I rooted against the Cincinnati Reds, being a big Mets fan, but I always secretly admired that team with Johnny Bench Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez. But, the man who led the Big Ref Machine, Sparky Anderson, was just as great a manager as they were players.
CBS News reports that Sparky Anderson, the white-haired Hall of Fame manager who directed Cincinnati's Big Red Machine to back-to-back World Series championships and won another one in Detroit, died Thursday.
He was 76.
Anderson died from complications from dementia, family spokesman Dan Ewald said. A day earlier, Anderson's family said he had been placed in hospice care. Anderson was the first manager to win World Series titles in both leagues and the only manager to lead two franchises in career wins. His Reds teams featuring Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan that won crowns in 1975 and 1976 rank among the most powerful of all time. Led by Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell, Anderson won with the Tigers in 1984.
Danny Knobler: Sparky an All-Time Great Anderson's win total of 2,194 was the third highest when he retired after the 1995 season, trailing only Connie Mack and John McGraw. He's still sixth on the career list - he won 863 games in nine years with the Reds and 1,331 in 17 seasons with the Tigers. Always affable and ever talkative, Anderson was equally popular among players, fans and media. "Revered and treasured by his players for his humility, humanity, eternal optimism and knowledge of the game," his Hall of Fame plaque reads. Jack Morris helped the Tigers win their most recent title.
The rugged pitcher choked up during a telephone conversation with The Associated Press from his home in the Twin Cities when he was informed of Anderson's death. "Wow. He died way too young. I got a lot of phone calls yesterday about the hospice and the dementia, neither of which I knew about. I wasn't prepared for this. I don't know what to say. I'm kind of shocked," Morris said. "He was a big part of my life, for sure. He had a lot to do with molding me professionally and taught me a lot about perseverance. He was a good guy," he said. "Baseball will have very few people like Sparky. He was a unique individual. He was a character with a great passion and love for the game."
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RIP Sparky!
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