George (Sparky) Anderson

GEORGE (SPARKY) ANDERSON

George Lee (Sparky) Anderson was both the National and American League managers. He managed the both the Cincinnati Reds and The Detroit Tigers to their championships. Cincinnati in 1975 and 1976 and the Tigers in 1984.
He lived in California. By the baseball teams he was known as (SPARKY) and to his friends he was known as George. He had died of complications due to dementia.
He was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota. On February 22nd 1934. Upon graduating from high school, he signed with The Brooklyn Dodger as an amateur in 1953.
In 1955 he had moved up to the minor leagues. He played for the
A. DOUBLE-A FORTWORTH CATS IN TEXAS
B. IN 1956 HE MOVED TO THE TRIPLE A-MONTREAL ROYALS(OF THE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
C. IN 1957 HE WENT TO THE LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF THE PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE\
The following year season he had returned to Montreal.
Sparky had played 5 minor league seasons without putting on an a Dodger uniform. In the major league level he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in December of 1958. In trading 3 baseball players. He had started his first full season in 1959. He only batted a .218 in 152 games without any home runs, and with only 34 runs batted in. He then returned to the minor leagues for the rest of his playing career.
He played four seasons in the International League which were The Toronto Maple Leafs..When the league owner (JACK KENT CLARK) had noticed Sparky’s talent for leadership. He had the suggested that Sparky to pursue a career in management.
By the time Sparky was 30 he had taken up the offer that (COOKE) had said. He started managing the Toronto Maple Leafs. He managed the minor leagues at the minor league levels. The class A and the double A- divisions. He had managed the Reds at the minor league level in 1968.
During his managing career, he had 4 consecutive winning seasons with:
A. ROCK HILL CARDINALS`OF THE WESTERN LEAGUE IN 1965
B. 1966 WITH THE ST. PETERSBURG CARDINALS OF FLORIDA STATE
C. 1967 WITH THE MODESTO REDS OF THE CALIFORNIA LEAGUE
D. AND IN 1968 WITH THE ASHEVILLE TOURISTS OF THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE
It was in the season of 1966 he lost to MIAMI 4-3 in a 29 inning without interruption.
He got back to the major league system in 1969 as a coach for the SAN DIEGO PADRES. He was a short time manager 1969-1970 for the CALIFORNIA ANGELS. But, within a couple of days he was offered a job in Anaheim. He had replaced Dave Bristol of the Reds. This reunited Sparky with Reds manager Bob Howsam, who had hired as the minor league manager for the ST LOUIS CARDINALS and the Cincinnati organizations.
In 1969 Sparky became the Reds manager by Bob Howsam. He replaced Dave Bristol. Sparky then lead the Cincinnati Reds to 102 wins along with the National League Pennant in 1970. Although they had lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles. It was during this season the Cincinnati Reds became known as the BIG RED MACHINE.
There was an injury that had plagued the 1971 season. This is when the Reds had finished in 5th place. Although, the Reds came back to win another pennant in 1972. Beating the Pittsburg Pirates in the National League Championship Series (NCLS). But, had lost to the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. They took the (NLCS) again in 1973. But, had lost to the Mets in the National League Championship Series.
After they had finished in second place to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974 and 1975. The Reds had blown the division wide open by winning 108 games. They took the (NLCS) and the World Series in 7 games against Boston. They had repeated this again in 1976 against the Yankees. Anderson then had an astounding 14-3 postseason play against the:
A. PIRATES
B. PHILLIES
C. RED SOX
D. AND THE YANKEES
They had won against the Red Sox in a triumphed 7 game series in 1975 and then taking a 7 straight games again in the postgame season.
When the Reds had finished second to the Dodgers in the next two seasons. Anderson was then fired in November of 1978. By Dick Wagner who was the general manager that had taken over for Howsam a year earlier. General manager Wagner wanted to shake up Reds coaching staff. Anderson objected and was dismissed as well.
Under the new manager(JOHN MCNAMARA) the Reds had taken the title again in 1979. But, lost 3 straight to the Pirates in the league championship series. They would not make the playoffs again until 1990. When they swept the series against the Oakland Athletics.
Anderson hade then moved on to the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were a young team. After Sparky’s hiring the Tigers became a winning team almost automatically. They were finishing .500 in each of Sparky’s 3 seasons. Although, they did not get into an opinion of discussion until 1983. They had finished second to the Baltimore Orioles in the (ALE) American League East.
In 1984 the Tigers opened their season with an 35-5. This was a major league record. And, breezed through a 104-58 win. This was a franchise record for wins. Then they had took the Kansas City Royals in the (ACLS) American League Championship Series. They had Beaten the San Diego Padres in a five game World Series. This was Anderson’s third world title. When the season was finished, Anderson had won 2 manager of the year awards with the Tigers.
The Tigers had finished in 3rd place in 1985 and 1986 under Sparky’s supervision. They had taken a 9 to 5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in July of 1986. Anderson had become the first manager to achieve a 600 career in both the National League and American Leagues.
Sparky had then lead the Tigers into their best season yet in 1987. They had finished in second place against Boston by one game in the (ALE) American League East. The next year the team had fallen apart losing 103 games. In 1989 Anderson took a month long vacation due to stress. Dick Tracewski had then took over the managing while Sparky was away.
In 1991 the Tigers had finished:
A. LAST IN BATTING AVERAGES
B. FIRST IN BATTING STRIKE OUTS
C. AND CLOSE TO THE BOTTOMIN THE PITCHING CATAGORIES
But, still lead them to a second place behind the Toronto. The team had a power packed line-up:
A. CECIL FIELDER
B. MICKEY TETTLETON
C. ROB DEER
This lead the league to many home runs and walks that season.
During Sparky’s career as manager he would always praise his players whenever he had talked to the press. He had later acknowledged that he may have put to much pressure on the players.
Sparky retired from managing after the 1995 season. Because he was disenchanted with the league following the 1994 strike. That had put the baseball season of 1995 behind. It was widely rumored that Sparky was forced into a early retirement by the Tigers as they were unhappy that he would not manage the non-union players. During the training season.
Sparky finished with a lifetime record of 2,194 wins with a 1,834 losses. With a .545 percentage. Sparky finished with his career with a much longer time with the Tigers than with the Reds. He had won two World Series games in career. One with the Cincinnati Reds and the other with the Detroit Tigers.
During his time with the Tigers and later Sparky did some television work. He was a Television commentator. He paired up with Jack Buck on CBS Radio covering postgame game play. This was during the 1980’s and the 1990’s. From 1996 to 1998 he was the color analyst for the Anaheim Angels, on the cable television broadcasts.
While Sparky was still in Detroit. He had founded a charitable organization called (CATCH)which stands for CARING ATHELETES TEAMED FOR CHILDREN’S HENRY FORD HOSPITABLE’S. This took place in 1987. He was active in this charity well into his retirement.
Sparky was voted into The Baseball Home of Fame in 2000 for being a manager for the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers. When he was elected for the Cincinnati Reds he had chosen to wear the Reds cap in honor for General Manager Bob Howsam. Who had given Sparky his first chance at managing the Major-League baseball teams.
He was also elected into Cincinnati’s hall of fame the same year. In May of2005 his Red’s Jersey was retired at a pre-game ceremony which was number 10. There was a similar ceremony held in Detroit’s Comerica Park honoring him and retiring his jersey which was number 11.
In 2007, Sparky was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sparky was the very first manager to win the World Series in Both the National League and American Leagues.
Sparky’s accomplishment was equaled in the 2006 World Series when Tony La Russa won the World Series. He had considered Sparky Anderson his mentor.
In 2006 a complex was built and completed at California’s Lutheran University.
Sparky had died at the age of 76.
Farwell to George (SPARKY) Anderson.