Earl Weaver/Cal's Streak

[MattD1972]

Also...what did Cal do to justify finishing 3rd in the MVP voting all of a sudden in '89??? It's a weird blip...winning it in '91 makes total sense.

It could have been more of an acknowledgement of the team's performance in '89. Remember, that was a terrible team in 1988 staying in contention until the final weekend of the season.

[hellborn]

Ripken and his streak have come up a lot lately. If Weaver had stayed on to manage, say, the first ten years of Cal's career, do you think that the streak would have happened?
Personally, I think that Weaver would have noticed Cal's hitting starting to slip and started giving him time off. Not that there has to be a connection there, but most guys take some time off and improve through their early to mid 20s...I think that Earl would have taken action, rightly or wrongly. Plus, he loved to use his bench, keep everybody busy.
The streak started under Earl and continued under him when he came back for a few years...but, I think he would have ended it before it became a juggernaut, if he had been around more.

Also...what did Cal do to justify finishing 3rd in the MVP voting all of a sudden in '89??? It's a weird blip...winning it in '91 makes total sense.