Sparky Anderson

In 1964, at the age of 30, Anderson accepted Cooke's offer to manage the Leafs. He later handled minor league clubs at the Class-A and Double-A levels, including a season (1968) in the Reds' minor league system.

During this period, he managed four pennant winners in four consecutive seasons: 1965 with the Rock Hill Cardinals of the Western Carolinas League, 1966 with the St. Petersburg Cardinals of the Florida State League, 1967 with the Modesto Reds of the California League, and 1968 with the Asheville Tourists of the Southern League. It was during the 1966 season that Anderson's club lost to Miami 4–3 in 29 innings, which remains the longest pro game played (by innings) without interruption.[7]

He made his way back to the majors in 1969 as the third-base coach of the San Diego Padres during their maiden season in the National League.

Just after the 1969 season ended, California Angels manager Lefty Phillips, who as a Dodger scout had signed the teenager Anderson to his first professional contract,[8] named Anderson to his 1970 coaching staff.

Within days of being hired in Anaheim, he was offered the opportunity to succeed Dave Bristol as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. His appointment reunited Anderson with Reds' general manager Bob Howsam, who had hired him as a minor-league skipper in the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati organizations. Anderson was named the Reds manager on October 8, 1969. Since he was a relative unknown in the sports world, headlines on the day after his hiring read "Sparky Who?" At the time of his hiring, Anderson was, at 35, the youngest skipper in baseball.[9] Nonetheless, Anderson led the Reds to 102 wins and the National League pennant in 1970,[10] where they lost the 1970 World Series in five games to the Baltimore Orioles. During this season, the Reds came to be widely known as The Big Red Machine, a nickname they carried throughout Anderson's tenure.

Anderson (right) with Gerald Ford and Red Sox manager Darrell Johnson at the 1976 All-Star Game

After an injury-plagued 1971 season in which the team finished fourth,[10] the Reds came back and won another pennant under Anderson in 1972, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in five games in the NLCS, but losing to the Oakland Athletics in seven games in the World Series. They took the National League West division title again in 1973, but lost to the New York Mets in the NLCS, a hard-fought series that went the full five games.

After finishing a close second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974, in 1975 the Reds blew the division open by winning 108 games. They swept the National League Championship Series and then edged the Boston Red Sox in a drama-filled, seven-game World Series. They repeated in 1976 by winning 102 games, sweeping the Phillies in three games in the National League Championship Series, then going on to sweep the New York Yankees in the Series; the only time that a team swept the League Championship Series and World Series since the start of division play. Over the course of these two seasons, Anderson's Reds compiled an astounding 14–3 record in postseason play against the Pirates, Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees, winning their last eight in a row in the postseason after beating the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, and then winning seven straight games in the 1976 postseason. They remain the only team to sweep the entire post-season since the inception of the league championship series in 1969.

During this time, Anderson became known as "Captain Hook" for his penchant for taking out a starting pitcher at the first sign of weakness and going to his bullpen,[6][11] relying heavily on closers Will McEnaney and Rawly Eastwick.

When the aging Reds finished second to the Dodgers in each of the next two seasons, Anderson was fired on November 27, 1978[11] by general manager Dick Wagner, who had taken over for Howsam a year earlier.[1] Wagner wanted to "shake up" the Reds' coaching staff, to which Anderson objected, leading to his dismissal.[11]

Under new manager John McNamara, the Reds won the division title again in 1979, but lost three straight to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the League Championship Series. They would not make the playoffs again until they won the World Series in 1990 by sweeping the heavily favored Oakland A's.

Anderson moved on to the young Detroit Tigers after being hired as their new manager on June 14, 1979. Upon seeing the team's young talent, he boldly proclaimed to the press that his team would be a pennant winner within 5 years.[12] The Tigers became a winning club almost immediately, finishing above .500 in each of Anderson's first three full seasons, but did not get into contention until 1983, when they won 92 games and finished second to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East.

In 1984, Detroit opened the season 9–0, was 35–5 after 40 games (a major league record), and breezed to a 104–58 record (a franchise record for wins). On September 23, Anderson became the first manager to win 100 games in a season with two different teams.[7] They swept the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and then beat the San Diego Padres in five games in the World Series for Anderson's third world title. The 1984 Tigers became the first team since the 1927 New York Yankees to lead a league wire-to-wire, from opening day to the end of the World Series. After the season, Anderson won the first of his two Manager of the Year Awards with the Tigers.[6]

After the Tigers clinched the AL East division title in 1984, Anderson wrote in his journal: "I have to be honest. I’ve waited for this day since they fired me in Cincinnati. I think they made a big mistake when they did that. Now no one will ever question me again."[13]

Anderson's Tigers finished in third place in both 1985 and 1986. With a 9–5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on July 29, 1986, Anderson became the first to achieve 600 career wins as a manager in both the American and National Leagues.[7]

Anderson led the Tigers to the Majors League best record in 1987, but the team was upset in the ALCS by the Minnesota Twins. He won his second Manager of the Year Award that year.[6] After contending again in 1988 (finishing second to Boston by one game in the AL East), the team collapsed a year later, losing a startling 103 games. During that 1989 season, Anderson took a month-long leave of absence from the team as the stress of losing wore on him. First base coach Dick Tracewski managed the team in the interim.[14]

In 1991, the Tigers finished last in batting average, first in batting strikeouts and near the bottom of the league in most pitching categories, but still led their division in late August before settling for a second-place finish behind the rival Toronto Blue Jays.

On September 27, 1992, the Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 13–3 for Anderson's 1,132nd win with the team, passing Hughie Jennings as the all-time leader in wins by a Tiger manager. Anderson continues to hold this distinction with 1,331 victories with the Tigers.

During his managerial career, Anderson was known to heap lavish praise on his ballplayers when talking to the media. He declared Kirk Gibson "the next Mickey Mantle," which he later acknowledged may have put too much pressure on Gibson early in his career. He said Mike Laga, who played for him in 1984, would "make us forget every power hitter who ever lived."[15] He also said Johnny Bench (who played for him in Cincinnati) "will never throw a baseball as hard as Mike Heath" (a catcher who played for him in Detroit).

Anderson is the last American League manager to date to win a game by forfeit. This came a month after being hired in Detroit when, as a result of Disco Demolition Night in Chicago, the second half of a doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox had to be called off after an anti-disco demonstration went awry and severely damaged the playing surface at Comiskey Park. Even after White Sox groundskeepers removed debris from the field, Anderson refused to let the Tigers take the field. He was not only concerned for the safety of his players, but believed the field was unplayable. When American League officials initially made plans to postpone the game until the next afternoon, Anderson demanded that the game be forfeited to the Tigers. He argued that the White Sox, as the home team, were obligated to provide acceptable playing conditions. The next day, American League President Lee MacPhail largely upheld Anderson's argument and forfeited the second game to the Tigers, 9–0.[16][17]

Both during his tenure with the Tigers, and for a time thereafter, Anderson did some television work as a baseball commentator. From 1979 to 1986 (with the exception of 1984), Anderson was often paired with Vin Scully and later Jack Buck on CBS Radio's coverage of the World Series. From 1996 to 1998, he was a color analyst for the Anaheim Angels' cable television broadcasts.

While still in Detroit, Anderson founded the charitable organization CATCH (Caring Athletes Teamed for Children's and Henry Ford hospitals) in 1987, which helps provide care for seriously ill children whose parents do not have health insurance or the means to otherwise pay for the care. He continued to support and participate in the charity well into his retirement.[20] When interviewed in 2008, Anderson said that CATCH was "the single best thing I ever did in Detroit."[21]

Sparky Anderson's number 10 was retired by the Cincinnati Reds in 2005.

Sparky Anderson's number 11 was retired by the Detroit Tigers in 2011.

Anderson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2000. Although he managed 17 seasons in Detroit and just 9 seasons in Cincinnati, his Hall of Fame plaque has him wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform. He chose to wear the Reds cap at his induction in honor of former GM Bob Howsam, who gave Anderson his first chance at a major-league managing job.[1] Before his induction, Anderson had refused to go inside the Hall because he felt unworthy, saying "I didn't ever want to go into the most precious place in the world unless I belonged."[6] In his acceptance speech he gave a lot of credit to his players, saying there were two kinds of managers, "One, it ain't very smart. He gets bad players, loses games and gets fired. There was somebody like me that was a genius. I got good players, stayed out of the way, let 'em win a lot, and then just hung around for 26 years."[1] He was very proud of his Hall induction, "I never wore a World Series ring ... I will wear this ring until I die."[1]

Anderson was also inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame the same year. On May 28, 2005, during pre-game ceremonies in Cincinnati, Anderson's jersey number, #10, was retired by the Reds. A day in Anderson's honor was also held at Detroit's Comerica Park during the 2000 season.

On June 17, 2006, Anderson's number was retired by the Fort Worth Cats, for whom Anderson had played in 1955.[22] In 2007, Anderson was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Throughout the 2011 season the Tigers honored Anderson with a patch on their right sleeves. They officially retired his No. 11 on the brick wall at Comerica Park on June 26, 2011.[23]