Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024: Clyde Weir

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Clyde Weir’s career as a baseball scout started as an unpaid bird dog for Cleveland, and while watching a Waverly High School pitcher named John Smoltz, he met some scouts from the Detroit Tigers.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Weir joined the Tigers as an amateur scout the next season and stayed with the organization for the next 37 years.

“This was a second job for him and to say job I think is probably a disservice to what it was for him,” said Doug Weir, Clyde’s son. “It was purely just how much he loved the game of baseball and being around it.”

Clyde became a fixture at high school and college games across the state, scouring for talent he could tell the Tigers organization about.

“Anybody [with the Tigers] that had questions about players in the Michigan area they were going to draft he was the guy they called,” said Doug. “I think knowing that they could rely on him for an honest opinion and breakdown of any of the players they were questioning if they should draft or not, was always what it was about for him in that regard, too.”

Clyde’s primary job was in the foam business for over 40 years. While he had opportunities to move up in the baseball world or latch on with a different organization, he remained loyal to the Tigers.

“I think part of it was he loved that [the Tigers were] our team here,” said Doug. “He grew up watching Al Kaline, Norm Cash, those were guys to him — and Hal Newhouser — that he really loved. Being able to be a part of that organization with them and getting to meet them was really special to him.”

Naturally, the Tiges didn’t always take the players Clyde sent them reports on. However, he scouted many of the greatest players in Michigan’s history while they were in high school, including future MLB All-Stars like DJ LeMahieu, Nate McLouth and even Derek Jeter.

In addition to his eye for talent, Clyde was a constant source of positivity to many in the Michigan baseball world, and he showed a genuine heart for the players he scouted.

“I don’t know how many times I would see him give somebody a pep talk if we went to scout somebody,” said Doug. “I think when you see a scout there, you know, you see a radar gun out and you see a stopwatch out, you start to try play a little different, right? You try to show off a little bit and before the game he would try to go up to them and say hey, act like I’m not here, right? Just have fun. You’re out here with your buddies. You’re playing high school baseball. This should be the time of your life, right?”

Clyde was also passionate about the history of the game. In fact, he was an original member of the selection committee for the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame.

He passed away in October of 2023 at the age of 73.

After a life of love and loyalty to baseball and his beloved Detroit Tigers, Clyde’s family will get to see his name on one of the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame plaques beyond the left field wall at Jackson Field this weekend. It will remain there for years to come, enshrined alongside some of his personal heroes and friends.

“We would go look at those plaques and he would show me ‘oh here’s Newhouser we have this story, this story,’ and Trammell and Harwell and Jeter,” recalls Doug. “So to have his name up there with those guys. He would feel like, man, i don’t know if i belong up there, but at the same time knowing that it’s a pretty awesome feeling so that he can have his name up there with those guys. He would be very humbled by it and very appreciative. So I’m guessing it’ll be very bittersweet.”

The Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place around 6:15 p.m. on Saturday at Jackson Field prior to the start of the game between the Lansing Lugnuts and Great Lakes Loons.

The 2024 class includes Clyde Weir, Jake Boss Sr., Ken Hayward and Norman “Turkey” Stearnes.

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