It’s always sad when one of the genuine good guys involved in the sporting world leaves us, and that’s the case with the news last week of the passing of George “Sparky” Anderson, former major league baseball manager, from complications of dementia. It had been announced on November 3rd that Anderson was being placed in hospice care because of his deteriorating condition, and he died just a day later. What I remember about Anderson was that despite being one of the all-time winning managers in baseball, he was always humble and unassuming. Former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver has always said his strategy for managing was “combining good pitching with three run homers”, and Sparky had a similar philosophy. “I just get good players, fill out the lineup card, and stay out of the way. It’s amazing how you can become a genius doing that.”
He was the first manager to ever win World Series titles in both the National and American League, guiding the Cincinnati Reds “Big Red Machine” teams to back-to-back titles in 1975 and ’76, and in 1984 led the Detroit Tigers to a Series triumph over the San Diego Padres. The ’84 Tigers, under Anderson, were a dominating team, opening up the season with 9 consecutive wins and a scorching 35-5 record in their first 40, on the way to a 104-58 regular season record. They swept the Royals in the ALCS, then beat the Padres in 5 games to win it all. Over the years critics would always say that Anderson only won because his teams were loaded with great players. In Cincinnati, the Reds’ roster included some all time greats, including Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Dave Concepcion, Ken Griffey, Sr. and George Foster. There were no big names on the team’s pitching staff, and Sparky became known as “Captain Hook” for his habit of pulling his starters at the first sign of trouble and relying heavily on his bullpen. The ’84 Tigers had Kirk Gibson, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Chet Lemon, Lance Parrish and pitcher Jack Morris. While it is true that both teams were loaded with talent, I think the perception that Sparky was “lucky” came about because of that modest, unassuming nature and his jokingly always talking about “getting out of the way”. In any major league sport it takes a special kind of person to handle all the egos in a locker room loaded with talented players, and Sparky Anderson was one of the best at doing it. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 by the Veterans’ committee, which usually has to take care of getting overlooked players and managers into Cooperstown.