Mattie T’s Tribute to Sparky Anderson (1934-2010)

Major League Baseball lost a beloved figure on Thursday, as former manager Sparky Anderson has passed away at the age of 76 from dementia.

Anderson was born in Bridgewater, SD & attended high school in Los Angeles before being signed as an amateur free agent by the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 19.

He began his minor-league career as a shortstop, but later moved to 2nd base which would lead to his major-league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies.

It was a short-lived one, as Anderson only lasted one season (1959) while batting just .218 in 152 games with no home runs & 34 runs batted in.

Anderson returned to the minor league system & took 4 different teams to a pennant win in consecutive years, which gave him the opportunity to manage the Cincinnati Reds.

In his first ever season as a big-league manager, he led Cincinnati to a 102-win season & the NL pennant, but it resulted in a World Series loss to Baltimore.

Just 2 years later, he led the team to another pennant, but lost to Oakland in the World Series.

The Reds finally broke through in 1975 & 1976, as they beat the Red Sox & Yankees in back-to-back World Series to become 2-time champs.

During that same timeframe, Cincinnati finished with an impressive 14-3 record.

After a pair of 2nd place finishes following their back-to-back championship wins, Anderson was fired by the team on November 27th, 1978.

He was hired by the Detroit Tigers on June 14th, 1979 & had to wait 5 years until leading them into the postseason.

The 1984 season would wind up being a magical one, as the Tigers got off to a 35-5 start (major league record), & wound up winning a franchise-best 104 games.

Detroit swept Kansas City in the ALCS before going on to beat San Diego in 5 games to win the World Series. Anderson also won Manager of the Year for his outstanding work. This also made him the first man ever to win World Series with both an American & National League team.

In 1986, he became the first manager to reach the 600-win mark in both the American & National League after a 9-5 win over Milwaukee on July 29th.

In 1987, Anderson again won Manager of the Year after leading the Tigers to an AL-best 98 wins.

However, that season ended prematurely as they were upset by Minnesota in the ALCS.

He would finally retire in 1995 with 2,194 wins, which is 6th all-time on the managerial list.

After retirement, Anderson spent 3 years as a color commentator for the Anaheim Angels before being elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2000.

His #10 jersey was retired by the Reds on May 28th, 2005. Anderson’s #11 has been inactive for Detroit ever since his retirement in 1995, but it hasn’t been formally retired yet.

Anderson is survived by his wife Carol, sons Lee and Albert, daughter Shirley Englebrect, and nine grandchildren.