Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024: Clyde Weir

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Clyde Weir’s career as a baseball scout began as an unpaid field scout for Cleveland. While watching a Waverly High School pitcher named John Smoltz, he met some Detroit Tigers scouts.

The rest, as they say, is history.

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

“This was a second job for him and I think to say job doesn’t do justice to what it was for him,” said Doug Weir, Clyde’s son. “It was 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, looking for talent to share with the Tigers organization.

“Anyone (on the Tigers) who had questions about Michigan players they were considering drafting would get a call from him,” Doug said. “I think it was always important to him in that regard, too, to know that they could rely on his honest opinion and analysis on any player they were wondering whether or not to draft.”

Clyde’s day job was in the foam business for over 40 years, and although he had the opportunity to move up in the baseball world or join another organization, he remained loyal to the Tigers.

“I think part of it was because he loved that (the Tigers) were our team here,” Doug said. “He grew up watching Al Kaline, Norm Cash, those were guys to him – and Hal Newhouser – that he really loved. To be able to be part of this organization with them and get to know them was very special to him.”

Of course, the Tiges didn’t always take the players Clyde sent them reports on. However, he did watch many of the greatest players in Michigan history when they were still 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 for many in the Michigan baseball world and he showed genuine heart for the players he watched.

“I don’t know how many times I saw him cheer somebody up when we went to scout somebody,” Doug said. “I think when you see a scout there, you know, when you see a radar gun and a stopwatch, you start to play a little bit differently, right? You try to show off a little bit, and before the game he went up to them and said, ‘Hey, act like I’m not here, right? Just have fun. You’re 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 a founding member of the selection committee for the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame.

He died in October 2023 at the age of 73.

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

“We looked at those plaques and he showed me, ‘Oh, here’s Newhouser, we have this history, this history,’ and Trammell and Harwell and Jeter,” Doug recalls. “So, to see his name up there with those guys. He would have thought, man, I don’t know if I belong up there, but at the same time he would have known that it’s a pretty great feeling to see his name up there with those guys. He would be very humbled and grateful. So I guess it’s going to be very bittersweet.”

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

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