Sparky Anderson
As a manager
- Cincinnati Reds (1970-1978)
- Detroit Tigers (1979-1995)
- 3 × World Series champion ( 1975, 1976, 1984)
- 2 × AL Manager of the Year (1984, 1987)
- # 10 is not assigned when the Reds
- # 11 is not assigned when the Tigers
George Lee " Sparky " Anderson ( born February 22, 1934 in Bridgewater, South Dakota, † November 4, 2010 in Thousand Oaks, California ) was an American baseball player and manager, and the first team manager, the teams from the National League and the American League led to victory in the World Series.
Biography
Sparky Anderson played in 1959, although only one season as a second baseman in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, but was nevertheless included in the Hall of Fame of the team.
After completing his playful career, he was the mid-1960s Team Manager and worked for the Toronto Maple Leafs (1964 ), the Rock Hill Cardinals (1965 ), the St. Petersburg Cardinals (1966 ), the Modesto Reds (1967 ) and the Asheville tourists (1968).
Large notoriety he achieved in 1970 when he became team manager of the Cincinnati Reds and this to the " Big Red Machine " built in the 1970s. With him the team in 1970, 1972, 1975 and 1976 won the championship title in the National League. Both in 1975 and 1976, he also won with the Cincinnati Reds to the World Series, the final of the U.S. professional baseball leagues ( the National League and American League). For his services he was also inducted into the Hall of Fame of the team. In addition, it carries jersey is no longer awarded with the number 10 of the Reds.
In 1979 he left the Cincinnati Reds and changed as the successor to Billy Martin as team manager for the Detroit Tigers. In 1984, after the victory over the Kansas City Royals and the associated title win in the American League, the San Diego Padres defeated in only five games in the World Series, so a supervised by Anderson team again won the World Series. He was the first coach of the teams from the National League and American League to victory in the World Series led. In addition, he was Team Manager of the Year in 1984 in the American League.
The shortstop of the Tigers, Alan Trammell, was elected Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the World Series. 1987 reached the Tigers last time the American League final, subject to there but the Minnesota Twins. Nevertheless, Anderson was re-elected as Team Manager of the Year in the American League. Until 1995 he remained loyal to the Tigers as a manager, without, however, to win more titles. The Tigers took Anderson into their "Hall of Fame".
Sparky Anderson published next to his experience as a team manager three autobiographical books with the titles The Main Spark: Sparky Anderson and the Cincinnati Reds (1978), Bless You Boys: Diary of the Detroit Tigers ' 1984 Season ( 1984) and Sparky! (1990).
After a heart attack and an unsuccessful angioplasty he underwent on 16 July 1999 a triple bypass surgery.
For his achievements in baseball, he was inducted into the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame and in 2007 into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, both in 2000.
In the World Series in 2006, he threw the second game of the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers the symbolic first pitch.