Sparky Anderson

Career Batting Stats G AB H R HR RBI SB AVG SLG OBP OPS OPS+ 152 477 104 42 0 34 6 .218 .249 .282 .531 73.3

Quotes From Sparky Anderson

Teams Sparky Anderson Managed

Best Season: 1975
Fueled by "The Great Eight" of Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Davey Concepcion, and Cesar Geronimo, the Big Red Machine rolled to the title. The Reds easily won the NL West title, swept the Pirates in the playoffs, and defeated the Red Sox in an epic World Series. They met every challenge they faced to take their place with the best teams of all-time. The team's only weakness was starting pitching, yet they still had two pitchers in the top 12 in ERA - Don Gullett (2.42) and Gary Nolan (3.16). The Reds repeated the following year - sweeping through the post-season without a loss.

Sparky has said that the 1987 Tigers were the team he was most proud of. He also stated that he did his best managing that season. After losing cleanup hitter Lance Parrish to free agency, Anderson inserted Alan Trammell into the #4 spot - and the shortstop responded with a monster year. The Tigers were 11-17 in May, languishing in the wake of the Toronto Blue Jays. But strong starting pitching, led by Jack Morris, Frank Tanana, Walt Terrell, and Doyle Alexander, drove the team up the standings. The potent offense led baseball in runs scored, and Detroit caught the Blue Jays on the last Saturday of the season. The next day, Tanana twirled a 1-0 shutout and won the AL East title. Detroit had rallied to win 98 games and post the best record in baseball.

Future Managers who Played for Sparky
Tommy Helms, Tony Perez, Pete Rose, Hal McRae, Pat Corrales, Ray Knight, Bill Plummer, Alan Trammell, Larry Rothschild

Compared to other managers who were in the game for a long period, Anderson has fewer players who played for him and later went on to become managers. This may be because he employed a set lineup for so long in Cincinnati and Detroit, and those superstars never entered the managerial ranks.

Managerial Style
Anderson was criticized by some as having little to do with the success in Cincinnati, due to the great players he had. Some critics were inside the Reds clubhouse - where players were jealous of the special treatment afforded superstars Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez.

Anderson made no secret the fact that the "Big Four" could do what they wanted, but the rest of the team had to live by his rules. This treatment especially rankled Davey Concepcion, who considered himself every bit a superstar. Rose and Bench would make fun of Concepcion's awkwardness, keeping him out of their inner-circle.

Later, when Sparky managed in Detroit, he cleaned house early, trading or releasing players who didn't meet his inspection. He never had to use the "favored treatment" technique with the Tigers.

Baseball's 1994-1995 Labor Wars
When Major League Baseball braced itself for the possibility that replacement players would take the field for the start of the 1995 season, Anderson balked - refusing to manage them even in Spring Training. Tiger management tried to pressure Sparky to return, but the veteran skipper refused to take part in what he saw as a mockery. He was the only manager in baseball to take a stand. The incident helped pave his way out of Detroit.

Players Sparky Made Regulars
Davey Concepcion, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Dan Driessen, Cesar Geronimo, Kirk Gibson, Tom Brookens, Jack Morris, Dan Petry, Howard Johnson, Tony Phillips, and Travis Fryman.

Chasing Down the Leader
On the morning of July 1, 1973, Sparky Anderson's Reds were in fourth place in the NL West, trailing the Dodgers by 11 games. The Reds proceeded to sweep a doubleheader and win three straight games against the Dodgers. By September 3, they were tied with LA and eventually, of course, they won the division crown, their second in a row.

On May 6, 1987, Sparky's Tigers were mired in sixth place, just a half-game out of the cellar, 11 games behind the Brewers. The Tigers had lost 16 and won nine, and their offense was in a tailspin. Their pitching was shaky. From that point on, however, the Detroit ship was righted, as Sparky guided the team to baseball's best record: 98 wins. By August 19, the Tigers had caught the Blue Jays and would battle Toronto for the next six weeks. eventually winning the AL East title on the last day of the season.

Through 2004, just ten teams had overcome at least an 11-game deficit to finish in first place. Sparky is the only manager to guide two of those teams.

Scouting Report
Dubbed "Captain Hook" by the Cincinnati media in the early 1970s, Anderson was the first manager to use his bullpen in ways that today we take for granted. He switched pitchers in and out to get the platoon advantage he needed. He may have developed more relief pitchers than any other manager in history. Clay Carroll, Rawley Eastwick, Pedro Borbon, Tom Hume, Doug Bair, Aurelio Lopez, Kevin Saucier, Willie Hernandez and Mike Henneman all performed well for Sparky's teams out of the pen.

Where He Played
Anderson was the starting second baseman for the Phillies in 1959, his only major league season.

Born
George Lee Anderson was born on February 22, 1934, in Bridgewater, SD.

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Major League Debut
4 10,

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1959
Willie McCovey
Billy Williams
Maury Wills
Tommy Davis
Jim Kaat
Tim McCarver
Jim Perry
Mike Cuellar
Zoilo Versalles

Nicknames
Captain Hook

"Captain Hook," because he was fast to go to his bullpen with Cincinnati. The truth is, Anderson rarely had enough starters who were healthy or durable enough while in Cincy, and his bullpens were very strong.

Uniform Numbers
#10 (1970-1978), #11 (1979-1995)

Similar Players
Tony LaRussa, Casey Stengel

Related Players
Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Davey Concepcion, Ken Griffey Sr., Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Lance Parrish, Jack Morris, Kirk Gibson, Howard Johnson, Travis Fryman, Buddy Bell, Ken Griffey Jr.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 2000 Veterans %

Notes
Manager of the Year: 1972, 1976, 1984 and 1987; All-Star manager: 1971, 1973, 1976-1977, 1985

Replaced
In 1970 with Cincinnati, he replaced Dave Bristol, who was popular with many of the Reds' players. At Detroit in 1979, he replaced Les Moss, a tired old man who had less than two months on the job and was out of his element.

Replaced By
Buddy Bell took over in Detroit in 1996. The Reds had hired John McNamara to replace Sparky in 1979. McNamara led the team to the AL West title.

Best Strength as a Player
Leadership, the respect of his players, and ability to handle the media.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Wariness of young players.

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