right?
John Miller 27:09
He loved he loved the ponies. He loved the gamble. He loved it, you know, talk a lot of crap, you know, make fun of people. You know, he was he was kind of a troll. Honestly, I think he would be very at home and online, Twitter.
Nestor Aparicio 27:25
Yeah, he came and visited with us at Spring Training a number of times when they trained in Fort Lauderdale. So this is late 90s. I have a lot of pictures of him sitting on our set later in his life. But when he did that, he was just sort of like it wasn’t anything in depth to your point. Like, it’s nothing I would offer to you to say, this will be good stuff for your book. He’s sitting there talking to me and Bob Haney about you know, whether Eric, some pitcher is, you know, is going to make it or not, yeah, none of me, you know,
John Miller 27:59
Tom Boswell told me Earl had a shell and he used that shell to protect himself. But when he revealed himself beneath the shell, which I think you got to in that last interview, people were floored because he was so insightful. He had thought so much about himself and life and baseball. And he had these like, incredibly deep ways of looking at the world. Like he was Tom Boswell told me, his famous his, his favorite saying was, everything changes everything. Which actually is like one of the most profound quotes in like, Roman Greek philosophy is everything changes, you know, so yeah, this kind of like a very wise way of understanding the world and how complex it is, and how you have to accept uncertainty. And so I love that side of him that he had this depth to him that was, you know, hidden beneath all the temper tantrums and the drinking and the smoking. Well, I
Nestor Aparicio 28:51
hope you find that depth and him over the next six months. I know you’re a Merc. How obsessed are you with this? Have you pissed off everybody in your family? And I mean, I see the beards coming in now. I mean, are you are you getting to the Torrance phase of this thing here?
John Miller 29:06
Or oh, grew a mustache once in the 70s. It was not a good fit.
Nestor Aparicio 29:10
I’ve never seen a picture that
John Miller 29:13
I have a picture I can send it to you. And I convinced him his daughter stepdaughter when I sent it to her, she was like, Oh, we all try to forget that time. You know what I
Nestor Aparicio 29:23
want to see? I want to see it’s very famous to see the picture of the 420 game winners. You know Quasar McNally, those guys in the in the orange, that the pumpkin outfits and 71 Remember though they wore them a couple years ago here they they threw them up to throw them out to throw them back. I made me throw up. But they are so ugly. They’re beautiful. But I have a picture of Earl in that gear. I’ve never thought that would look interesting, right?
John Miller 29:47
I think I have that. I also have a picture of her as a toddler, which is pretty.
Nestor Aparicio 29:51
I think I’ve seen that he was really cute, right? Yes. I think I’ve seen the toddler picture. I really do. Yeah, because it looks like it looks like Spanky.
John Miller 30:01
He’s got a little bat. Yeah.
Nestor Aparicio 30:03
Well, he was to write the Our Gang areas like of that age, right?
John Miller 30:06
We’re in a 1930. Yep. And he, you know, he was kind of preppy and his high school but also, you know, he had a foul mouth and he had a foul mouth when he was a teenager. And oh, he was famous for teaching the other kids terrible words.
Nestor Aparicio 30:21
Well, I mean, poor Alice in Norfolk. I mean, she’s still trying to get over. You know, that pinprick. John Miller is here, the other John Miller with the age. He is an author and a journalist and the longtime writer at The Wall Street Journal, he’s recovering and working on a Earl Weaver biopic I check in with him every six months or so I owe you a call right around Christmas time. Try to check in we’ll see where the ravens and see if Lamar is up, right. And they’re 12 and two at the time, like we all think they’re going to be and the Steelers have a stake in the Bengals are like, Hey, man, I got to talk to smack here in the summertime with the Ravens. But the first thing I was gonna say to you and I meandered off topic earlier, but the Orioles resurgence at this time, you know, an interesting time for you to be writing about this because Brandon Hyde is about to transcend and survive this right? He has survived this right? Like he’s survived all the keys here. They’re going to be good for a couple of minutes, at least for the time being. This is this is an interesting time for you to write about this because baseball is starting to pick itself back a little bit here.
John Miller 31:24
And I can’t hide that I love the Orioles and you know Brandon Hyde will be the second longest tenured manager soon after buckets URL buck and then it’s going to be Brandon Hyde.
Nestor Aparicio 31:35
That’s an interesting observation. Right? That’s wild. Yeah,
John Miller 31:38
no, it’s obviously terrific. All the young talent and I’m really enjoying the season. The Orioles had been a bit recalcitrant about talking about URL. I don’t think they sort of worship Him like like, like I do. I think they’re worried about him being kind of like the embarrassing old uncle. So I’ve not talked to any current Orioles about Earl Weaver.
Nestor Aparicio 32:03
They will know who he is. I mean, no offense, but like
John Miller 32:08
notice that he’s got a statue. Well, I’m gonna tell him who he is. So there you go.
Nestor Aparicio 32:13
Yeah, all right. Straight out of Dundalk. That was the way I would say it. If I were you, John Miller’s here. He is an author and writer. I’m gonna let you get back to doing whatever you do. Going up to that crazy, fun park they have in Pittsburgh and all the stuff that they do up there and summertime. I’ll get up there for a concert before it’s all over. Good luck with the book and I love checking in with you. And and you started the whole thing. You found that crazy, wacky video of me with Earl at the end. I wish I wish I would have done more now. Right like 15 minutes and 45 minutes into it. He’s talking and I can’t stop.
John Miller 32:48
I think and I’ll explain this in my book, but like, I think when I explained the context of what he was saying, you’ll understand how deep your interview was.
Nestor Aparicio 32:58
Wow. Now I gotta get your book. Yeah. John Miller is here. We appreciate the time as always, I appreciate great baseball conversations we’re having all summer long around here. I’m gonna be doing the Maryland crab cakes on Thursday. We’re gonna be fade Lee’s if John when you kind of bought them I owe you crab cake at the very very least. So we’ll we’ll take you around and maybe some Earl Weaver’s I bet he was a poll like Johnny’s guy or whatever. So, but we’re gonna be out this week and fade these in the morning on Thursday. Got some great guests lined up really looking forward to talk and Fourth of July crabs. I got my letter Raskin, Raskin global crap, but it has the beer opener, so I’m gonna have this with me on August the third it cost us as we celebrate 25 years Big thanks to our friends at window nation also for sponsoring the Maryland crab cake tour families this week and lots and lots of dates and places into July and into August 25 Oysters coming soon to for our 25th anniversary. I am Nestor we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. The Legend of Earl Weaver I love these conversations. We never stopped talking.
John Miller 34:01
We off the air here. Yeah, no Baltimore positive.
Nestor Aparicio 34:03
Now we’re off to here.
