| Sparky Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Anderson with the Detroit Tigers,c. 1980s | |
| Second baseman /Manager | |
| Born:(1934-02-22)February 22, 1934 Bridgewater, South Dakota, U.S. | |
| Died: November 4, 2010(2010-11-04) (aged 76) Thousand Oaks, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 10, 1959, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 1959, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .218 |
| Runs batted in | 34 |
| Managerial record | 2,194–1,834 |
| Winning % | .545 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 2000 |
| Election method | Veterans Committee |
George Lee "Sparky"Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an AmericanMajor League Baseball (MLB) player,coach, andmanager. He managed theNational League'sCincinnati Reds from1970 to1978 and theAmerican League'sDetroit Tigers from1979 to1995. Anderson managed the Reds to twoWorld Series championships in1975 and1976, then added a third title in1984 with the Tigers. Anderson was the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues. His 2,194 career wins are thesixth-most for a manager in Major League history. In his 26 year career, Anderson had only five losing seasons as manager. His 1,331 wins with the Tigers are the most for any manager in team history. Anderson was named American LeagueManager of the Year in1984 and1987. He was elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Anderson was born inBridgewater, South Dakota, on February 22, 1934. He moved toLos Angeles, California, at the age of eight. He was a batboy for theUSC Trojans.[1] He attendedSusan Miller Dorsey High School inLos Angeles.[2] Upon graduating, he was signed by theBrooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent in1953.[3]
Anderson'sAmerican Legion team won the 1951 national championship, which was played in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.
Anderson married Carol Valle on October 3, 1953. They had first met when each was in the fifth grade.[4]
Anderson began his playing career with theSanta Barbara Dodgers of the Class-CCalifornia League, where he was primarily used as ashortstop.[5] In1954, he was moved up to the class-APueblo Dodgers of theWestern League and was moved to second base, where he played the rest of his career.[5]
In1955, Anderson was moved another step up the minor league ladder, playing for the Double-AFort Worth Cats of theTexas League. A radio announcer gave him the nickname "Sparky" in 1955 for his feisty play.[6] Although his friends and family continued to call himGeorge, Anderson's baseball moniker would remainSparky for the rest of his days.
In1956, he moved up once more, this time to the Triple-AMontreal Royals of theInternational League. In1957, he was assigned to theLos Angeles Angels of the open-classificationPacific Coast League. The next season, after the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles, he returned to Montreal.[5]
After five minor league seasons without appearing in a Dodger uniform at the MLB level, he was traded to thePhiladelphia Phillies on December 23, 1958, for three players, includingoutfielderRip Repulski.[3] The Phillies gave Anderson their starting second base job, and he spent what would be his one full season in the major leagues in1959. However, hebatted only .218 in 152 games, with nohome runs and 34runs batted in, and returned to theminor leagues for the remainder of his playing career.
He played the next four seasons with theTriple-A Toronto Maple Leafs in the International League.[5] After watching several practices, Leafs ownerJack Kent Cooke observed Anderson's leadership qualities and ability to teach younger players from all backgrounds. Cooke immediately encouraged him to pursue a career in managing, offering Anderson the post for the Leafs.
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 four pennant winners in four consecutive seasons: 1965 with theRock Hill Cardinals of theWestern Carolinas League, 1966 with theSt. Petersburg Cardinals of theFlorida State League, 1967 with theModesto Reds of theCalifornia League, and 1968 with theAsheville Tourists of theDouble-ASouthern League. It was during the 1966 season that Anderson's club lost to Miami 4–3 in 29 innings, which remains the longest pro game played (by innings) without interruption.[7]
Anderson also briefly managed inVenezuela, piloting the 1964–65Navegantes del Magallanes; he was fired and after a 3–14 start and replaced byChico Carrasquel.[8]
He made his way back to the majors in 1969 as thethird-base coach of theSan Diego Padres during their maiden season in the National League.
Just after the 1969 season ended,California Angels managerLefty Phillips, who as a Dodger scout had signed the teenager Anderson to his first professional contract,[9] named Anderson to his 1970 coaching staff.
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Within a day of being hired in Anaheim, he was offered the opportunity to succeedDave Bristol as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. His appointment reunited Anderson with Reds'general managerBob Howsam and player development directorSheldon "Chief" Bender, for whom he'd worked as a skipper in theSt. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati minor-league organizations between 1965 and 1968. Anderson was named the Reds manager on October 8, 1969. Since he was a relative unknown in the sports world, headlines on the day after his hiring read "Sparky Who?" At the time of his hiring, Anderson was, at 35, the youngest skipper in baseball.[10] Nonetheless, Anderson would become the third manager to lead a team to 100 wins as a rookie manager, doing so by leading the Reds to 102 wins and theNational Leaguepennant in1970,[11] where they lost the1970 World Series in five games to theBaltimore Orioles. During this season, the Reds came to be widely known as theBig Red Machine, a nickname they carried throughout Anderson's tenure.
After an injury-plagued1971 season in which the team finished fourth,[11] the Reds came back and won another pennant under Anderson in 1972, beating thePittsburgh Pirates in five games in theNLCS, but losing to theOakland Athletics in seven games in theWorld Series. They took theNational League West division title again in1973, but lost to theNew York Mets in theNLCS, a hard-fought series that went the full five games.
After finishing a close second to theLos Angeles Dodgers in1974, in1975 the Reds blew the division open by winning 108 games. They swept theNational League Championship Series and then edged theBoston Red Sox in a drama-filled, seven-gameWorld Series. They repeated in1976 by winning 102 games, sweeping the Phillies in three games in theNational League Championship Series, then going on to sweep theNew York Yankees in theSeries; the only time that a team swept the League Championship Series and World Series since the start of division play. 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 beating the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, and then winning seven straight games in the 1976 postseason. They remain the only team to sweep the entire post-season since the inception of the league championship series in 1969.
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,[6][12] relying heavily on closersWill McEnaney andRawly Eastwick.
When the aging Reds finished second to the Dodgers in each of the next two seasons, Anderson was fired on November 27, 1978[12] by general managerDick Wagner, who had taken over for Howsam a year earlier.[1] Wagner wanted to "shake up" the Reds' coaching staff, to which Anderson objected, leading to his dismissal.[12]
TheDetroit Tigers hired Anderson as their new manager on June 14,1979. Upon seeing the team's young talent, he boldly proclaimed to the press that his team would be a pennant winner within five years.[13] The Tigers became a winning club almost immediately, finishing above .500 in each of Anderson's first three full seasons, but did not get into contention until1983, when they won 92 games and finished second to theBaltimore Orioles in theAmerican League East.
In1984, Detroit opened the season 9–0, was 35–5 after 40 games (a major league record), and breezed to a 104–58 record (a franchise record for wins). On September 23, Anderson became the first manager to win 100 games in a season with two different teams.[7] They swept theKansas City Royals in theAmerican League Championship Series (ALCS) and then beat theSan Diego Padres in five games in theWorld Series for Anderson's thirdworld title. The 1984 Tigers became the first team since the1927 New York Yankees to lead a league wire-to-wire, from opening day to the end of the World Series. After the season, Anderson won the first of his twoManager of the Year Awards with the Tigers.[6]
After the Tigers clinched the AL East division title in 1984, Anderson wrote in his journal: "I have to be honest. I’ve waited for this day since they fired me in Cincinnati. I think they made a big mistake when they did that. Now no one will ever question me again."[14]
Anderson's Tigers finished in third place in both 1985 and 1986. With a 9–5 win over theMilwaukee Brewers on July 29, 1986, Anderson became the first to achieve 600 career wins as a manager in both the American and National Leagues.[7]
Anderson led the Tigers to the Major Leagues' best record in 1987, but the team was upset in theALCS by theMinnesota Twins. He won his second Manager of the Year Award that year.[6] After contending again in 1988, finishing second toBoston by one game in the AL East, the team collapsedthe following year, losing a startling 103 games in 1989. During that season, Anderson took a month-long leave of absence from the team as the stress of losing wore on him. First base coachDick Tracewski managed the team in the interim.[15]
In 1991, the Tigers finished last in batting average, first in strikeouts 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 rivalToronto Blue Jays.[16]
On September 27, 1992, the Tigers beat theCleveland Indians 13–3 for Anderson's 1,132nd win with the team, passingHughie Jennings as the all-time leader in wins by a Tiger manager. Anderson continues to hold this distinction with 1,331 victories with the Tigers. On April 15, 1993, he won his 2,000th game as manager with a 3–2 victory over theOakland Athletics, becoming the seventh manager to do so.[17]
During his managerial career, Anderson was known to heap lavish praise on his ballplayers when talking to the media. He declaredKirk Gibson "the nextMickey Mantle," which he later acknowledged may have put too much pressure on Gibson early in his career. He saidMike Laga, who played for him in 1984, would "make us forget every power hitter who ever lived."[18] He also saidJohnny Bench, who played for him in Cincinnati, "will never throw a baseball as hard asMike Heath," a catcher who played for him in Detroit.
Anderson is the last American League manager to date to win a game byforfeit. This came a month after being hired in Detroit when, as a result ofDisco Demolition Night in Chicago, the second half of a doubleheader with theChicago White Sox had to be called off after an anti-disco demonstration went awry and severely damaged the playing surface atComiskey Park. Even after White Sox groundskeepers removed debris from the field, Anderson refused to let the Tigers take the field. He was not only concerned for the safety of his players, but believed the field was unplayable. When American League officials initially made plans to postpone the game until the next afternoon, Anderson demanded that the game be forfeited to the Tigers. He argued that the White Sox, as the home team, were obligated to provide acceptable playing conditions. The next day, American League PresidentLee MacPhail largely upheld Anderson's argument and forfeited the second game to the Tigers, 9–0.[19][20]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| CIN | 1970 | 162 | 102 | 60 | .630 | 1st in NL West | 4 | 4 | .500 | LostWorld Series (BAL) |
| CIN | 1971 | 162 | 79 | 83 | .488 | 5th in NL West | – | – | – | |
| CIN | 1972 | 154 | 95 | 59 | .617 | 1st in NL West | 6 | 6 | .500 | LostWorld Series (OAK) |
| CIN | 1973 | 162 | 99 | 63 | .611 | 1st in NL West | 2 | 3 | .400 | LostNLCS (NYM) |
| CIN | 1974 | 162 | 98 | 64 | .605 | 2nd in NL West | – | – | – | |
| CIN | 1975 | 162 | 108 | 54 | .667 | 1st in NL West | 7 | 3 | .700 | WonWorld Series (BOS) |
| CIN | 1976 | 162 | 102 | 60 | .630 | 1st in NL West | 7 | 0 | 1.000 | WonWorld Series (NYY) |
| CIN | 1977 | 162 | 88 | 74 | .543 | 2nd in NL West | – | – | – | |
| CIN | 1978 | 161 | 92 | 69 | .571 | 2nd in NL West | – | – | – | |
| CIN total | 1449 | 863 | 586 | .596 | 26 | 16 | .619 | |||
| DET | 1979 | 106 | 56 | 50 | .528 | Interim | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1980 | 162 | 84 | 78 | .519 | 5th in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1981 | 52 | 29 | 23 | .558 | 2nd in AL East | – | – | – | |
| 57 | 31 | 26 | .544 | 4th in AL East | ||||||
| DET | 1982 | 162 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 4th in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1983 | 162 | 92 | 70 | .568 | 2nd in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1984 | 162 | 104 | 58 | .642 | 1st in AL East | 7 | 1 | – | WonWorld Series (SD) |
| DET | 1985 | 161 | 84 | 77 | .522 | 3rd in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1986 | 162 | 87 | 75 | .537 | 3rd in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1987 | 162 | 98 | 64 | .605 | 1st in AL East | 1 | 4 | – | LostALCS (MIN) |
| DET | 1988 | 162 | 88 | 74 | .543 | 2nd in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1989 | 162 | 59 | 103 | .364 | 7th in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1990 | 162 | 79 | 83 | .488 | 3rd in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1991 | 162 | 84 | 78 | .519 | 2nd in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1992 | 162 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 6th in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1993 | 162 | 85 | 77 | .525 | 4th in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1994 | 115 | 53 | 62 | .461 | 5th in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET | 1995 | 144 | 60 | 84 | .417 | 4th in AL East | – | – | – | |
| DET total | 2579 | 1331 | 1248 | .516 | 8 | 5 | .615 | |||
| Total[21] | 4028 | 2194 | 1834 | .545 | 34 | 21 | .618 | |||
Anderson retired from managing on October 2, 1995,[7] reportedly disillusioned with the state of the league following the1994 strike that had also delayed the start of the 1995 season. It is widely believed that Anderson was pushed into retirement by the Tigers, who were unhappy that Anderson refused to managereplacement players duringspring training in 1995. Speaking on Detroit'sWJR radio after his retirement, Anderson said he had told his wife that season, "If this is what the game has become, it don't need me no more."[22]
He finished with a lifetime record of 2,194–1,834,[21] for a .545 percentage[21] and the third-most wins for a Major League manager at the time, behind onlyConnie Mack andJohn McGraw.[23] His win total has since been surpassed byTony La Russa,Bobby Cox, andJoe Torre, placing him sixth on the all-time list.[24] Anderson spent the largest portion of his career managing the Tigers, winning the World Series twice with Cincinnati and once with Detroit.[1]
Both during his tenure with the Tigers, and for a time afterward, Anderson was a commentator and analyst on baseball broadcasts. From1979 to1986 (with the exception of1984), Anderson was often paired withVin Scully and laterJack Buck onCBS Radio's coverage of the World Series. From1996 to1998, he became acolor commentator for theAnaheim Angels' cable television broadcasts.
While still in Detroit, Anderson founded the charitable organization CATCH (Caring Athletes Teamed for Children's and Henry Ford hospitals) in 1987, which helped to provide care for seriously ill children whose parents do not have health insurance or the means to otherwise pay for the care. He continued to support and participate in the charity well into his retirement.[25] When interviewed in 2008, Anderson said that CATCH was "the single best thing I ever did in Detroit."[26]
Anderson was elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2000. Although he managed 17 seasons in Detroit and just 9 seasons in Cincinnati, 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 GMBob Howsam, who gave Anderson his first chance at a major-league managing job.[1] Before his induction, Anderson had refused to go inside the Hall because he felt unworthy, saying "I didn't ever want to go into the most precious place in the world unless I belonged."[6] In his acceptance speech he gave a lot of credit to his players, saying there were two kinds of managers, "One, it ain't very smart. He gets bad players, loses games and gets fired. There was somebody like me that was a genius. I got good players, stayed out of the way, let 'em win a lot, and then just hung around for 26 years."[1] He was very proud of his Hall induction, "I never wore aWorld Series ring ... I will wear this ring until I die."[1]
Anderson was also inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame the same year. On May 28, 2005, during pre-game ceremonies inCincinnati, Anderson'sjersey number, #10, was retired by theReds. A day in Anderson's honor was also held at Detroit'sComerica Park during the 2000 season.
On June 17, 2006, Anderson's number was retired by the Fort Worth Cats, for whom Anderson had played in 1955.[27] In 2007, Anderson was elected to theCanadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
During the 2011 season, the Tigers honored Anderson with a patch on their right sleeves. They officially retired his No. 11 on the brick wall atComerica Park on June 26, 2011.[28]
Anderson was the first manager to win a World Series for both aNational League andAmerican League team. Either manager in the 1984 Series would have been the first to win in both leagues, sinceSan Diego Padres (NL) managerDick Williams had won the series with theOakland Athletics (AL) in1972 and1973. Williams' 1972 club had defeated Anderson's Reds club.
Anderson's accomplishment was equaled in the2006 World Series, whenSt. Louis Cardinals managerTony La Russa – who had previously won the World Series with theOakland Athletics in1989, and who considers Anderson his mentor – led his team to the title over theDetroit Tigers. Coincidentally, having won a championship while managing theFlorida Marlins in1997, Tigers managerJim Leyland could have achieved this same feat had the Tigers defeated La Russa's Cardinals in the 2006 World Series. During that series, Anderson threw out theceremonial first pitch of Game 2 atComerica Park, the Tigers' home park.
In 2006, construction was completed on the "Sparky Anderson Baseball Field" atCalifornia Lutheran University's new athletic complex.[29] Anderson had used his influence to attract notable players to the university baseball team,[30] and he was also awarded the Laundry Medal by the university for being "an inspiration to youth."[31]
On November 3, 2010, it was announced that Anderson had been placed inhospice care at hisThousand Oaks home because of his deteriorating condition due to progressingdementia.[32] Anderson died the next day at the age of 76 in Thousand Oaks.[6] He was survived by his wife of 57 years, Carol, sons Lee and Albert, daughter Shirlee Engelbrecht, and eight grandchildren.[6] Carol died at age 79 on May 7, 2013, at home in Thousand Oaks.[33]
On June 26, 2011, the Detroit Tigers retired Anderson's number 11. Tiger players also wore commemorative patches on their uniform sleeves all season.[34][28]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Toronto Maple Leafs Manager 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Rock Hill Cardinals Manager 1965 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by First manager | St. Petersburg Cardinals Manager 1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Modesto Reds Manager 1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Asheville Tourists Manager 1968 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Franchise established | San Diego Padresthird base coach 1969 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
