RIP - #10 Sparky Anderson

The manager of my boyhood's "Big Red Machine" has passed away.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...a_ne/bbo_obit_anderson
 
Even after he left the Reds and went to Detroit, I still loved rooting for him. I got the chance to meet him the weekend that the Reds retired his #,  he was still sharp then, and he loved to talk about baseball.
 
Sparky Anderson - You are missed!!!!

Sparky - thank you for what felt like endless summers with the boys of summer, Ernie Harwell (another great gone) and my dad, sitting on the porch in the dark listening for the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd.  You are definitely missed.

Truly a great baseball man.  I wasn't a fan of his when he was with the Reds, since they were a big rival with my Pirates.  But since the Tigers are my second favorite team, I learned to really like and admire the guy.  Anyone I know who ever met him said he was a great guy.

One of my favorite episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati is the one in which Mr. Carlson hired Sparky to host a call-in sports show on his station. Of course, Sparky's show was a total disaster; there were several open lines but not a single caller and poor Sparky had to resort to talking about his new telephone at home in order to avoid dead air.

Sparky was a great manager and a great guy.
One of the "tell it like it is" guys.
See ya in the dugout Sparky, save a seat for me.
 
 
 
 
 
 

A legend Passes away. The Sport will miss this guy and all he gave to the game.

Very sorry to hear this. Sparky was good for the sport of baseball. R.I.P.

I love Sparky also but I never thought he was a great manager. He should have won 4 in a row with the talent in Cincy. 3 in a row in Detroit. My favorite is this homer off Gossage. Look at Sparky telling Gibson that he doesn't want to walk him. One of my favorite moments in sports. I grew up in Detroit...Russ 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1fy4_0mHOY

When I think of baseball in the '70's, I always think about Sparky Anderson, Earl Weaver, and a lot of those other managers that were characters or had some memorable quality to them.  We don't seem to have those types of managers these days. 
 
I was watching old footage of him last night.  Even at 41, he looked like he was 61.  It's hard to believe that he was only 76.

Sparky lives forever in my mind.  I used to go to Riverfront Stadium and watch the Reds and the stadium rocked with people stomping their feet when the Reds won.  He was good for the game.

One of the baseball greats who managed the Big Red Machine.  My family all have great memories of the Redlegs, particularily the Big Red Machine & Sparky, loved the white hair.
My family is now in it's 5th generation of Redleg fans.  My grandfather was born in 1887 in WV & he would take excursions to Cinn on the train to see the Reds, before there were autos to make the trip.  Now my son & grandson make the trip from Indy to Cinn via I74.