Clyde Weir

The very first scout to be inducted into the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame, Clyde Weir was born in Lansing, attended Western Michigan University, and resided throughout the state, from Grand Ledge to Washington to Mount Pleasant to Allendale to Portland to DeWitt.

He was working as a bird dog, an amateur scout, for Cleveland in 1985 when he first spotted a young Waverly standout named John Smoltz. That summer, Smoltz was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. Weir joined the Tigers one year later, the start of an admirable 37-year career scouting for the Detroit Tigers organization.

Over the course of those seasons, Weir was lauded for helped advance the playing careers of countless amateur ballplayers throughout the state, connecting them to coaches at the college level. He additionally developed close relationships with Ernie Harwell, Al Kaline, and Hal Newhouser, becoming a full-fledged member of the Tigers’ family.

Weir further distinguished himself on the softball field, inducted into the USA Softball of Michigan Hall of Fame in 2002.

When the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame was initially founded in 2015, Weir was an original voting member of the Hall of Fame select committee, a position held until his death in 2023.