In a year that baseball witnessed the loss of George Steinbrenner III, Ernie Harwell, and Bob Sheppard (just to name a few), the sport has lost another one of its more colorful characters. Sparky Anderson, a stable of baseball club houses for several decades, has passed away at age 76.
-Anderson broke into the majors as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1959, but found little success. He would return to the major leagues after spending a few seasons in the minors in 1969, this time a member of the Padres coaching staff.
-He received his first opportunity as a manager in 1970, this time at the helm of the Cincinnati Reds. They would go on to win over 100 games, but lose in the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles.
-Sparky would go on to win back-to-back World Series with the Reds, successfully taking home the 1975 and 1976 titles. After several years in Cincy, he moved on to Detroit in 1979.
-Sparky Anderson would go on to win one more championship with the Tigers in 1984, this time by beating the Padres. His style of yanking pitchers upon the first sign of weakness earned him much recognition, and the ideology would follow him until his retirement in 1995.
SportsFullCircle would like to wish condolences to the Anderson family.
Sparky was a great guy from what I hear, 3 world series rings wow obivously he was a good manger. Sleep in peace sparky.