Roger Edward Weaver (born October 6, 1954) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for one season. He pitched in 19 games for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

during the 1980 season. Weaver is from

St. Johnsville, New York St. Johnsville is a town in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 2,631 at the 2010 census. Accounts vary as to the etymology of St. Johnsville, but most of them state that the town and its village are named after an ear ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the Oneonta Red Dragons. At Oneonta, he pitched and played the outfield. As a junior in 1975, he had an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 0.79. In April 1975, he threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the

Brooklyn Bulldogs , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

which was marred only by a fielding error. Weaver received a degree in

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

from Oneonta in 1976. He was selected by the Tigers in the 16th round of the

1976 MLB draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The 1976 Arizona State University team, considered by ma ...

. Weaver spent his first professional season with the

Bristol Tigers Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...

and led the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

with a 1.43 ERA. He spent the following season with the

Lakeland Tigers Lakeland is primarily a toponym. It may refer to: Places Australia *Lakeland, Queensland Canada *Lakeland (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Alberta *Lakeland County, a former municipal district in Alberta * District of La ...

and led the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

with 22 saves and finished third in the league with a 1.58 ERA. Weaver was sidelined by injury for most of the 1978 season but managed a 1.50 ERA in twelve innings pitched. His elbow

tendinitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elb ...

caused pain which carried over into the offseason and was "so intense" that he could not straighten his arm, had difficulty sleeping and planned to quit baseball and go into business with his father. Nonetheless, a year later,

Evansville Triplets The Evansville Triplets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A American Association (AA) from 1970 to 1984. They were located in Evansville, Indiana, and played their home games at Bosse Field. The Triplets served as a farm club for th ...

manager

Jim Leyland James Richard Leyland (born December 15, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He serves as a special assistant to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Leyland led the Florida Marlins to the 19 ...

called Weaver into his hotel room to tell him he was being called up to the major leagues. Weaver made his major league debut on June 6, 1980 at

Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packers ...

against the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. He pitched 1 scoreless, hitless innings in relief of

Dave Tobik David Vance Tobik (born March 2, 1953) is an American former right-handed professional baseball relief pitcher. After attending Ohio University, Tobik played eight seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers (1978–1982), ...

. Weaver earned his first major league win on June 24, 1980 when he entered in relief of

Dan Petry Daniel Joseph Petry ( ; born November 13, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1979–87 and 1990–91), California Angels (1988–89), Atlanta Braves (1991) and Boston Red Sox (1991). He currently se ...

in the third inning and threw 3 scoreless innings. Describing the feeling of recording his first victory, he told reporters "it's the best!" In early July, Tigers pitching coach Roger Craig told Weaver that the organization planned to use him as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

in the future, a role which he told the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' he preferred to pitching out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. In early August, he was surprised to learn that he would be making his starting debut on August 3. However, by the third inning of his first major league start, he developed a blister on his right middle finger and was replaced by

Dave Rozema David Scott Rozema ( ; born August 5, 1956) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1977 through 1986 for the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. Listed at 6' 4", 185 lb., Rozema batted and threw right-handed. Early years R ...

to start the fourth. On or about August 17, the Tigers placed Weaver on the disabled list due to a sore shoulder. Weaver returned in time to finish the Major League season but his performance suffered. Through September 8, he had an ERA of 2.23; over his final six games, his ERA was 6.59. He married Michele Lonsberry on October 17, 1987. Weaver has two sons, Zach and Michael Weaver, one daughter named Lauren.

References

External links

1954 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Detroit Tigers players Baseball players from Montgomery County, New York Oneonta State Red Dragons baseball players Bristol Tigers players Evansville Triplets players Lakeland Tigers players Montgomery Rebels players Richmond Braves players People from Amsterdam, New York {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub