Baseball loses its biggest 'spark'

There are some figures who are great at playing baseball, but far fewer who made baseball a greater game by their involvement with it. George Lee Anderson is one of the latter, but you will probably recognize him by the nickname he embodied for his tenure in the grand old game.

You can call him Sparky.

It was with a heavy heart Thursday that I read that Sparky Anderson passed away after being placed in hospice care at his home in Thousand Oaks for complications resulting from dementia.

Anderson enjoyed the traditional "cup of coffee" in the Major Leagues when he played for the Philadelphia Philles in 1959 — his only season as a big-league player — where he batted .218. But his inability to shine at baseball's highest level as a player did nothing to dim the impact he would later have on the game.

As a 36-year-old rookie manager in 1970, he skippered the Cincinnati Reds to the National League pennant. While still with the Reds he guided them to World Series wins in 1975 and 1976. After being fired in 1978 due to consecutive second-place finishes, he took over at the helm for the Detroit Tigers, winning the Word Series with them in 1984.

Anderson was a sure thing for induction into baseball's Hall of Fame, and his passion and thorough knowledge of the game was recognized in 2000, when he was inducted as a manager — a role he served for 25 years. At the time of his retirement in 1995, his 2,194 wins as a manager was the third-highest in baseball history. It has since been passed by Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre.

That's 2,194 wins, and a 25-year roster of players who reached their fullest potential with his help.

My beloved mother fought a losing battle with dementia before her passing nearly three years ago. It was just shy of Thanksgiving when I received the phone call, and I immediately thanked God that I had gone back to Iowa to see her in August. It was difficult for me when I said goodbye to her that summer and kissed her on her forehead before leaving her room in the retirement home. I knew it was the last time she was going to recognize me.

My memories of her today are not of the frail woman in the bed who had been weakened by a variety of illnesses, but of the strong matriarch and all the talks she gave me, lessons she taught me, and tears she brushed from my cheek.

Sparky, you'll always be the silver-haired manager having heated discussions with umpires, who brought out the best in generations of players, and who stands as a prime example of why the baseball diamond will always shine.

Thanks Sparky, you were a true baseball treasure.

Contact Craig Purcell @ 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.