PHOENIX — Alex Anthopoulos, Atlanta’s president of baseball operations, was waiting to cross the fairway with fellow patrons at the Masters golf tournament Thursday when a fan recognized him from across the ropes.
“Hey Alex, “Why don’t you lend the Falcons, Walt? He could help ‘em out.’
Anthopoulos: “Hey, that’s a hell of an idea. He could be the next Deion [Sanders]."
Even the Falcons chimed in on Atlanta manager Walt Weiss by tweeting: “Come put on the pads, Skip."
Weiss, 62, the former All-Star shortstop and American League Rookie of the Year, who played 14 years in the major leagues, won three pennants and the 1989 World Series with the Oakland A’s, and managed four years with the Colorado Rockies, still can’t believe one incident has overshadowed everything he has accomplished in his career.
All he did was react to a baseball brawl that broke out between Atlanta and the Los Angeles Angels, running out of the dugout, flipping his hat off, and dropping down like he was on the football gridiron, tackling Angels DH Jorge Soler, 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, and wrapping his arms around him.
“That's a big man," Weiss said. “I just felt I’ve got to get him off his feet because he's going to hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, because he was on a war path."
Weiss may be 62 years old, and is 6-foot and 180 pounds, but he hits the gym every day, is a highly trained martial artist who has a black belt in taekwondo and training in MMA, including jiu-jitsu.
“If there was ever a manager who was prepared to break up a fight like that, it’s Walt,” said Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who managed Weiss in Oakland. “He’s got the guts. And he has no fear.”
La Russa still remembers trying to break up a brawl in 1980 when he managed the Chicago White Sox against the Milwaukee Brewers when Ben Oglivie charged the mound after being hit by a pitch thrown by White Sox pitcher Mike Proly. La Russa wound up with a dislocated shoulder.
“When you get into one of those things, it’s scary as hell,” La Russa said. “You get worried about injuries on both sides. “But Walt put a stop to it. It reminded me of Stew [Dave Stewart] and [Pat] Corrales. You don’t mess with those guys.”
Corrales, who was managing Cleveland and had a brown belt in karate, charged the mound and went after Stewart in the infamous brawl against Oakland on July 1, 1986. He jumped up and tried to kick Stewart in the chest. Stewart, who was also trained in martial arts, knocked Corrales to the ground with one punch to the jaw.
So, just what Stewart’s reaction to his former A’s teammate?
“I was surprised to see Walt do that," Stewart said. “Most definitely a different breed of manager.
“That MMA came out.”
Oh, did it ever.
“Walter is an outstanding person, a quiet guy, but don’t press the wrong [expletive] button on him," said Rene Lachemann, who coached Weiss in Oakland and was on his coaching staff in Colorado. “You better be careful. He can hurt you."
Oh, like the time a pitcher yelled at Weiss when he was playing for the A’s, telling him to get back into the dugout after striking him out. Weiss picked up the clubhouse phone after the game, summoned the pitcher, and told him to meet him in the parking lot to settle their differences. The pitcher never showed up.
Or the time Weiss was managing the Rockies and overheard GM Jeff Bridich berate one of his coaches. Weiss stood up, got into Bridich’s face and told him, “You better get out of here before something bad happens to you."
“I’m telling you, you don’t mess with Walter," Lachemann said. “He’s quiet, but you push that button, you’re going to be sorry you did."
Atlanta’s players already are well-aware that Weiss has little patience for those who violate his cardinal rules. You better be on time. You better hustle. You better respect the game.
“He's an amazing person, and makes things simple," Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies says. “If you just play hard, play it right, he won't need to tell you anything."
And if you don’t, well, you’re going to find yourself inside Weiss’ office and hear about it, just as he had to remind one of his star players last week.
“I wouldn’t mess with him," Atlanta infielder Kyle Farmer said. “He’s out of my league. It’s kind of wild, honestly, seeing him in the gym. It’s like he’s got tennis balls behind his elbows. He’s got triceps for days."
And when Weiss is in the gym, blasting Led Zepelin over the speakers, it’s best to leave him alone.
“I call it my, 'Adult Swim,'"Weiss says. “That’s the time I get alone."
Weiss’ takedown of Soler exemplifies why he was the perfect choice to follow in the footsteps of Bobby Cox and Brian Snitker.
Despite a dizzying array of injuries in spring training, and facing a gauntlet of 13 consecutive games without a day off to open the season, Atlanta is sitting in first place in the NL East with a 9-6 record. It’s a far cry from a year ago when the team lost its first seven and finished with a 76-86 record, missing the postseason for the first time in eight years.
Weiss is clearly his own man, and has a different style than Cox and Snitker - serving eight years as a bench coach under Snitker - but possesses those same fundamentals, beliefs and leadership skills.
“Snit was different than Bobby, and Walt is different than Snit," Anthopoulos said, “but all three are highly respected and all share similar values with high character and integrity. Snit took some of those things from Bobby, and Walt will take some of those from Snit. And if Walt can come close to having even half the success as either of them, he’s going to be great."
Really, there have been no surprises with Weiss in charge, well, except for the fact that he downs chocolate milk like water. And there’s that superstitious ritual where he must eat a pizza before each series Atlanta plays, no matter what city they’re in.
“I didn’t know those things about him," Anthopoulos says, “but otherwise, the exact same guy."
He was one of the game’s most fiery competitors as a player and had La Russa convinced he’d make an ideal skipper.
“I always believed he’d be a great manager," La Russa said. “I used to tease him that he’s got more guts than brains, but he’s really a sharp guy. There’s nothing about the challenge that he isn’t prepared for mentally and physically.
“He was the same as a player. He had a real toughness to him, and loved the expectations and pressure of competing. If he could have stayed healthy, there’s no doubt to me that he would have been a Hall of Fame shortstop."
Says Weiss: “I feel honored to have played for Tony. I learned a lot about the game my first six years in the leagued playing for Tony. He’s a very close friend, and still to this day, he’s a sounding board for me."
Weiss, who became an instructor and special adviser in the Colorado Rockies’ front office for seven years after he retired as a player, first became manager in November, 2012, when Dan O’Dowd hired him to replace Jim Tracy after the Rockies’ worst season in franchise history.
The trouble was O’Dowd was soon demoted, and Weiss never felt the same support from Bill Geivett and Jeff Bridich, who later became in charge. He stayed for four years, going 283-365, and while owner Dick Monfort wanted him to continue, Weiss resigned because of his strained relationship with Bridich.
“To be honest with you," Weiss tells USA TODAY Sports, “I never felt like I had any support. Matter of fact, it felt like I was working against them. They knew I was Dan’s guy. So it was a really, really difficult situation. He wanted his own people. He did not want me there.
“But look, I probably wouldn't be sitting here today if I didn't have that opportunity in Colorado, as tough as it was. So, yeah, I'm grateful for that."
And already, he feels more comfortable and confident than he ever did with the Rockies.
“It’s just such a different scenario, here," Weiss said. “Here, the GM picked me, and has been nothing but supportive. Alex is a pleasure to work for. He just has an unbelievable feel, man. An unbelievable feel for situations. A great ability to read the room, to read people. It’s almost uncanny."
Weiss has had his opportunities to leave as Atlanta’s bench coach the past eight years. He turned down a job interview in Detroit before they hired AJ. Hinch, and in Miami before hiring Skip Schumaker. Sure, he was always open to managing again, but he was also quite content working in Atlanta and being Snitker’s right-hand man.
“I was really enjoying my time here," Weiss said. “I played here. I had a connection here, emotionally. And I loved working for Snit. It was going to have to take something really, really good for me to leave.
“I didn't have to manage again. That wasn't my goal. I always said, “Hey, if the right thing comes up, I’d do it again, but I’m not pursuing it.’ I would have loved to be Snit’s bench coach for another 10 years.
“But once Snit stepped down here and decided he was done, and his job became available, then it got my juices flowing. Just with this group of guys, and my connection to this organization, I really wanted to do it."
Still, there were no guarantees he’d be Snitker’s replacement. When the San Franciso Giants fired Bob Melvin and interviewed Nick Hundley, Weiss could have gone to San Francisco to be Hundley’s bench coach if he gotten the job instead of Tony Vitello. He might have followed Hundley to San Diego, too, if Hundley wound up with the managerial job instead of Craig Stammen.
Weiss instead waited at home in Colorado, and five weeks after Atlanta’s season was over, he was informed that he was Anthopoulos’ choice, and back as an MLB manager 10 years after last leading the Rockies.
“I don’t think he was really optimistic," Anthopoulos said. “When I called him to let him know on Zoom, he seemed shocked.”
While the season is just two weeks old, Weiss looks like the right choice. He refused to let his team have a letdown despite the ruthless adversity they suffered in spring training. They lost Spencer Strider to an oblique strain. Starters Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep went down with elbow injuries. Catcher Sean Murphy was sidelined with a hip labral tear. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim tore his finger tendon. Outfielder Jurickson Profar was popped a second time for PEDs and is done for the season. And they opened the year with that grueling 13-game stretch without a single off day while teams like the Yankees had four during the same period.
Yet, here is Atlanta, having outscored the opposition by a whopping 40 runs, the best run-differential in baseball. The pitching staff, despite the missing key pieces, is yielding an MLB-best 2.25 ERA with three shutouts, including a 1.30 ERA by the bullpen.
“We all know what Bobby [Cox] represented, the fundamentals, and how to play the game, and play it right," La Russa said. "Well, it’s the same with Walt. Even in Colorado, you saw how hard those guys played hard for him. You’re seeing it now.
“Walt is going to make that organization proud. He’s got the brains. He’s got the guts. He’s got no fear.
“Believe me, they hired the right guy."
Around the basepaths
– While MLB and the players union have yet to negotiate the next scheduled date for the popular World Baseball Classic, officials say it likely will be in 2030.
They want a two-year buffer between the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles - and MLB would like to get the WBC back to being held once every four years.
– The Athletics’ new ballpark in Las Vegas is ahead of schedule but the team still plans to remain at the Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento until after the 2027 season.
– Rival GMs already are counting on San Diego Padres ace Nick Pivetta to be on the free-agent market this winter, believing it’s a no-brainer that he will opt out of his contract.
Pivetta signed a club-friendly four-year, $55 million contract with the Padres two years ago, earning a total of just $23 million the first two seasons. As long as he’s breathing at the end of the season, he’ll opt out of the final two years and $32 million on his contract.
Certainly, he will be one of the most prized starters on the free-agent market.
– Just when the Baseball Writers Association of America voted to add a Reliever of the Year Award - considering Eric Gagne was the last reliever to win a Cy Young award in 2003 and Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman never won - along comes San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller.
Miller has been absolutely uncanny, striking out 19 of the 24 batters he faced, including at least two or more in each of the seven games he has appeared. He has barely broken a sweat, and hasn’t thrown more than 13 pitches in an outing since April 1.
Miller’s numbers since Aug. 6, including his two postseason appearances:
- 107 batters faced
- 69 strikeouts
- 5 hits
- 0 runs
– Well, the WBC certainly has had no ill effect for Eduardo Rodriguez of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Rodriguez, who pitched the championship game for Venezuela, has been nothing short of sensational:
18 innings, 0.50 ERA and .197 batting average against.
– While the Colorado Rockies were the latest team to sell a significant portion of their club, 40% to the local Denver Bronco ownership group, all eyes are on the San Diego Padres’ sale.
The Padres, who are actually in debt, are expected to sell in excess of a record $3 billion, topping the previous record of $2.4 billion by Mets owner Steve Cohen.
Is it a wise business deal? It could be a steal with national media rights expected to explode when the contracts expire in 2028, particularly if the owners get a salary cap too.
The key may be the Asian market, with Netflix paying $100 million alone in March for the WBC Japanese broadcast rights, which consisted of just five games.
– When starter Lucas Giolito rejected the $19 million mutual option with the Boston Red Sox last year, he figured it was a shrewd business decision and that he’d be paid much more on the free-agent market, particularly when the Red Sox did not make a qualifying offer.
Surely, someone would value a pitcher who went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts, even if he was unavailable in the postseason with an elbow issue, right?
Well, two weeks into the season, he remains unsigned, with teams continuing to pass on him despite injuries to their starting rotation.
“I just want to play for close to what my value is," Giolito told Rob Bradford of WEEI.
Well, that value appears to be plummeting. Teams are unsure how much he’d actually help considering the track record of poor performances by pitchers who sign late or miss the entire spring.
– RIP Davey Lopes, who had one of the sharpest baseball minds of anyone who ever put on a baseball uniform, and absolutely fearless in speaking the truth.
– The Red Sox’s trade of Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers may have been their worst since selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees, and now their trade of Rafael Devers to the San Francsico Giants is starting to join the conversation.
Let’s see, the Red Sox traded Devers last summer after they signed Alex Bregman to take his spot at third base and Devers refused to switch positions. They received four players in the trade, including two centerpieces: Starter Kyle Harrison and prized outfield prospect James Tibbs.
Bregman left as a free agent after one year, so they traded Kyle Harrison to Milwaukee to replace him with third baseman Caleb Durbin. Durbin entered Saturday hitting .103 with a .314 OPS.
They traded Tibbs last summer to the Dodgers for pitcher Dustin May to help them in the stretch run. May yielded 5.40 ERA in six games and is now 1-2 with a 9.45 ERA in St. Louis while Tibbs is hitting .377 with a 1.337 OPS at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
And a huge chunk of the money that they saved in the Devers trade was used to sign free-agent starter Ranger Suarez to a 5-year, $130 million contract. Suarez is 0-1 with a 8.64 ERA in his first two starts.
Ouch.
– The Texas Rangers struck gold with their MacKenzie Gore trade. Gore, who was 5-15 with a 4.17 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 30 starts for the Washington Nationals, is pitching like a Cy Young candidate with the Rangers.
Gore is 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA, striking out 25 batters in 16 1/3 innings with a 0.857 WHIP.
He has helped make the Rangers a bona fide contender once again.
– Congratulations to Jose Ramirez, who became the all-time leader in games played for the Cleveland Guardians in their 125-year history at 1,620 games, eclipsing Terry Turner, who held the record since 1918.
Ramirez is the only active player to lead an organization in games played.
Next up: A statue honoring Ramirez.
– Just how rare was the Athletics' 1-0 shutout at Yankee Stadium last week?
It’s the first time in happened since Blue Moon Odom’s start on July 14, 1972.
– And how different is life on the road compared to pitching in a Triple-A bandbox in Sacramento for the A’s?
They entered Saturday with a 3.40 ERA on the road compared to a 8.33 ERA at home.
– The Blue Jays used 18 pitchers last year when they won the American League pennant. They have already used 17 pitchers this year.
Quote of the week: Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy on the hysteria over the recent long-term signings of prospects, including their own in shortstop Cooper Pratt:
“Prospects are prospects. They're things to be excited about. But it doesn't guarantee anything. It's ballplayers. And when the prospect becomes a ballplayer, that's when it means something. … Having all the ability in the world, if you want me to name names I can name names over the last five years where these guys were top-100 prospects and can't play winning baseball. It's proven that being a prospect doesn't give you the license to be a successful ballplayer."
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Walt Weiss is 'different breed' of manager for Atlanta
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