“If you don’t like him, you don’t like ice cream.”
November 4, 2010 4:27 PM Subscribe
Legendary baseball manager George "Sparky" Anderson dead at 76. Ernie Harwell on Sparky. Interview on Santa Clarita community access. "Mr. President, I know you love those Cubs, but if you knew these Tigers, you'd love 'em more. Hall of Fame entry. He was a crummy player, though. Remembering Anderson's class. STAY CLASSY, SPARKY! The End of a Sparkling Life.
I didn't realize until today that it was not wanting to manage replacement players that got him fired, which is sad and noble.
posted by klangklangston at 4:43 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by klangklangston at 4:43 PM on November 4, 2010
When I was a kid pretending to be a big-league pitcher in our Detroit backyard in that glorious summer of 1984, it was Sparky I always pictured coming out to the mound to tell me I still had one more strikeout in me.
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posted by joe lisboa at 4:43 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by joe lisboa at 4:43 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
You kiddin', Joe? Captain Hook was coming out there to tell you that he'd been warming up the whole bullpen and you'd already had your shot!
posted by klangklangston at 4:44 PM on November 4, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by klangklangston at 4:44 PM on November 4, 2010 [4 favorites]
Haha, I was a kid, klang. Captain Hook!
posted by joe lisboa at 4:45 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by joe lisboa at 4:45 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Captain Hook didn't take Pat Darcy out in time. (Baseball history at 4:00.)
posted by grounded at 4:53 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by grounded at 4:53 PM on November 4, 2010
Never had the chance to meet him during my sportswriter days. But everyone I knew that had reported that he was simply a great person.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:58 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:58 PM on November 4, 2010
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Oh man. Growing up in Michigan, Sparky Anderson was the very definition of a baseball manager for me.
posted by rkent at 5:10 PM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
Oh man. Growing up in Michigan, Sparky Anderson was the very definition of a baseball manager for me.
posted by rkent at 5:10 PM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
Next to Earl Weaver, Sparky Anderson was always my favorite manager. A true legend. I tip my cap to you, good sir.
posted by dhammond at 5:20 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by dhammond at 5:20 PM on November 4, 2010
There never was no better manager for the Tigers than Sparky Anderson. Ah, George, we hardly knew ye. He probably wanted to reunite with Ernie.
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posted by beelzbubba at 5:24 PM on November 4, 2010
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posted by beelzbubba at 5:24 PM on November 4, 2010
I gotta say, as a Michigan kid with a similar fondness for the '84 tigers, I thought Sparky was at least 76 in 1984.
posted by orville sash at 5:25 PM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by orville sash at 5:25 PM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
Well, first, absolutely:
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Second, orville hits on something. Yesterday the news around Detroit was that Sparky was going into hospice care. One thing they mentioned was that he was 76, and I was absolutely floored by that. As kid growing up in Detroit during the 80s, I would have sworn he was in his 70s. If you'd asked me before yesterday how old he was, I would have ventured a guess that he was well into his 90s. Weird! I guess that's youth, for you.
posted by kbanas at 5:37 PM on November 4, 2010
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Second, orville hits on something. Yesterday the news around Detroit was that Sparky was going into hospice care. One thing they mentioned was that he was 76, and I was absolutely floored by that. As kid growing up in Detroit during the 80s, I would have sworn he was in his 70s. If you'd asked me before yesterday how old he was, I would have ventured a guess that he was well into his 90s. Weird! I guess that's youth, for you.
posted by kbanas at 5:37 PM on November 4, 2010
I grew up a Reds fan and remember my Grandma yelling at Pete Rose, 'You're no Sparky!'
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posted by Mick at 5:45 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by Mick at 5:45 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
As kid growing up in Detroit during the 80s, I would have sworn he was in his 70s. If you'd asked me before yesterday how old he was, I would have ventured a guess that he was well into his 90s.
Yeah, I was kind of thrown by that, as well. This picture was taken during his tenure with the Cincinnati Reds, which ended when he was 44 years old. Some folks just look older than they really are, and Sparky Anderson was one of those people.
posted by deadmessenger at 5:57 PM on November 4, 2010
He was on WKRP too, as I recall.
Yup.
posted by evilcolonel at 6:01 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yup.
posted by evilcolonel at 6:01 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
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I think Sparky's hair turned white in his early 30's.
I'm a huge Reds fan, but I was born in '81 so missed out on Sparky and the Big Red Machine. That being said I've always loved the guy. He comes across really well in Joe Posnanski's The Machine, and that was a book where quite a few members of the mid-70's Reds came across as huge pricks (not surprisingly in some - Pete Rose - cases). He got a raw deal from the Reds in the end and he should have managed in Cincinnati for much longer.
posted by imabanana at 6:05 PM on November 4, 2010
I think Sparky's hair turned white in his early 30's.
I'm a huge Reds fan, but I was born in '81 so missed out on Sparky and the Big Red Machine. That being said I've always loved the guy. He comes across really well in Joe Posnanski's The Machine, and that was a book where quite a few members of the mid-70's Reds came across as huge pricks (not surprisingly in some - Pete Rose - cases). He got a raw deal from the Reds in the end and he should have managed in Cincinnati for much longer.
posted by imabanana at 6:05 PM on November 4, 2010
My dad grew up in Detroit, and was and is a Tigers fan. My family lives in New Jersey, and he always took us to Yankee Stadium whenever the Tigers were in town--what amazed me was that, even during the regular season, the stands had a goodly number of Tigers fans in them. I wasn't much for baseball, but I liked Sparky.
*Everyone* liked Sparky.
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posted by tzikeh at 6:30 PM on November 4, 2010
*Everyone* liked Sparky.
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posted by tzikeh at 6:30 PM on November 4, 2010
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posted by The Card Cheat at 6:38 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:38 PM on November 4, 2010
My mom's response to this news was, "Sometimes there IS crying in baseball."
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posted by Tesseractive at 6:55 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by Tesseractive at 6:55 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sparky Anderson was the first manager to win a World Series for both a National League and American League team.
Also The White Shadow.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:01 PM on November 4, 2010
He was on WKRP too, as I recall.
Also The White Shadow.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:01 PM on November 4, 2010
Thanks klang. You did this one fucking right.
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posted by Roger Dodger at 7:23 PM on November 4, 2010
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posted by Roger Dodger at 7:23 PM on November 4, 2010
Nice tribute over at The West Virginia Surf Report
posted by Bonzai at 7:54 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Bonzai at 7:54 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sparky Anderson and Jack Morris were two of the greatest badasses to ever set foot on a baseball field. That was before all the players and managers (except Ozzie Guillen) became image conscious and media savvy.
I wish Black Jack would get a job as a pitching coach, just so he could make sour comments to the media once again.
posted by reenum at 9:01 PM on November 4, 2010
I wish Black Jack would get a job as a pitching coach, just so he could make sour comments to the media once again.
posted by reenum at 9:01 PM on November 4, 2010
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posted by disclaimer at 9:10 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by disclaimer at 9:10 PM on November 4, 2010
We moved to Michigan over New Year's 1979. Sparky came to the Tigers that June--coincidentally, klangklangston came to Michigan that July (his debut on planet Earth). I'm not surprised that Sparky made such an impression on young klang--I took him to a handful of games from 82-92, and we watched a lot of games on TV--Al kaline & George Kell were the tv team.
Sparky was seemingly always giving his free time to charitable causes. Yeah, he had the annoying habit of overpraising a lot of mediocre players, but he was never dull.
A friend of ours just mentioned yesterday that Sparky was in hospice at home and I was gonna call klang & commiserate with him. Glad he posted this tribute to George Lee Anderson, the best Tigers manager in my lifetime for sure.
posted by beelzbubba at 9:40 PM on November 4, 2010
Sparky was seemingly always giving his free time to charitable causes. Yeah, he had the annoying habit of overpraising a lot of mediocre players, but he was never dull.
A friend of ours just mentioned yesterday that Sparky was in hospice at home and I was gonna call klang & commiserate with him. Glad he posted this tribute to George Lee Anderson, the best Tigers manager in my lifetime for sure.
posted by beelzbubba at 9:40 PM on November 4, 2010
Damn. I'm don't suffer nostalgia for much from the 70's. Maybe it's because I was a kid in Little-League then but ... well I don't know what to say except Sparky is old school baseball.
posted by vapidave at 10:59 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by vapidave at 10:59 PM on November 4, 2010
the '84 tigers were a great team - thanks, sparky, for making them possible
posted by pyramid termite at 11:38 PM on November 4, 2010
posted by pyramid termite at 11:38 PM on November 4, 2010
This hasn't been a real good year for Detroit fans, has it? First Ernie, now Sparky...I hesitate to think who's next. At least Sir Graves and Soupy are already gone so I don't have that to anticipate.
So long Sparky.
posted by motown missile at 12:57 AM on November 5, 2010
So long Sparky.
posted by motown missile at 12:57 AM on November 5, 2010
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posted by shiny blue object at 5:09 AM on November 5, 2010
posted by shiny blue object at 5:09 AM on November 5, 2010
I can remember a snippet from a Bill James Baseball Abstract article analyzing which managers were "quick hooks" versus which managers were "slow hooks".
Sparky Anderson was the quickest hook of them all. (Well, all the ones that were analyzed in the article). There were probably hundreds of guys who could have taken the Big Red Machine all the way, but he was a great manager and a great guy in any case. Rest in peace.
posted by bukvich at 6:41 AM on November 5, 2010
Sparky Anderson was the quickest hook of them all. (Well, all the ones that were analyzed in the article). There were probably hundreds of guys who could have taken the Big Red Machine all the way, but he was a great manager and a great guy in any case. Rest in peace.
posted by bukvich at 6:41 AM on November 5, 2010
Look, he loved baseball, was grizzled, a damn fine human being, and his name was Sparky. What's not to love?
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posted by Edison Carter at 6:42 AM on November 5, 2010
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posted by Edison Carter at 6:42 AM on November 5, 2010
One thing they mentioned was that he was 76, and I was absolutely floored by that.
Hey, yeah. I didn't even realize this. That means, when he was leading the Tigers to a title, he was only 50. And when he led the Reds to their first of his two, he was a mere 41. I'm only 5 years younger than that and I'm nowhere near as grizzled.
I gotta work on that.
posted by Edison Carter at 6:45 AM on November 5, 2010
Hey, yeah. I didn't even realize this. That means, when he was leading the Tigers to a title, he was only 50. And when he led the Reds to their first of his two, he was a mere 41. I'm only 5 years younger than that and I'm nowhere near as grizzled.
I gotta work on that.
posted by Edison Carter at 6:45 AM on November 5, 2010
I lived in Montana in '84 but I was born in Michigan and spent a large part of my life there. Now I'm in Minnesota. Sparky and the '84 Tigers are the reason that I have worn a Tigers hat in every state I've ever lived. It's weird, really. I don't really follow baseball. I find it boring to watch, to be honest, unless I am actually AT a game. And I have gone to a handful of major league games, all Tigers games (except for one game I caught at Wrigley). I've been to the old creaky concrete bunker that was Tiger Stadium, sat in the stands, sat in the bleachers, enjoyed a few Tiger dogs with a Coke (and later in life with an overpriced, watery beer). I've been to Comerica a few times, and while I miss the history of Tiger Stadium, Comerica is actually a nice park, and the way it frames the skyline in back of the outfield, well, it looks pretty nice in that oft-maligned city. I've been to these Tigers games with family, with friends; the team sometimes won, sometimes didn't, but as far as I might get from Michigan I think I will always have a Tigers hat, and Sparky is a big reason for that. It's one little connection back to the state of my birth and to my childhood; there are lots of memories wrapped up in that team for me. The first time my uncle took my brothers and I to a game, for no reason at all, and walking into that stadium for the first time. Watching my baby cousin toddle around wearing his "Gibby" hat, that bright white old English D emblazoned on the little blue cap he could not be convinced to take off, ever. Watching the series in '84 with my family, being the only kid out west who wasn't cheering for the Padres that year. Realizing with a little bit of shock that my grandpa rented a house to one of the guys on the team at one time - Dave Collins, I think it was; he only played one season with the Tigers, '86, but during that season he broke a bat at the plate, and he gave it to my grandpa, autographed. A little connection between the team I grew up with and my own family. The little league team my dad coached for years. Our home town school mascot was a tiger, and so we had our baseball hats printed with the D. We stunk, but we got to spend time with Dad every practice and every game for years and it was the kind of thing you just don't ever regret having done.
Like I said, for a guy who doesn't really care about the sport it seems weird that I have so many memories wrapped up in it. Watching that grizzled, white-haired sparkplug of a manager urge the best out of his team back in '84, that's one of those memories, one of those reasons I keep wearing the hat. So long, Sparky, and thanks. You'll be missed.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:37 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Like I said, for a guy who doesn't really care about the sport it seems weird that I have so many memories wrapped up in it. Watching that grizzled, white-haired sparkplug of a manager urge the best out of his team back in '84, that's one of those memories, one of those reasons I keep wearing the hat. So long, Sparky, and thanks. You'll be missed.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:37 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
RIP, Sparky. You were one of the good guys.
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posted by Man with Lantern at 8:54 AM on November 5, 2010
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posted by Man with Lantern at 8:54 AM on November 5, 2010
" I've been to the old creaky concrete bunker that was Tiger Stadium, sat in the stands, sat in the bleachers, enjoyed a few Tiger dogs with a Coke (and later in life with an overpriced, watery beer). I've been to Comerica a few times, and while I miss the history of Tiger Stadium, Comerica is actually a nice park, and the way it frames the skyline in back of the outfield, well, it looks pretty nice in that oft-maligned city."
There was an old joke that seeing games at Tiger Stadium was like mass in Warsaw — everywhere you sat, you were behind a pole.
Tiger Stadium was crazy and old baseball, where things like comfort and clear views just hadn't been invented yet, and Tigers fans all developed a little Stockholm Syndrome over it (myself included). Outside of the Disney Tigers out in front of the Coma (which it's some bullshit that Comerica still has naming rights despite abandoning Detroit), it's a really nice place to see a game. It kinda has to be, because there's no guarantee of victory. There was no guarantee of victory in Corktown either, but there you could work yourself up into the Martyrdom of Tigers Fans, where you were suffering with the team on some deep, spiritual and weird level.
posted by klangklangston at 10:31 AM on November 5, 2010
There was an old joke that seeing games at Tiger Stadium was like mass in Warsaw — everywhere you sat, you were behind a pole.
Tiger Stadium was crazy and old baseball, where things like comfort and clear views just hadn't been invented yet, and Tigers fans all developed a little Stockholm Syndrome over it (myself included). Outside of the Disney Tigers out in front of the Coma (which it's some bullshit that Comerica still has naming rights despite abandoning Detroit), it's a really nice place to see a game. It kinda has to be, because there's no guarantee of victory. There was no guarantee of victory in Corktown either, but there you could work yourself up into the Martyrdom of Tigers Fans, where you were suffering with the team on some deep, spiritual and weird level.
posted by klangklangston at 10:31 AM on November 5, 2010
thanks for this klang - I was gonna try but I knew I'd never get it right. You got it just right.
The World Famous, I'm a Cincinnatian probably a year or two older than you, and I remember watching much of the '75 and '76 World Series in school - that's right - a whole afternoon's class time given over to baseball. That was back when schools had their priorities straight (kidding - the reason was probably that several Reds players had kids in our school).
Anyway, I always loved Sparky Anderson, and now I have more stuff to ruminate over, lovingly.
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posted by toodleydoodley at 7:14 PM on November 6, 2010
The World Famous, I'm a Cincinnatian probably a year or two older than you, and I remember watching much of the '75 and '76 World Series in school - that's right - a whole afternoon's class time given over to baseball. That was back when schools had their priorities straight (kidding - the reason was probably that several Reds players had kids in our school).
Anyway, I always loved Sparky Anderson, and now I have more stuff to ruminate over, lovingly.
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posted by toodleydoodley at 7:14 PM on November 6, 2010
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posted by slackdog at 4:35 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]