Sparky Anderson (b. 1934 – d. 2010)

Sparky Anderson

George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was a Major League Baseball manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third title in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers of the American League.

Anderson resided in Thousand Oaks, California. He was known as "Sparky" during his time in baseball, but in private life went by his given name of "George". He died of complications resulting from dementia on November 4, 2010, a day after being placed into hospice care.

Early life

Anderson was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota, on February 22, 1934. He attended Susan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, California. Upon graduating, he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1953.[1]

Playing career

Anderson began his playing career with the Santa Barbara Dodgers of the class-C California League, where he was primarily used as a shortstop.[2] In 1954, he was moved up to the class-A Pueblo Dodgers of the Western League and was moved to second base, where he played the rest of his career.[2]

In 1955, Anderson was moved another step up the minor league ladder, playing for the Double-A Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League. In 1956, he moved up once more, this time to the Triple-A Montreal Royals of the International League. In 1957, he was assigned to the Los Angeles Angels of the open-classification Pacific Coast League. The next season, after the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles, he returned to Montreal.[2]

After five minor league seasons without appearing in a Dodger uniform at the MLB level, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on December 23, 1958 for three players, including outfielder Rip Repulski.[1] The Phillies gave Anderson their starting second base job, and he spent what would be his one full season in the major leagues in 1959. However, he batted only .218 in 152 games, with no home runs and 34 runs batted in, and returned to the minor leagues for the remainder of his playing career.

He played the next four seasons with the Triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs in the International League,[2] where Leafs owner Jack Kent Cooke spotted Anderson's leadership qualities and encouraged him to pursue a career in managing.

Managerial career
Minor leagues

In 1964, at the age of 30, Anderson accepted Cooke's offer to manage the Leafs. He later handled minor league clubs at the Class A and Double-A levels, including a season (1968) in the Reds' minor league system.

During this period, he managed a pennant winner in four consecutive seasons: 1965 with the Rock Hill Cardinals of the Western Carolinas League, 1966 with the St. Petersburg Cardinals of the Florida State League, 1967 with the Modesto Reds of the California League and 1968 with the Asheville Tourists of the Southern League. It was during the 1966 season that Sparky's club lost to Miami 4–3 in 29 innings, which remains the longest pro game played (by innings) without interruption.[citation needed]

He made his way back to the majors in 1969 as a coach for the San Diego Padres. He was briefly a member of the California Angels coaching staff during the 1969–70 offseason, but within days of being hired in Anaheim, he was offered the opportunity to succeed Dave Bristol as manager of the Reds. His appointment reunited Anderson with Reds' general manager Bob Howsam, who had hired him as a minor-league skipper in the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati organizations.

Cincinnati Reds

Anderson was named the Reds manager on October 8, 1969 by Reds general manager Bob Howsam, replacing Dave Bristol. Since he was a relative unknown in the sports world, headlines on the day after his hiring read "Sparky Who?"[3] Nonetheless, Anderson led the Reds to 102 wins and the National League pennant in 1970,[4] although they lost the 1970 World Series in five games to the Baltimore Orioles.

The Big Red Machine

After an injury-plagued 1971 season in which the team finished fifth,[4] the Reds came back and won another pennant in 1972, but lost to the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. They took the National League West division title in 1973, then finished a close second to the Los Angeles Dodgers a year later.

Finally, in 1975, the Reds blew the division open by winning 108 games, swept the National League Championship Series and then edged the Boston Red Sox in a drama-filled, seven-game World Series. They repeated in 1976 by winning 102 games and ultimately sweeping the New York Yankees in the Series. Over the course of these two seasons, Anderson's Reds compiled an astounding 14–3 record in postseason play against the Pirates, Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees, winning their last eight in a row in the postseason after triumphing against the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, and then winning seven straight games in the 1976 postseason.

During this time, Anderson became known as "Captain Hook" for his penchant for taking out a starting pitcher at the first sign of weakness and going to his bullpen, relying heavily on closers Will McEnaney and Rawly Eastwick.[5]

When the aging Reds finished second to the Dodgers in each of the next two seasons, Anderson was fired in November 27, 1978[5] by general manager Dick Wagner, who had taken over for Howsam a year earlier.[6] Wagner had wanted to "shake up" the Reds' coaching staff, to which Anderson objected, leading to his dismissal as well.[5]

Under new manager John McNamara, the Reds won the division title again in 1979 but lost three straight to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the League Championship Series. They would not make the playoffs again until they won the World Series in 1990 by sweeping the heavily favored Oakland A's.

Detroit Tigers

Anderson moved on to the young Detroit Tigers after being hired as their new manager on June 14, 1979. The Tigers became a winning club almost immediately, but did not get into contention until 1983, when they finished second to the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1984, Detroit opened the season 35–5 (a major league record) and breezed to a 104–58 record (a franchise record for wins). They swept the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and then beat the San Diego Padres in five games in the World Series for Anderson's third world title. After the season, Anderson won the first of his two Manager of the Year Awards with the Tigers.

Anderson led the Tigers to the majors' best record in 1987, but the team was upset in the ALCS by the Minnesota Twins. He won his second Manager of the Year Award that year. After contending again in 1988 (finishing second to Boston by one game in the AL East), the team collapsed a year later, losing a startling 103 games. During that 1989 season, Anderson took a month-long leave of absence from the team as the stress of losing wore on him. First base coach Dick Tracewski managed the team in the interim.

In 1991, the Tigers finished last in batting average, first in batting strike outs and near the bottom of the league in most pitching categories, but still led their division in late August before settling for a second-place finish behind the rival Toronto. The team featured a power-packed lineup of sluggers Cecil Fielder, Mickey Tettleton and Rob Deer, which led the league in home runs and walks that season.

During his managerial career, Anderson was known to heap lavish praise on his ballplayers when talking to the media. He declared Kirk Gibson "the next Mickey Mantle," which he later acknowledged may have put too much pressure on Gibson early in his career. He said Mike Laga, who played for him in 1984, would "make us forget every power hitter who ever lived." He also said, "Johnny Bench (who played for him in Cincinnati) will never throw a baseball as hard as Mike Heath (a catcher who played for him in Detroit)."

Retirement

Anderson retired from managing after the 1995 season, reportedly disillusioned with the state of the league following the 1994 strike that had also truncated the beginning of the 1995 season. It is widely believed that Anderson was pushed into retirement by the Tigers, who were unhappy that Sparky refused to manage replacement players during spring training in 1995. He finished with a lifetime record of 2,194–1,834, for a .545 percentage. He spent the larger portion of his career managing the Tigers (1970–78 with the Reds, 1979–95 with the Tigers), but he won two World Series with the Reds and one with the Tigers.

Anderson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2000. His Hall of Fame plaque has him wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform. He chose to wear the Reds cap at his induction in honor of former GM Bob Howsam, who gave Anderson his first chance at a major-league managing job.

Anderson was also inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame the same year. On May 28, 2005, during pre-game ceremonies in Cincinnati, Anderson's jersey number, #10, was retired by the Reds. A day in Anderson's honor was also held at Detroit's Comerica Park during the 2000 season. His number with the Detroit Tigers, #11, has been inactive since he retired in 1995, but has not been formally retired. In 2007, Anderson was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Death and legacy

Mr. Anderson was the first manager to win a World Series for both a National League and American League team. Either manager in the 1984 Series would have been the first to win in both leagues, since San Diego Padres (NL) manager Dick Williams had previously won the series with the Oakland Athletics (AL) in 1972 and 1973. Williams' 1972 club had defeated Sparky Anderson's Reds club.

Mr. Anderson's accomplishment was equalled in the 2006 World Series, when St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa — who had previously won the World Series with the Oakland Athletics in 1989, and who considers Mr. Anderson his mentor — led his team to the title over the Detroit Tigers. Coincidentally, having won a championship while managing the Florida Marlins in 1997, Tigers manager Jim Leyland could have achieved this same feat had the Tigers defeated La Russa's Cardinals in the 2006 World Series.

With a 9–5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on July 29, 1986, Mr. Anderson became the first to achieve 600 career wins as a manager in both the American and National Leagues.

While still in Detroit, Mr. Anderson founded the charitable organization CATCH (Caring Athletes Teamed for Children's and Henry Ford hospitals) in 1987. He continued to support and participate in the charity well into his retirement.[7]

In 2006, construction was completed on the "Sparky Anderson Baseball Field" at California Lutheran University's new athletic complex.

On November 3, 2010, it was announced that Mr. Anderson had been placed in hospice care at his Thousand Oaks home because of his deteriorating dementia condition.[8] He died at his home at the age of 76 years, 8 months, 1 week and 6 days, or 28,014 total days, on Thursday, November 4, 2010.[9] He is survived by his wife Carol, sons Lee and Albert, daughter Shirley Englebrect, and nine grandchildren.

Media appearances

• In 1979, Sparky guest-starred as himself on an episode of (appropriately enough) WKRP in Cincinnati. The episode (titled "Sparky"), features Anderson as a talk-show host on the fictional station. Eventually Sparky is let go, which causes him to say, "I must be crazy. Every time I come to (Cincinnati) I get fired!"
  
• Anderson appeared as himself in The White Shadow season 3 episode "If Your Number's Up, Get it Down" in 1980. Falahey introduces him to Coolidge, but Coolidge replies with "Sorry you lost, but I voted for you." Coolidge mistakenly thought he was 1980 independent presidential candidate John Anderson.
  
• Anderson appears as himself in the 1983 Disney Channel movie Tiger Town.
  
• Anderson was often paired with Jack Buck on CBS Radio coverage of post-season action during the 1980s and 1990s.
  
• From 1996 to 1998, was a color analyst for the Anaheim Angels' cable television broadcasts.
  
• Anderson threw out the ceremonial first pitch of Game 2 of the 2006 World Series at Comerica Park.
  
• Anderson's number was retired in the 2000s by the Fort Worth Cats, who were a Dodgers affiliate in the 1950s when Anderson played there.
  

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b} "Sparky Anderson Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/andersp01.shtml. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
   
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Sparky Anderson Minor League Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=anders005geo. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
   
3. ^ "Former Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson dies". Indianapolis Star. November 4, 2010. http://www.indystar.com/article/20101104/SPORTS/101104016/Former-Cincinnati-Reds-manager-Sparky-Anderson-dies. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
   
4. ^ ^{a b} "Sparky Anderson Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/andersp01.shtml. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
   
5. ^ ^{a b c} Sparky Anderson at The Baseball Library
   
6. ^ New York Times: Sparky Anderson, Hall of Fame Manager, Dies at 76
   
7. ^ "About CATCH" at www.catchcharity.org [1]
   
8. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5759008
   
9. ^ Associated Press (November 4, 2010). "Sparky Anderson dies at 76". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5764168. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
   

See also

• 1984 Detroit Tigers season
  
• Bless You Boys: Diary of the Detroit Tigers' 1984 Season
  

External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame – Member biography
  
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
  
• Major league career managerial statistics from Baseball-Reference
  
• Interview with Sparky Anderson (10 min., free)
  

Sporting positions

Preceded by Bill Adair	Toronto Maple Leafs Manager 1964	Succeeded by Dick Williams
Preceded by Hal Smith	Rock Hill Cardinals Manager 1965	Succeeded by Jack Krol
Preceded by first manager	St. Petersburg Cardinals Manager 1966	Succeeded by Ron Plaza
Preceded by Gus Niarhos	Modesto Reds Manager 1967	Succeeded by Joe Cunningham
Preceded by Chuck Churn	Asheville Tourists Manager 1968	Succeeded by Alex Cosmidis
Preceded by Dave Bristol	Cincinnati Reds Manager 1970–1978	Succeeded by John McNamara
Preceded by Dick Tracewski	Detroit Tigers Manager 1979–1995	Succeeded by Buddy Bell

Awards and achievements

Preceded by Tony La Russa John McNamara	American League Manager of the Year 1984 1987	Succeeded by Bobby Cox Tony La Russa

Last Updated: November 03. 2010 3:07PM
Lauded ex-Tigers manager Sparky Anderson ill
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Detroit— Former Tigers manager Sparky Anderson is seriously ill.

In a message released Wednesday by his family, it was learned that the Hall of Fame manager who guided the Tigers to their 1984 World Series championship "has been placed in the care of hospice at his home in Thousand Oaks, California, for complications resulting from dementia" Included in the announcement was an expression of gratitude.

"The Anderson family — wife Carol, sons Lee and Albert, and daughter Shirley Englebrecht — wishes to express appreciation to all friends and fans for the support and kindness they have shown throughout Sparky's career and retirement.

"The family is particularly grateful for the respect for privacy the national and local media have demonstrated during this trying period.

"All requests for future updates should be directed to family spokesman Dan Ewald."

Ewald is the Tigers' former public relations director and longtime friend of Anderson's.

In the same year in which the Tigers' community of fans and followers lost beloved broadcaster Ernie Harwell, this, too, is a sad development.

Anderson is the winningest Tigers manager of all time with 1,331 victories. He was the first manager to win World Series in both the National League and American League, accomplishing the feat with the Cincinnati Reds before winning it all with the Tigers.

With 2,194 victories, he ranks sixth on the all-time list for managers.

Hired in 1979, Anderson remained the Tigers' manager through the 1995 season, but has been a yearly visitor to the Detroit area in his retirement to attend the various functions that benefit CATCH, the foundation he founded in 1987 to improve the quality of life for pediatric patients at Children's Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital.

Anderson attended the 1984 Tigers reunion at Comerica Park in September 2009, at which time he looked at the former players that had gathered for the occasion and said, "Think about this now, there will be four or five of these guys together again, maybe, but never all together again.

"I'm 75. I know I ain't going to make it."

The reunion was a time of reminiscing, of course, but it was also an opportunity for the players of that team, poignantly as it turns out, to discuss what Anderson had meant to them.

That's because Anderson, in their minds, never stopped being their manager. To this day, he's the one they still thank for teaching them to respect the game and play it the right way.

"We all love him for that," said Lance Parrish.

"He taught me to become a pitcher who never wanted to come out of the game, but would yell at me when I didn't want to," said Jack Morris. "He made me the pitcher I was."

"I needed to change from the way I was, initially, and I changed," said Kirk Gibson. "I don't know what I would have accomplished in baseball without him."

At the time of the reunion, though, it was inescapably evident that Anderson was frail — a condition that became even more obvious during his 2010 visit to the Detroit area for CATCH's summer golf outing. But, true to his respect for his place of honor in baseball, he went to Cooperstown to attend the Hall of Fame's annual induction ceremonies before returning home to California.

Last month, however, his health took a turn for the worse.

Now, unfortunately, it has taken another.


From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20101103/SPORTS0104/11030400/Lauded-ex-Tigers-manager-Sparky-Anderson-ill#ixzz14FadlJtH

Hall of Fame skipper Anderson dies at 76
Managed Big Red Machine in '70s, roaring Tigers in '80s
By Marty Noble / MLB.com | 11/04/10 1:44 PM ET

The white-haired genius who helped make red the pre-eminent color in the National League in the '70s and directed the American League team that roared the loudest in the '80s has passed. Sparky Anderson, the chatty Hall of Famer given to outrageous success and outlandish predictions, joined the great majority on Thursday, two days after he was placed in hospice care at his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he had spent most of his adult life. Death came at age 76 for a man who had spent 42 years in professional baseball, 26 as a manager.

Readily identified throughout the game simply by his nickname, George Lee Anderson was the first man to manage a World Series champion in each league. He steered the Big Red Machine to victory against the Red Sox in the wonderful and rain-protracted seven-game Series in 1975 and to a sweep of the Yankees the following October. Eight years later, his Tigers team won 35 of its first 40 games, led the American League East wire to wire and won seven of eight postseason games. The '76 Reds, the only team in the divisional-play era to sweep a postseason, remain the last NL team to repeat as World Series champions.

Anderson left the game following the 1995 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame -- he is depicted on his plaque wearing a Reds cap -- in the summer of 2000. His 2,194 regular-season victories rank sixth all-time, his .545 winning percentage fifth all-time among those who have managed at least 3,000 games. His Reds won at least 92 games in seven of nine seasons, producing 210 victories in 1975-76. His Tigers teams averaged 91 victories from 1982-1988. The '84 team won 104 games before its postseason rampage.

He finished his career with seven division championships, five pennants, a .631 postseason winning percentage and with this distinction: he was the only man to have the most career victories for two franchises. His career in the dugout was far more successful than his brief run as a player -- one season, 1959, with the last-place Phillies, in which he batted .218 with 34 runs batted in and 12 extra-base hits, none of them home runs, in 477 at-bats.

Anderson's family announced Wednesday that he had been placed in hospice care due to complications from dementia. He hadn't been well for some time, but he had remained content, grateful and generous even in the face of severe illness.

Traveling had become a chore for him in recent years. There were times when he looked and sounded his age, but flashes of the sharp-eyed manager were evident at times, too. He made it to Dodger Stadium in May when the Tigers were playing an Interleague series there. It was a rare ballpark visit for him. He wanted to make the trip to see two other legendary managers, Jim Leyland and Joe Torre, as well as one of his former players, Tom Brookens. Anderson said he considered Brookens managerial timber.

At one point, he stared out onto a field and later looked into the eyes of a young player, Tigers rookie Austin Jackson. He called Jackson over in the dugout. Jackson might not have known much about the older gentleman, and vice versa, but for a few moments, the two bridged generations as managers and players do.

"There's something about him that makes him bright," Anderson said of Jackson. "Look at that face. Can he play? Oh, he can play."

His final on-field appearance in Detroit was in 2009, during ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of his World Series champion team. Nearly all his players made it back, many of them -- from Kirk Gibson to Alan Trammell to Lance Parrish to Jack Morris to Brookens -- returning to see fans show their appreciation for the former manager.

"It was a journey of a life experience for a lot of us," Morris said. "We came up as young kids out of high school and college who had a dream but didn't know how to put that dream together. Sparky was kind of the bond that knew how to put it together. He taught us how to play the game, how to win. We ultimately did that, and now we get to share the memories."

More recently, Parrish said: "He was always pushing and cracking the whip. He just pushed the right buttons all the time. If there was ever, in my collection of my baseball career, a guy who always seemed to know the buttons to push or things to say, he did it. It's a real tribute to him as a manager, but he seemed to know the personality of everybody on the team and who to delegate what to, when to put the right guy in the right situation. Everything worked out."

For all he did for the Tigers, Anderson felt a debt of gratitude to the Reds and, in particular, former club president Bob Howsam, who hired him to manage in 1970, shortly after Anderson had accepted a job as a coach with the Angels in the offseason. He had five years' experience as a manager, all in the Minor Leagues. Hence, his preference to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Red.

Anderson is a member of the Reds' Hall of Fame, and the No. 10 uniform he wore from 1970-78 has been retired in his honor.

He is beloved in the Queen City. "He never has a harsh word for anyone. He was always gracious to the fans. He's a very special person in how he relates to people and how they relate to him," longtime Reds announcer Marty Brennaman said Wednesday after learning of Anderson's failing condition. "I compare him to Joe Nuxhall, eminently successful people with no ego at all. Their popularity is off the charts because they were so good to people.

"Sparky would look you in the eye, answer all your questions. It was as if you were the most important person in the world to him. Knowing him for 37 years, it was not an act. People could wonder if it wasn't the real George Anderson, but it was. He loves people. He laughs easily and has a great sense of humor. He's just the kind of person that anybody with a semblance of celebrity would aspire to be like."

As a manager, Anderson was "one of the all-time greats," Brennaman said. "I laugh at anyone who says they could have managed those Reds teams. The hell they could.

"There were a lot of egos in that clubhouse. They had to find a way to make it work before they got on the field. There were players like [Pete] Rose, [Johnny] Bench, [Tony] Perez and [Joe] Morgan -- all superstars. They made it work. He could manipulate a pitching staff better than anybody around. The proof is in the pudding. After he left Cincinnati, he won in Detroit."

The way Anderson handled his pitching staff prompted good-natured ridicule. Never one to hesitate summoning his bullpen, he was nicknamed "Captain Hook." Some consider Anderson the innovator of the way bullpens are used today. He cackled about his "hook," once saying he was the polar opposite of the real Captain Hook's antagonist Peter Pan. "That SOB never got old," Anderson said. "I've never looked young."

Anderson's hair had turned gray before he took over the Reds in 1970. He was 36. His locks turned silver, then white. But he declined to consider himself distinguished-looking. "I'm just an old skipper from South Dakota," he said during one of his many moments with the media during the '75 World Series. Games 5 and 6 were separated by four days of rain. Anderson seldom took a breath. He could fill a notebook while hitting fungoes. And his tales were good and well presented, even though the grammar was flawed.

Anderson was direct when he thought he needed to be.

• He insulted Yankees catcher Thurman Munson after the Reds' sweep in 1976. "Don't embarrass someone by comparing him to Johnny Bench," he said. Munson had batted .529 with two RBIs in the four games.

• "If I hear Bowie Kuhn say just once more he's doing something for the betterment of baseball, I'm going to throw up." (April, 1988).

• "It's a terrible thing to have to tell your fans, who have waited like Detroit's have, that their team won't win it this year. But it's better than lying to them." (July, 1979)

• "Problem with [John] Wockenfuss getting on base is that it takes three doubles to score him."

Anderson suffered a nervous breakdown in 1989 when the Tigers floundered. He took a three-week leave of absence, saying he was "completely worn out, completely exhausted."

He and fellow Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, a contemporary, were two of the game's foremost dugout characters in the '70s and beyond. Anderson was known for his hyperbole and less-than-perfect grammar. His wife Carol urged him to take grammar classes in the mid-'70s when the Reds were a regular television attraction. "I told her it ain't gonna help me," he once said. "Or should I say 'It ain't gonna help me none?'"

A double negative was twice as good as a single, right?

His predictions for Kirk Gibson, Don Gullett, Mike Laga and Barbaro Garbey were historic.

• "Kirk Gibson is the next Mickey Mantle."

• "Don Gullett is going to the Hall of Fame."

• "Mike Laga will make you forget about every power hitter that ever lived."

• "Barbaro Garbey is another Roberto Clemente."

"People learned not to take me too serious," he once said during Spring Training in the late '80s. "I wanted my players to know I believed in them." But opponents always took Anderson's teams quite seriously. They often were loaded with talent. Morgan and Bench (twice each), George Foster and Willie Hernandez won Most Valuable Player Awards for teams Anderson managed.

The manager's gift of gab and unwavering support of his players hardly hurt the candidates' chances. Sparky had influence, and his teams' successes enhanced the players' chances as well. "There's nothing like success to bring more success," he said before the '76 World Series.

Ray Shore, the Reds advance scout at the time, had publicly stated he would be surprised if the favored Reds didn't sweep the Yankees. And Anderson didn't back away from that statement. He said, "I can't say I'd be surprised. We're good."

Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Trammell mourns passing of mentor Anderson
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com | 11/04/10 7:26 PM ET

Alan Trammell last talked to Sparky Anderson at the All-Star break. Whenever Trammell was in Los Angeles, which he was with the Cubs at midseason this year, he would give his former manager a call.

Anderson would always tease Trammell that he didn't have to call, that he knew how busy his former shortstop was. It was never a burden, Trammell said, but something he looked forward to. They last saw each other in September 2009 at the 25th anniversary celebration of the 1984 World Series championship Tigers team.

"When you start to get up in age, you never know if it'll be the last time [together]," Trammell said Thursday. "We all said we were glad we could get together, not only for ourselves but for Sparky, who was getting up in age. We knew his health wasn't the same. He was tired, wasn't traveling as much."

On Tuesday evening, Trammell received a call from family spokesman Dan Ewald to update him on Anderson's health and that he was going into hospice care. Trammell wanted to know what he could do, and Ewald suggested waiting a week, and then calling Anderson's wife, Carol, to set up a visit.


But on Thursday, Anderson died at his home. He was 76.

"I'm just thankful that he touched myself and so many of my teammates," Trammell said. "He taught us how to play the game the right way but also how to conduct yourself as a true professional on and off the field.

"He thought about us not only as baseball players but as men and as family men in thinking, 'How do you conduct yourself?' Some guys didn't buy into it and obviously they weren't there as long as some others, but when you talk to Lance Parrish and [Kirk Gibson] and myself and Jack Morris and Dan Petry, we're all saying the same thing. We bought into it. We're better people for it.

"I'm proud to continue the legacy and pass the torch along. There's a right and a wrong way. To me, whether it's 100 years ago or 100 years from now, there's a right and wrong way. I feel very good and very confident in saying that Sparky was our mentor and he taught us the right way."

Trammell, 52, played for Anderson from 1979-95 in Detroit. He was the Cubs' bench coach for four years but is switching next year to a similar job with the Diamondbacks, reuniting with Gibson, who is managing the Arizona team.

"I'm proud to say what I've been teaching to the Cubs and the Tigers and Padres and now the Diamondbacks will be things that Sparky taught us," Trammell said. "The legacy will continue and we'll continue to pass the torch to a new generation of players."

The Cubs can only hope players like their Starlin Castro takes advantage of the knowlege passed on by Trammell, who worked with the young shortstop.

Thursday was a day filled with memories for Trammell.

"As sad as it is ... it's like Tiger Stadium," Trammell said. "Even though it's gone, the memories are still there and will never change. That's similar to Sparky. It's a sad day but the memories I have for him will never change and I appreciate that I got to meet him and be a part of his life. How could I ever forget him? He was like a second father. I'm very thankful."

Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. She writes a blog, Muskat Ramblings, and you can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

In final Tigers visit, Sparky was in his element
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 11/04/10 6:23 PM ET

Sparky Anderson's last visit with the Tigers, his final visit to a Major League ballpark, was also his first visit with Austin Jackson. It was memorable for all of them.

It was a Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium last May, with the Tigers in town for Interleague Play, and Anderson made the trip over from his home in nearby Thousand Oaks, Calif. It was clear Anderson wasn't in good health, and it wasn't easy for him to move around. But there were still moments when he seemed to turn back the clock, and the old manager was back in his familiar surroundings of a big league dugout.

Anderson was talking with reporters and a few onlookers about Angels manager Mike Scioscia when he stepped up from his seat in the dugout to make a point.

"What made Mike Scoscia so good was," Anderson said, then paused and got up.

Anderson climbed the steps to the top the dugout, leaned onto the railing, and stared out to the field, where early batting practice was going. After a few seconds, he continued his point.

"He never took his eyes off," Anderson said. "Don't you ever take your eyes off that pitcher. Don't you ever take your eyes off your own pitcher."

Anderson wanted to head out to the ballpark and visit with two of his favorite managers, Jim Leyland and Joe Torre. He went into the cramped visiting clubhouse at the old ballpark, settled into the manager's office and talked with Leyland, who had watched him from afar when Anderson was managing the Tigers and Leyland was managing in the farm system.

"Joe and I had a great conversation with him," Leyland recalled. "You could tell things weren't quite right, but it was what it was. It was a great conversation. He still seemed to have energy and everything. You could tell he was emotional, you know."

Whether or not the mind was as sharp, the presence was still there. He had a long talk with his former infielder turned Tigers coach, Tom Brookens. But he also gave a big hug to Tigers infielder Ramon Santiago, whom he first met on the 2003 Tigers when he visited with then-manager Alan Trammell. He shook hands with Jeremy Bonderman and Brandon Inge, also from that team.

But the lasting memory of that visit was his encounter with Jackson, the rookie center fielder who was eight months old when Anderson took Detroit to the playoffs in 1987.

Anderson was in the dugout making a point about his former Hall of Fame second baseman, Joe Morgan, when he spotted Jackson near the bat rack and called him over. Jackson joined the group around Anderson and leaned in to hear.

"You know what Joe Morgan once told me as he walked by," Anderson asked the group. "He walked by, tapped me on the leg and said, 'Skip, they don't understand a word you're saying.'"

Anderson paused. Morgan, he said, understood what he was talking about as a manager. As he talked about it, he noticed Jackson's attention.

"This young man is bright," he said, looking at Jackson. He then asked Jackson to take off his sunglasses.

Jackson smiled and obliged. He leaned in a little more, and looked eye-to-eye with the Hall of Fame manager, more than a half-century his elder.

"There's something about him that makes him bright," Anderson said, this time about Jackson.

"You'll make it all," Anderson continued. "Look at that face. Can he play? Oh, he can play."

It's possible Jackson didn't know of Anderson, and it's entirely possible Anderson didn't know Jackson. But in that moment, there was that flash of the old manager who loved being around the game. For one last afternoon, he was back in his element.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Bauman: Sparky a truly beloved figure
By Mike Bauman | MLB.com Columnist 11/04/10 1:48 PM ET

Sparky Anderson was a truly beloved figure, and why not? He was both a winner and a genuinely fine human being.

The former Reds and Tigers skipper died Thurday at age 76. There will never be another like him, more's the pity.

George Lee (Sparky) Anderson was a Major League manager who achieved unprecedented success. He was the first manager to win World Series championships in both leagues, winning with Cincinnati in 1975 and '76 and Detroit in '84. Tony La Russa later became the second manager to achieve this feat.

But just reciting that record undersells the achievements of Anderson and those teams. His "Big Red Machine" ranked with the best of any era. Anderson won four pennants in a span of seven years in The Queen City. The two World Series championship teams won 210 regular season games and then steamrolled their way through two postseasons, going a cumulative 14-3.

His '84 Tigers sprinted out to a record-setting 35-5 start, won 104 games and lost only one game in the postseason.

These teams were undoubtedly talented, but there have been supremely talented teams that have been undone by incompetent managers. Sparky created a professional environment in which talent was allowed to reach its full potential. It was no accident at all that he managed some of baseball's best teams.

And when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Anderson gave all the credit to his players. Again, that was a reflection not only of his innate modesty, but of his intelligence, as well. A successful manager knows, as Sparky knew, that there is more than enough credit to go around. If you win, you don't need to campaign for recognition of your baseball intelligence. All the evidence on your side of the question has already been gathered.

Anderson was a great talker. This is not meant in the sense of Winston Churchill rallying the British people with his oratory during World War II. Sparky did not produce great rhetorical flourishes, but he loved to talk. He was deeply appreciated by baseball reporters for his willingness to converse -- at great length and often. The occasional malapropism only added to his charm.

With his shock of white hair and his finger wagging to emphasize his points, there was an everybody's-favorite-uncle quality to Sparky Anderson. He was genuinely nice, and it wasn't the sort of nice that differentiates in status. You didn't have to be a big name or a national figure for Sparky to treat you like a human being.

Was he occasionally given to overstatement? Oh, yes. But again, it was typically in a positive cause. He had a tendency to exaggerate his players' potential. Maybe Kirk Gibson wasn't quite "the next Mickey Mantle." Maybe some other player who Sparky touted as a Hall of Famer ended up being a marginal talent. But this was Sparky -- building his guys up, rather than tearing someone down.

Anderson was immensely popular in Cincinnati, and then in Detroit -- and eventually throughout baseball. He was widely respected for his knowledge of the game and the success that his teams achieved, but he was also a man who generated a ton of affection just by being himself.

That was Sparky Anderson -- a man who had lots of victories on his resume and a fundamental goodness in his heart.

Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Former Tigers fondly remember Sparky
Manager of '84 title team passes away Thursday at 76
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 11/04/10 5:32 PM ET

The record books will remember Sparky Anderson as the first manager to win World Series in both leagues with the Reds and Tigers. Players will remember him for his undying loyalty toward guys who won and worked hard for him. No one who came across him will forget his infectious and slightly quirky personality.

Anderson left this world with too many memories to count, and a life and career too big to sum up in numbers. The Hall of Famer has finally lost his long-running battle with illness, passing away Thursday at age 76, but his life has left friends and players with more smiles than tears.

"Sparky was one of the greatest people I've met in baseball," Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline said. "He was a leader to his players both on and off the field. He was an incredible person and I cherish the time I was able to spend with him. He was a great leader and a great baseball man."

When players from the 1984 World Series champion Tigers gathered at Comerica Park for a 25-year reunion last year, many wondered if it would be the last time they'd see their beloved manager. It's one reason why so many showed up. They wanted to be there when he heard one more ovation from a crowd and a city that loved him.

"It was a journey of a life experience for a lot of us," former Tigers right-hander Jack Morris said at the time. "We came up as young kids out of high school and college who had a dream but didn't know how to put that dream together. Sparky was kind of the bond that knew how to put it together. He taught us how to play the game, how to win. We ultimately did that, and now we get to share the memories."

Even then, Anderson was not in good health, notably frail. He was having trouble getting around when he visited the team on its trip to Dodger Stadium last May, which ended up being his final time at a ballpark. More recently, he suffered complications resulting from dementia, a condition he had been battling for a while.

"I had a couple of calls [Wednesday] when it was reported that he went in this hospice," Morris told MLB.com Thursday, "and I just didn't even know how to react to that. I knew he was slowly deteriorating mentally, but I didn't realize that it was going to be that rapid. I just saw him two years ago. And then I got a call today that he passed and I was like, 'Wait a minute, it's not supposed to happen that quick.' And it did."

Current Tigers coach and former first baseman Tom Brookens had much the same feeling.

"I knew his health had been failing, but it kind of catches me a little bit by surprise, him passing this soon," Brookens said. "Just a great man, a good baseball man."

It brought a sad end to a life that saw Anderson remain active and vibrant for well over a decade after parting ways with the Tigers in 1995.

"Sparky was one of the most respected people in the game, and I was fortunate in getting to know him through the years," Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said in a statement. "There is so much to admire about Sparky, the manager, and the person. He exuded a spirit of inspiration for the game and life. It's great sadness for everyone that's ever known him, and for the baseball world to lose him."

In many ways, Anderson's active life after managing reflected his personality while he wore the uniform. Born George Lee Anderson in Bridgewater, S.D., and raised in Los Angeles, he picked up his more recognizable nickname as a Minor League player from a radio announcer, as legend has it, during a heated argument with an umpire.

Anderson won four consecutive pennants with four different teams as a Minor League skipper, and he wasn't about to let growing pains get in the way of his track record once he got his shot in the Majors. He won a National League pennant in his first season managing the Reds, then went on to win another pennant and back-to-back World Series at the helm of the Big Red Machine.

For Detroiters, however, Sparky's legend began after the Reds dismissed him following the 1978 season. The Tigers, budding with young talent, hired Les Moss for '79, but made a switch barely two months in with the team around the .500 mark and Anderson still on the market.

It was a pairing that lasted through 17 seasons, a handful of general managers and three different team owners. Yet Anderson's competitiveness and his personality bridged the generational gap.

"He was always pushing and cracking the whip," former Detroit catcher Lance Parrish said. "He just pushed the right buttons all the time. If there was ever, in my collection of my baseball career, a guy who always seemed to know the buttons to push or things to say, he did it. It's a real tribute to him as a manager, but he seemed to know the personality of everybody on the team and who to delegate what to, when to put the right guy in the right situation. Everything worked out."

It was not an instant transition, but the young Tigers grew to not only accept, but understand Anderson's style. They posted winning seasons from the year he took over, jumped to 92 wins and a second-place finish in 1983, then led wire to wire the next year in what some consider among the greatest single-season teams in recent history.

"It just didn't happen overnight," former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell said. "The things that Sparky was trying to get across to us, the little things in baseball that you need to be able to do, to be able to execute at certain times, we finally got it. And it helped. In fact, I can tell you that first hand, it helped. It was one of the reasons why we were able to be successful."

Shockingly, he's the only Hall of Famer from that '84 team. Even so, Anderson's players will say he didn't get enough credit. Whether or not they had the greatest collection of players, they had one of the greatest teams.

"He had a good way of helping people know what they needed to accomplish," said current Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who worked with Anderson in Spring Training for a few years during his time in Detroit's farm system. "He was very strong in his convictions. He knew there was a right way and a wrong way to play the game.

"He was a master at handling people, I mean, a master. He knew how to handle the superstar and he knew how to handle the 25th guy on the team. He was just one of those guys who was above the norm."

Anderson was fiery, of course, and his arguments could be memorable. But he could be just as supportive. His former players say he focused on the fundamentals on the field, and was the same in life. He wanted his players to treat people the right way, as they would want to be treated, and to not act entitled.

"That was extremely important for Sparky," Brookens said. "It was important for him that he taught men like myself and Trammell and Morris and [Dan] Petry, that we understand the respect that the game should have and to go about the right way."

For the strong-willed Morris, the pairing was quite a match. They were known for their disagreements on occasion, but the respect between the two was immense.

"He had an open door policy, literally," Morris said. "He would come in and say, 'This door is open any time you players want to come in to discuss anything. Feel free and shut the door.' He said, 'Sometimes you are not going to want to see that door shut and sometimes you will.' What he was referring to was most of these were the situations where you felt you should have been in the lineup and you weren't, and he wanted to make sure you could come in and talk about it. For more than one occasion, I was in there for other reasons and we had some heated discussions."

Anderson and the Tigers got back to baseball's postseason in 1987 before age and free agency caught up with them, but they had a renaissance of sorts in the early 1990s. Cecil Fielder's sudden surge as a power hitter buoyed what had been a lagging team, but so did quality pitching and a new young star in Travis Fryman.

"Later on in his career, he didn't really have the talent to really compete like he wanted to," Parrish said. "But when he first came over and took over the Tigers, he had to kind of change the guard from the old to the new and kind of shape and mold us. I think he knew what he was doing. He would not waver from whatever game plan he had put together prior to coming to Detroit. And it all came together. I honestly am more shocked that we didn't win more than just that one year."

Anderson's retirement came in 1995, but his influence in the game went on long after. Trammell, who was around for Anderson's entire Tigers career, became Detroit's manager himself eight years later. He is now bench coach in Arizona alongside fellow former Tiger and current D-backs manager Kirk Gibson, Trammell's bench coach in Detroit. Brookens is now on the Tigers' staff, a potential managerial candidate himself.

Together, they teach the lessons they learned under Sparky.

"I had enough confidence that within a team concept, I'll get mine," Trammell said. "I don't know when, but I'll get mine. Just let me be part of this, and I'll help you. And that's the mentality that Sparky taught us, and I'm grateful for that."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. MLB.com reporter Kelly Thesier contributed to this article. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Sparky's No. 11 to be retired by Tigers
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 01/22/11 8:48 PM EST

DETROIT -- The Tigers have had to do a lot of mourning, a lot of honoring over the past year or two. Their move to honor Sparky Anderson is something that has been anticipated for a long time.

Now, the Hall of Fame manager is going to get the honor many have hoped to see, from a patch on the players' right sleeves to the retirement of his No. 11 on the brick wall at Comerica Park.

"To me, there's no greater honor for a franchise to bestow upon an individual than to retire his number," team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said in making the announcement Saturday morning at TigerFest. "It's happened very few times in Tiger history, with all the great players that have been through."

Anderson will be the first Tigers manager to have his number retired by the club. He'll join an exclusive group of players that includes Hall of Famers Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Hal Newhouser and Tigers Hall of Famer Willie Horton, along with Jackie Robinson, whose number was retired by all Major League Baseball franchises. Ty Cobb's name is listed along theirs on the outfield wall at Comerica Park, but he has no retired number, since jersey numbers didn't become standard until his playing days were over.

Adding Anderson's No. 11 to the list is one of several ways in which the Tigers plan to spend the 2011 season honoring him. The Tigers will wear a blue patch on the right sleeve of their uniforms, bearing "Sparky" and No. 11, starting with Spring Training games next month. The team will raise a flag to remember him, much like they did with George Kell and Ernie Harwell, before the home opener at Comerica Park on April 8.

The ceremony to retire his number will take place at a game to be determined.

"I'm tickled. I'm happy about it," said Tigers first-base coach Tom Brookens, who played for Anderson in the 1980s. "He's one of the greatest managers in the game. To have played for him, it's special."

Anderson managed the Tigers to their last World Series championship, in 1984, and their last division title, in '87, during his 17-year tenure in Detroit, during which he won 1,331 games. He retired after the 1995 season and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager five years later.

Though Anderson wasn't officially part of the organization in retirement, he was a beloved figure in the clubhouse and loved to visit the team when it came out to the West Coast, near his Thousand Oaks, Calif., home. He stayed in frequent touch with Alan Trammell, his former shortstop, when Trammell managed the club, and he kept in contact with manager Jim Leyland. He visited the Tigers last season at Dodger Stadium during Interleague Play, a trip that ended up being his final visit to a Major League ballpark.

Ever since, the wait has been on to see when and if his number would be retired. He received a raucous ovation during his final appearance at Comerica Park two years ago during the 25th anniversary celebration of the 1984 World Series title. Several greats from that team, from Trammell to Kirk Gibson to Jack Morris and Lance Parrish, said they came back because of him.

"In a way, it was his own way of being honored by everybody here," Dombrowski said. "You could see the way the players were with him. I don't think you could have -- and I can't speak for Sparky -- but I don't know that he would've felt any differently at that point. He was so honored, the way everybody showed up, and you could just see the love for him. And he and [Tigers owner] Mike Ilitch had a nice conversation during that time. It was just fantastic to see."

As for actually honoring him with the retirement of his number, though, Dombrowski said it never came up.

"I've never been involved, and maybe shame on me, where that topic has been addressed," Dombrowski said. "And I think we're all aware, we all know what he's accomplished. But it's a situation where the whole time I'm here, so many things go on, and you just [think] things are the way they are in certain situations, and we just never even had the conversation.

"And really, sometimes you sit back and say, 'Geez,' afterward, but it's one of those things where, when we sat down and we knew we were going to honor him once he passed away, when I sat down with [Ilitch], if you didn't retire his number, it fell short for us."

Dombrowski said later that discussions began on how to honor Anderson shortly after his passing last November. Ilitch, who purchased the team while Anderson was still managing in the early 1990's, was involved in every step of the process, Dombrowski said.

At that point, retiring Anderson's number was an automatic.

"It's the right thing to do," Dombrowski said.

For many, while this news might have been a while in coming, it was a welcome honor.

"It's a tremendous honor for Sparky and the family," Leyland said. "The Tigers don't really have a lot of retired numbers, so that's a real honor. And well-deserved. That's nice.".

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers will raise flag for Sparky before opener
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 04/06/11 7:11 PM ET

The Tigers will raise a flag honoring Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson as part of their Opening Day festivities on Friday, when they return to Comerica Park to host the Royals in a 3:05 p.m. ET game.

The Tigers announced their plans for honoring Anderson, who died on Nov. 4, 2010, during TigerFest in January. The flag-raising ceremony is the first part of the remembrance, and it's the centerpiece of Detroit's annual celebration of the Tigers' home opener -- a huge deal in the city and the state, and a sign that Michigan's long winter has finally passed.

Anderson was one of many members of the Tigers family who were lost over the offseason. The Tigers will also hold a moment of silence to remember former general manager Bill Lajoie, former playing greats Steve Boros and Woodie Fryman, and Negro Leagues great Cecil Kaiser, as well as those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

NBC Sing-Off winners Committed will perform the national anthem prior to the game while A-10 aircraft from 107th Fighter Squadron, 127th, Michigan Air National Guard will take part in a military flyover. Master Sergeant Michael Lionberger of the U.S. Air Force will deliver the game ball. Creed lead vocalist Scott Stapp will perform God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch.

The Tigers have not said who will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, only that "very special guests" will join a young person from the CATCH charity. Anderson started the organization in 1987 to improve the quality of life for sick, injured and at-risk young patients at Henry Fod Hospital and Children's Hospital of Michigan.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Sparky to be honored with Dedeaux Award
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com | 05/18/11 4:50 PM ET

Sparky Anderson will be honored next Wednesday night in Los Angeles, when the Dedeaux Foundation presents its second annual Dedeaux Award to the Hall of Fame manager posthumously with several luminaries on hand.

Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan and former All-Star outfielder George Foster will accept the award on Anderson's behalf, with special tributes being delivered by Dodgers icons Tommy Lasorda -- winner of the first Dedeaux Award last year -- and Vin Scully, former All-Stars Darrell Evans and Ron Fairly, and ex-umpire Doug Harvey, among others.

The Dedeaux Foundation, according to a release sent out by the organization, "was formed to continue the spirit of legendary USC and Olympic baseball coach Raoul 'Rod' Dedeaux by supporting youth baseball and softball programs in underserved areas."

In tune with that, all proceeds from the dinner will benefit Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academies.

Anderson was a three-time World Series champ and the first manager to win championships in both the National League and American League -- doing so with the Reds (1975-76) and Tigers ('84).

Anderson, the Los Angeles product who died at age 76 in November, ranks sixth in the Majors in wins with 2,194.

The dinner will be held at The Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles. Tickets -- which go for a standard rate of $175 and $300 for VIP -- can be purchased online at dedeauxfoundation.org, by phone at 213-627-3338 (ext. 388) or by mailing a check (The Dedeaux Foundation; 545 S. Figueroa St., Suite 1209; Los Angeles, Calif., 90071).

Broadcaster Ross Porter will serve as master of ceremonies for the dinner.


Complete coverage »

Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his columns and his blog, listen to his podcast and follow him on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers to retire Sparky's No. 11 on Sunday
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 06/24/11 10:21 PM ET

DETROIT -- The last time Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell and Tom Brookens were all gathered on the same field at Comerica Park, they were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1984 World Series championship team. They came back, they said, for Sparky.

It's the Interleague Play schedule for the Arizona Diamondbacks that brings Trammell and Gibson back this weekend to face the Tigers and first-base coach Brookens. But with the Tigers retiring Sparky Anderson's number 11 this season, it made sense for them [to] wait until Gibson and Trammell were in town.

The two have tried to take their old Hall of Fame manager's teachings and pass it along to their young players, continuing Anderson's legacy to a new generation of players. On Sunday, they'll be around to help Anderson's family, friends, colleagues and teammates celebrate his career.

Trammell, Arizona's bench coach, and Gibson, the D-backs manager, will be preparing for Sunday's game, as a slew of teammates join Anderson's family on the field for the ceremony starting at 12:45 p.m. Among the Tigers who played for Sparky who are confirmed to attend are Brookens, Rod Allen, Dave Bergman, Darrell Evans, Mike Henneman, Larry Herndon, Dan Petry, Dave Rozema, Frank Tanana and Milt Wilcox. Several members of Anderson's staff, including former coaches Gates Brown and Dick Tracewski, will also be on hand.

Anderson's three children -- Lee Anderson, Shirlee Engelbrecht and Albert Anderson -- will be on hand, as will grandchildren George and Todd Anderson and nephew Dave Polizzotto. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch and team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski will represent the club, as will Hall of Famer Al Kaline.

As current Tigers manager Jim Leyland and others put it, it'll be a happy time to remember.

"You get locked in what you're doing," Trammell said, "but I'm very happy to be a part of it. I think Gibby is happy, I know he is, that we'll be able to smile and think about him. It would be better for him to be here and we could hear his words, but it's like Tiger Stadium. I have the memories of Sparky ... that nobody can take away. And that's special."

Those memories will likely be shared all weekend. They were in abundance Friday as Trammell and Gibson talked with reporters about Anderson, who passed away last November at age 76.

When somebody asked Gibson if he had any players now who were as vocal as he was then, he had to chuckle.

"I had a player this year that got fairly vocal with me, but that's fine," Gibson said. "I remember the day I ran Sparky over. He took it. I take it. If it's going to make us better, I'll do it."

Gibson taking it and Sparky taking it, of course, are two different challenges. In Sparky's case, he took a physical beating dealing with Gibson, at least on one occasion.

"He'd always line up in front of me and act like he was a defensive back," Gibson said. "One day I got ticked off at him and rolled him. He looked at my brother-in-law, Dave Rozema, 'That SOB is crazy.' And I just said, 'I'm crazy, or the guy that lines up across from me?'"

Their clashes were sometimes legendary, but Gibson credits Anderson with molding him into a Major League player. Asked what he tries to pass on now, as D-backs manager, that he learned, Gibson had a quick retort.

"Everything that I wasn't when I came up, and that I am now," Gibson said. "I mean, he taught me how to be a professional. When we come into this game, I don't think we sometimes realize it's not about us. It's really about the game and how long it's been, the history of it, and all the great things that have happened, and the way that the fans and the people enjoy it. And more so, [it was] just how to be a good teammate and play the game the right way together.

"In his eyes, his world, his methodology, how he taught us, it was almost comical sometimes, and sometimes it was tough love, we all realized he cared about us, not only as baseball players but as human beings. It all makes sense now."

On the field, the resume stands on its own. Anderson's 26 seasons managing in the Majors included World Series titles in Cincinnati and Detroit. He won 1,331 games over 17 seasons leading the Tigers, and he brought along a generation of great players in Gibson, Trammell, Brookens, Petry, Lou Whitaker, Lance Parrish and others.

Now, Gibson, Trammell and Brookens are among those trying to pay it forward.

"I'm proud to say he was our mentor, and we're continuing with his legacy," said Trammell, who managed in Detroit from 2003-05 with Gibson and Parrish on his coaching staff. "We wish he was here [for this]. We wish he was alive. But we'll honor him and smile."

Trammell was 21 years old when Anderson took over as Tigers manager in 1979, less than a year after his Reds tenure ended abruptly.

"We had a very young nucleus at the time that was very impressionable, including myself, and he came at a perfect time ... in our lives to give us direction," said Trammell. "We had some talent, but we needed some direction, and he was that person. And so I thank him most. There were so many other things, but we were taught how to play the game right, and I say that emphatically. Thank goodness for Sparky.

"That's important. If we want to get to, or whatever team you're with wants to get to, a championship, you've got to play the game. You're going to bang some knees when you win big, and you're going to get banged around some games when you get beat up, but most of the games are tight. Most of the games are about execution during the course of a game when something comes up, whether it's baserunning or pitching or hitting, fielding. You have to execute, and teams that do a better job of that are the teams that win."

Anderson's number is just the seventh to be retired in Detroit's 111-year history, and the first since Willie Horton's No. 23 was retired in 2000. Among the other retired Tigers are Hal Newhouser (16), Hank Greenberg (5), Charlie Gehringer (2) and Al Kaline (6).

Fans will have the opportunity to purchase the Sparky Anderson Memorial Patch for $11, with all proceeds benefiting CATCH, the charity Anderson founded in 1987 to help improve the lives of kids at Children's Hospital of Michigan and Henry Ford Hospital. The patch will be available at The D Shop and all Tigers retail stores in Comerica Park, while supplies last.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Sparky's No. 11 retired in emotional ceremony
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 06/26/11 2:50 PM ET

DETROIT -- The Tigers officially retired Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson's No. 11 on Sunday in an emotional pregame ceremony, capped with the unveiling of his name and number along the brick wall beyond right field at Comerica Park.

Several of Anderson's former players, including Lou Whitaker, Dan Petry, Tom Brookens, Larry Herndon, Darrell Evans and Milt Wilcox joined Anderson's three children, his nephew and two grandchildren for the ceremony. Former Tigers greats Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson, two of the cornerstones of Anderson's 1984 world championship team, watched intently from the D-backs' dugout as they prepared for the game.

It was a celebration not only of Anderson's career, but of his contributions off the field.

"I think he'd be very, very happy and proud that we came together," said his daughter, Shirlee Engelbrecht.

Anderson passed away last November. While everyone agreed that they wished they could have seen this while he was still alive, they were glad to see him recognized.

On the field, the resume stands on its own. His 26 seasons managing in the Majors included World Series titles in Cincinnati and Detroit. He won 1,331 games over 17 seasons leading the Tigers, and he brought along a generation of great players in Gibson, Trammell, Brookens, Petry, Whitaker, Jack Morris, Lance Parrish and others.

His legacy on the field continues with Gibson and Trammell leading Arizona. Off the field, his CATCH charity continues to raise money to help improve the quality of life for children being treated at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and the Henry Ford Hospital.

"I worked with Sparky for 32 years," Dan Ewald, Anderson's best friend and public relations representative, said. "That's why I can confidently tell you that No. 11 belonged as much to all of you people as it does to him. Sparky loved Detroit. He loved the city's spirit. He said Detroiters never surrender."

Petry, who had four straight seasons with at least 15 wins under Anderson from 1982-85, spoke during the presentation along with Ewald, who worked as the Tigers media relations director during Anderson's early years as manager.

"I never wanted to pitch poorly," Petry said, "because letting down Sparky was like letting down your dad."

Tigers owner Mike Ilitch and president/general manager Dave Dombrowski, who represented the team in the ceremonies, presented Anderson's family with a framed jersey of Anderson's No. 11, as well as a plaque. At the end, his grandchildren unveiled Anderson's name and number along the wall, in between Ernie Harwell's name and Jackie Robinson's number 42.

Anderson joins fellow Hall of Famers Al Kaline, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer and Hal Newhouser, as well as Tigers great Willie Horton, as Tigers who have had their number retired. Ty Cobb is also honored, though he doesn't have a number to retire from his era. Kaline and Horton were both on the field for the ceremonies.

It was a touching time for Anderson's family, who remembered some of the lessons he taught them and his love for this city.

"It doesn't cost a dime to be nice to people," Anderson's nephew, Dan Polizzotto, recalled hearing from his uncle. "If you do that, then everything will be good."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Lessons from Tigers legend Sparky Anderson
Gibby, Tram here for ceremony
1:07 AM, Jun. 26, 2011
BY JOHN LOWE

DETROIT FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

In paying tribute to Sparky Anderson, Kirk Gibson told the story of the 15,505 fans. As he did, Gibson showed he had absorbed Anderson's statesmanship.

Anderson showed that elevated side of himself -- the side above wins and losses -- when he said of baseball, "This is all about putting people in the seats."

On his watch, the Tigers did that as they'd never done before. The four largest single-season attendances at Tiger Stadium came in the 1980s, during Anderson's peak as manager.

Today, Anderson will have people in their seats at Comerica Park for the pregame ceremony to retire his No. 11. The club is urging fans to be in their seats for the 12:45 start of the ceremony, which a team news release said will be "historic."

Following the ceremony, the Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks will play their series finale. Tigers officials chose today to retire Anderson's number in part so that two of his favorite players -- Gibson, the Arizona manager, and Alan Trammell, his bench coach -- could be on hand.

Gibson has made clear his primary feelings about this occasion.

First, he has said repeatedly, the Tigers should have retired Anderson's number sometime between Anderson's retirement after the 1995 season and his death in November at 76.

Second, Anderson has given Gibson an overall perspective on the game he considers invaluable.

"He has passed (to me) a lot of wisdom and knowledge and thoughts on how I respect the game of baseball and how important it is for us to give back," Gibson said Friday. "I can say that I preach his message on a daily basis."

Perhaps Gibson paid his biggest tribute to Anderson when he told his story about the small home crowd the Diamondbacks drew in Phoenix during their non-contending season a year ago.

"We had 15,505 fans," Gibson said. "It was the smallest crowd of last year. I heard comments from the players about how the fans weren't showing up or how the fans were dressed as green seats.

"I realized they didn't understand why the fans weren't in the seats, and it's our obligation to give them a reason to come," said Gibson, who took over the reeling club at midseason.

"And more so, those 15,505 people -- how good of fans are they? We stunk. Not only did we stink, we didn't understand how to play the game the right way and didn't treat the (fans) the way they should be treated. From that time on, we embarked on interacting a ton more (with the fans)."

Mike at the mic? Tigers officials hadn't announced as of Saturday who will speak at today's ceremony. The biggest question might be whether owner Mike Ilitch, who rarely speaks in public, will address the crowd.

Anderson was thrilled when Ilitch phoned him on the August day in 1992 that Ilitch was approved as the new owner. It was already clear that Ilitch wouldn't retain Anderson's close friend, team chairman Jim Campbell.

Anderson soon became disenchanted with the Ilitch regime. During the players strike in 1995, Anderson refused to manage replacement players in spring training. He said then that the Tigers had been run with a "phoniness." In his memoirs published in 1998, Anderson said he felt guilty that he stayed with the team after Campbell got fired and that he did so only because of his high salary. All this might help explain why Anderson's number wasn't retired sooner.

Tram's team: Trammell attended Anderson's Hall of Fame induction in 2000.

"The Hall of Fame is the ultimate, but having your number retired by your team is a very close second," Trammell said. "Cooperstown is more about the individual. Having your number retired aligns with 'team.' "

The fans' fan: If Anderson could have spoken at today's ceremony, he might have thanked the fans as he did in his memoirs:

"For all the years I was blessed to be there, I never saw nothing like how those Tiger fans were. Those people were the real deal. Detroit is the king of the working-class people. How can you not love a city where the fans sweat hard for 8 hours a day and then come out to scream for their team and die a little bit every time the Tigers lost?"

Contact JOHN LOWE: 313-223-4053 or jlowe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @freeptigers.

Ex-players, family, fans celebrate Sparky Anderson's legacy
9:17 PM, Jun. 26, 2011

BY MIKE BRUDENELL

DETROIT FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The memory of Sparky Anderson filled Comerica Park today.

The legendary Hall of Fame manager, who spent 1979-95 with the Tigers, had his No. 11 retired before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A sellout crowd of 41,036 hailed the late clubhouse chief as members of Sparky’s family, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, Tigers president Dave Dombrowski and club greats such as Al Kaline, Willie Horton and Lou Whitaker watched from temporary seats set up in front of home plate for the tribute.

Comerica’s giant video screen showed clips from Sparky’s illustrious career, which included a World Series title in 1984.

Said Sparky’s daughter Shirlee Engelbrecht, who attended the ceremony with her husband, Jan: “He loved the people of Detroit. He never wanted to leave Detroit. My father always treated people great. That was who he was.”

Sparky: Great manager, great dad, too

To his daughter, Anderson was just plain dad — someone who checked on her grades at school and taught her to respect people.

To the thousands of fans at Comerica Park on Sunday, he was the white-haired wizard of a manager — “Captain Hook” to pitchers, of course — who guided the Tigers for 17 seasons (1979-95), winning a World Series in 1984 and nurturing the talents of Whitaker, Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish and others.

Anderson, who died in November at 76, had his No. 11 retired in a special ceremony before the Arizona Diamondbacks game, which the Tigers rallied to win, 8-3.

Engelbrecht and Sparky’s sons, Lee and Albert, sat in front of home plate during the 25-minute tribute to Anderson along with other members of the family, plus Tigers royalty such as Al Kaline, Wille Horton, Milt Wilcox and Whitaker.

In the same group sat Ilitch and Dombrowski.

As the white and blue Sparky flag flapped in the outfield below the U.S. flag, members of the ’84 Tigers shook hands with Diamondbacks bench coach Trammell, the ceremony ending in brilliant sunshine and hugs.

“I’m very excited to be here — to talk with you guys,” said Engelbrecht to reporters before the ceremony. “My dad was just Dad. He used to come back to the car when we were kids and tell us, ‘That’s the nicest person I’ve ever met’ after meeting someone for the first time. We’d start laughing — but that’s just the way he was.”

Somewhat overwhelmed by the day, Albert had trouble expressing his feelings for his father, stopping several times before telling the media: “I was very proud of him. It’s amazing to see the crowd here today, and how they’ve come out for Dad.”

It was left to Engelbrecht to talk about George Lee Anderson, who was born in Bridgewater, S.D., on Feb. 22, 1934, and died Nov. 4, 2010, in Thousand Oaks, Calif., his longtime home.

“Dad was like a machine in his mind,” Engelbrecht said. “He could remember everyone’s name and at-bats.”

Engelbrecht didn’t always agree with Sparky — particularly when he managed the Cincinnati Reds, where he earned his nickname of Captain Hook for pulling pitchers.

“I always (rooted) for his team, but I did get caught booing a couple of times when Captain Hook came out,” Engelbrecht laughed. “I did get up there one time when he was coming back and started screaming with the crowd. He still teased me to the very end. He’d tell me people — ‘Sissy,’ that’s what he called me — would boo him if I thought he was doing the wrong thing.”

Engelbrecht also had another story about Sparky — when she was in elementary school.

“I was in fourth grade, and I got three D’s,” Engelbrecht said. “I was petrified to tell Dad, but my mother said I had to. Sparky was sitting on the stairs, and I had to tell him.

“He said, ‘Young lady, did you do your best?’ I said, ‘Oh, yeah.’

“He replied, ‘Did you study, do your homework and assignments?’ I said, ‘Oh, yeah.’

“Dad then said, ‘If D’s are your best efforts, they are A’s to me, and if they are not, you got to bring them up.’ I did.”

Karen Whalen and her son, Matt, of Canton arrived at Comerica Park 4 hours before the ceremony to watch former players, including Whitaker, arrive for Sparky’s big day.

Wearing an Anderson jersey with No. 11 proudly displayed, Matt, who uses a wheelchair, recalled meeting Sparky at his charity outings.

“I went to a lot of his charity events — he was a great man,” said Matt, 26. “I loved his sayings and his stories.”

Karen, 51, said she loved Anderson — just as much for his human qualities as for his victories.

“He was very human and down to earth,” said Karen, a lifelong Tigers fan. “I grew up with him. Like Ernie Harwell, he was one of very few of those people you feel proud to have known and followed.”

Contact Mike Brudenell: 313-222-2115 or mbrudenell@freepress.com.

Tigers fans remember Sparky Anderson
1:16 AM, Jun. 26, 2011

COMPILED BY SHAWN WINDSOR

DETROIT FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Sparky Anderson is widely believed to have said this: "A baseball manager is a necessary evil."

The legendary manager of the Tigers and Cincinnati Reds no doubt believed that when he said it. For his sake, few who watched him do.

Anderson's No. 11 jersey will be retired today at Comerica Park.

Aside from his white hair and his baseball acumen, Anderson was perhaps best known for his homespun and colorful personality. Who else could have said: "I only had a high school education and believe me, I had to cheat to get that."

In that quote lived the essence of what endeared Anderson to so many. Yes, he won, and in sports that always (almost) comes first. But over his 40-year career in and around baseball, Anderson always knew who he was.

We invited readers to share their memories of Anderson and remembrances poured in from around the country. Some of our favorites are on Page 8C.

The legends of ' captain hook'

My friend Chester and I were just 16- to 17-year-old boys when we had a postgame encounter with Sparky. Like most kids our age, we would hang out after the ballgame and try and get autographs outside Tiger Stadium when players would leave in their cars.

After watching Kevin Ritz leave in a really old beat-up red pickup truck and talk to his family about going out for dinner in Detroit, the next car on its way was Sparky Anderson's.

We of course were in awe. Sparky, as great as always, rolled down his window as he left the park. For maybe 2 minutes he chatted about that night's game, Kevin Ritz's first major league win, and what he thought that Ritz kid would do in the future.

I then said to Sparky that it was a good thing he was driving a Ford, as the billboard across the street showed him in a big ol' Ford ad. He laughed that great ol' Sparky laugh and said, "Kid, when you're my age and they pay you to drive a Ford, you drive a Ford. Ritz ain't so lucky!" We all just had this big laugh together that I'll never forget.

Great memory for a 16- to 17-year-old boy at the time.

Rodney Vellinga, Holland

Iremember Sparky Anderson not for the World Series he won in Detroit and Cincinnati, but for standing on the side of the road waiting for President Ronald Reagan's funeral procession to pass by, and when it did, he placed his hand on his heart. That was a man.

Don Legault, Flint

One Mother's Day, while Sparky was managing the Tigers, my husband and I and another couple attended a Tiger game. At the games, I usually voiced my opinions, rather loudly I might add, about some of the moves Sparky might make during the game.

After a few innings and not a few comments loudly aimed at Sparky, our friend quietly spoke to the two ladies sitting directly in front of us -- then he turned to me and said, "Mary Ann, say hello to the Mrs. Andersons," none other than Sparky's wife and mother.

Sparky's wife turned and smiled at me and said, "That's OK, honey, I've heard it all before."

I'm sure my red face was all the apology needed!!

Mary Ann Williams, Royal Oak

I'm currently serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in Korea. When I was in seventh grade, my class at Brownstown Middle School took a trip to old Tiger Stadium to see the Tigers play the Cleveland Indians in the spring of 1994.

The Tigers ended up winning the game that day, and afterwards Sparky came to talk to my class. I don't remember much of what he said, being that this was quite a few years ago. But the one thing that I DO remember him saying is that "No matter how much money or possessions you have in this world, you can't take it with you." Not really a world-changing piece of advice, but it's been something I've remembered to this day.

Kris Lisowski, Brownstown

Ihad the honor to know, work with and for Sparky as a batboy for the Tigers from 1986 to 1989. He treated the clubhouse kids with a great deal of respect. He would ask us how we were doing, how school was going (how he was never very good at school), and chat us up on a regular basis.

One of my favorite memories would be in the clubhouse hours before game time. Sparky liked to practice his putting and hit chip shots into the laundry basket as we moved it around. He would be in his shower shoes, long underwear and talk golf -- about how good he was.

Come game time, he was all business. He was a class act and I'm proud to have known him.

Todd Savalox, Steamboat Springs, Colo.

In 1988, the Tigers were on their winter tour, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Sparky for a radio station in Saginaw. I was nervous and honored to meet the legendary skipper, but as it turned out, I really only asked him one question and he took over from there, speaking nonstop for about 15 minutes. I remember hearing the tape run out on my cassette recorder, but I held the microphone up to Sparky until he finished. God bless you, Sparky.

Roger D. Beaty, Houston

In 1985 at the annual meeting of the State Bar of Michigan, the scheduled speaker for the annual luncheon was William F. Buckley. Unfortunately, he suffered a heart attack the morning of the luncheon. Sparky Anderson was the substitute.

I mentioned to Phil Spelman, then the spokesperson for the Bar, that I was a great fan of Sparky. Phil asked if I would like to meet him before the luncheon. Well, OF COURSE!! Phil took me to meet him as Sparky was about to give an interview. He introduced me and mentioned that I was the newly elected Chair of the State Bar Representative Assembly, the first woman to hold that office. Sparky said he would be glad to chat with me after the interview and then handed me a folder and some other papers and said: "Here, honey, hold on to these will you?"

Poor Phil was horrified and suggested to Sparky that he should not address a professional woman in that way. Sparky just shrugged.

I was so pleased to meet him that I was completely unconcerned. We did have a nice visit, he was very gracious and funny, and he congratulated me on "showing the way for professional ladies."

I will never forget it.

Susan Howard, East Lansing

Iam sending this on behalf of my mother, who will be celebrating her 85th birthday on June 26 by attending the Tiger game. She wanted me to share the story of how, during one of the Tiger games she attended during Sparky's tenure, the pitching staff wasn't doing very well. She commented to Sparky on how she would bring a bag of carrots for the pitchers to eat so it would help improve their vision; Sparky found it quite amusing.

Jean Cobane, Redford Township, as told to Jim Cobane

Iworked at Tiger Stadium from 1986 through 1996 (minus the strike year), mostly in the press box. I cooked and served food (not of the usual ballpark variety) to all the famished and undernourished sports writers and broadcasters. (On my first day), I was issued a new "uniform" that I was really proud of. I was standing outside the Sportservice office waiting to be led by security to the press elevator, where Sarah Simpson would whisk me up to a whole new world.

While I was waiting, Sparky Anderson came walking in through the players' entrance wearing a baby-blue suit! As he approached near where I was standing, he looked over at me, kind of scrutinizing me and approached me! I was nervous enough thinking about starting my new position, I was terrified that Sparky Anderson was walking right toward me! I didn't know what I was going to say. I started to sweat. He walked up to me and extended his hand. He said, "I'm Sparky Anderson. How are you?"

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Mark Schwendemann, Dearborn

On a busy payday at the bank branch I worked at on the corner of Trumbull and Porter, I observed Sparky standing and waiting in an extremely long teller line. I opened the door to my office behind bullet-proof glass, went into the lobby, approached Sparky and asked him to follow me to my desk, so that I could assist him and get him on his way.

Sparky said: "Jack, thank you, I really appreciate your courtesy, but I would rather wait in line like everyone else. I'm not special."

On another day, Sparky entered the bank and requested to see me. He was carrying a large brown paper envelope. He asked me how many employees we had at the office and their names. After I told him, he took 20 black & white, 8x10 photos of himself and autographed all of them. He suggested that I pass them out at the end of the day. He didn't want to create a commotion. I asked him if he had intentions of leaving Detroit.

Sparky answered in his husky voice: "Jack, whatever gave you that idea?"

He shook my hand, smiled and left the office. One week later it was announced Sparky was leaving the Tigers. I became very sad and later told the staff. Everyone was emotional.

We never saw Sparky again.

Jack D'Urso, Sterling Heights