He was the son of Earl Milton Weaver, a dry cleaner who cleaned the uniforms of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, and Ethel Genieve Wakefield. After playing for Beaumont High School in his hometown, St. Louis, Missouri, the 17-year-old Weaver was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1948 as a second baseman. A slick fielder but never much of a hitter, he worked his way up to the Texas League Houston Buffaloes (two steps below the majors) in 1951, but never made the Major League club. Weaver was later traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, then moved on to the Orioles, where he began his managing career.\n', '

Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, who battled with his manager on a regular basis, once noted: "The only thing that Earl knows about a curve ball is he couldn\'t hit it." After Palmer\'s skills began to decline and he was no longer a regular starter, Weaver defended his actions by claiming he\'d given Palmer "more chances than my ex-wife."[citation needed] He also directed such a remark at Mike Cuellar, ace of the 1969 staff, and several other players.\n', '

Weaver started his minor league managerial career in 1956 with the unaffiliated Knoxville Smokies in the South Atlantic League. He joined the Orioles in 1957 as manager of their Fitzgerald, Georgia, club in the Georgia–Florida League. The Orioles moved him to their franchise in Dublin, Georgia, in 1958, and to their Aberdeen, South Dakota, club in 1959. In 1960, he managed the Fox Cities Foxes in Wisconsin in the Class-B Three-I League. He moved up to the AA Elmira Pioneers in 1962 and to the AAA Rochester Red Wings in 1966.\n', '

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