It’s hard to believe that shortly after we lose Ernie Harwell, we lose George “Sparky” Anderson. Both legends and great men in baseball and in life. As Sparky himself tearfully said last May upon hearing that Ernie had died, “Why do we have to lose people like this?” … and now we ask the same question about Sparky.
Sparky managed the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati to two World Series Championships (1975 & ‘76) before he came to Detroit in 1979. I still remember driving to lunch with Tom Ryan the day it was announced on the radio. I was absolutely thrilled when I heard the news because Sparky had such a great reputation and I thought, “Hey, we’ve got a real major league manager now!” And that proved to be the case for the next 17 years!
17 years managing one team is a lifetime in the career of a baseball manager. When he retired from the Tigers in 1995 I actually felt depressed, because win or lose, (and of course Sparky did bring home a World Championship in 1984!) I believed the Tigers and all of us fans were losing the best manager in baseball. Much like Ernie, Sparky transcended the game. They were both bigger than life. For all those years we were blessed with the best manager and the best announcer in baseball… and now they’re both gone!
I have been involved in Sparky’s CATCH charity for kids for many years and I still remember receiving a CATCH award from Sparky himself at a dinner years ago. As he handed me the award and flashed me that big infectious smile of his, he reached out and shook my hand. It was a moment I’ve never forgotten.
It was always a thrill to talk with Sparky on the air, although to be honest with you, with all of his malaprops, sometimes it was tough for me to figure out exactly what he was talking about!
But now he’s gone and I can picture him taking a walk, side-by-side, with Ernie around Heaven… just as the two of them did so many mornings when the Tigers were playing on the road.
- Dick
P.S. Below is a video of an outtake and a couple commercials I did with Sparky and the late great Piston’s Coach Chuck Daly for the Ford Dealers back in the late ‘80’s! Thanks to Rick Bartus for finding them and sending them along. If you have trouble trying to figure out who’s who, I’m the one with the ridiculously big black mustache!