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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

during the 1980 season. Weaver is from

St. Johnsville, New York St. Johnsville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Montgomery County, New York, Montgomery County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 2,598 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town co ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Oneonta Red Dragons The State University of New York at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public university in Oneonta, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneonta ...

. 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 or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

against the

Brooklyn Bulldogs Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

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

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

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

1976 MLB draft The 1976 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1976 MLB season. The draft saw the Houston Astros select Floyd Bannister first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1976 Major League Baseba ...

. Weaver spent his first professional season with the

Bristol Tigers Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and led the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, 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 wooden ...

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 is 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 ( tenn ...

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 ...

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 t ...

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 Milwaukee Braves season, 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also ...

against the

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

. He pitched 1 scoreless, hitless innings in relief of Dave Tobik. Weaver earned his first major league

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

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 ''

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'' 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 ...

. 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 an American former professional baseball pitcher who played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), for the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. Listed at 6' 4", 185 lb., Rozema batted and threw 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Roger 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 20th-century American sportsmen