I don't think that it was mentioned here, but another of Mick's favourites, Joe Lis, passed away two weeks ago. 

One way of looking at Sparky's success is to attribute it all to his players.  That is pretty much what he would probably do.  On the other hand, he took over a team that had won 89 games in 1969. They won 102 in 1970 and continued to win throughout the entire decade.  Yes, he didn't bring over Joe Morgan, but little Joe had been a very good player in his 20s in Houston and became an all-time great in his early 30s in Cincinnati.  He wasn't a great tactician, but somehow these great teams ended up beating Pythagoras by 25 games over the decade. His 2nd go-round in Detroit wasn't quite as successful, of course, and again it is tempting to say that he took over a team with a load of talent.  That is true, but the keys to the team, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell, were 21 in his first season and developed pretty much how a fan might dream. 

I don't think that it was mentioned here, but another of Mick's favourites, Joe Lis, passed away two weeks ago. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I had not heard that! Another piece of my childhood ...  :-(

Are Ralph Garr and Frank Pastore still okay?

76?!!

Holy cow, I'd have pegged him at that when he was managing the Tigers.  RIP, Sparky.

Mr. Carlson never should have fired him

Oooh, mathesond, a truly random WKRP reference! Awesome. Wonder how many Bauxites get it?

When I think of Sparky my mind goes to spring training when he would always find one rookie who was going to be the best player at his position.  By July the player was often back in the minors.  But Sparky was so happy and seemingly genuine about it you just looked on it as a rite of spring.

The same number that thought turkeys could fly?

:)

(FWIW, I'm not trying to appear insensitive, but having just lost 2 in-laws recently, and with my biggest client's mother passing away last week, I could really go for some levity right about now)

One way of looking at Sparky's success is to attribute it all to his players.

Some managers just bring that out in people. It's strange - no one ever said, "Earl Weaver? He's got Jim Palmer and Eddie Murray and Brooks Robinson all those other guys. What do you expect?"

I always thought Anderson did a very fine job managing the players he had, not the players he wished he had. And then getting out of their way and letting them win. Sometimes that's the hardest thing of all.

76?!!

Holy cow, I'd have pegged him at that when he was managing the Tigers

Sparky always showed his years and more.  I used to "impress" people by telling them I remember watching Sparky when he actually played .  here (With the AAA Maple Leafs in the early 60's, which is where he started managing). Given how old Sparky seemed, people must have wondered just how old I could possibly be.

One way of looking at Sparky's success is to attribute it all to his players.

Some managers just bring that out in people. It's strange - no one ever said, "Earl Weaver? He's got Jim Palmer and Eddie Murray and Brooks Robinson all those other guys. What do you expect?"

That's pretty much what I remember reading Sparky saying one time regarding those comments about Cito, 1992-83. "When I won those World Series, do you think I did without great players?" (paraphrasing).

he would always find one rookie who was going to be the best player at his position. By July the player was often back in the minors.

Chris Pittaro! Torey Lovullo!

Yes, I too remember those years, JohnL, when Sparky played for the old Maple Leafs at “the Fleet Street Flats”.  In those years, as later at Exhibition Stadium with the Jays, it was the custom for (many) high-schoolers to skip school to attend the game on Opening Day.  I remember Sparky then a gregarious man, chatting with fans, bustling about, distributing autographs freely.   He would even round up other players to give you an autograph -- Eddie Stevens, or Rocky Nelson, or Mike Goliat.  (My prize, though I didn’t realize it until years later, was Burleigh Grimes, the last of the legal spitballers.)   Sparky’s speech was a friendly flow, which--except that it usually had some coherent motif in it--almost rivalled Casey Stengel’s for swell-sounding blarney.  A nice man, and an excellent manager.

Say, did I ever tell ya about the time I was watching Cap Anson and the boys, when they came by on their barnstorming tour? . . .

“the Fleet Street Flats”

A scan of a photo I took there in 1961. No idea who's in the shot. 

I never skipped school to take in Opening Day, but I remember once leaving as early as I could in the afternoon to get there... I think I got there in time for the 9th inning.  I was actually a part-owner of the team in its last year. As things went downhill financially for the franchise, they sold shares, and I bought 20 shares for $20. My parents weren't impressed when they found out, but I wish I still had that stock certificate.

When I did a quick Google about the team, I came across this page http://mopupduty.com/index.php/toronto-maple-leaf-baseball-memoirs/ with some memories & photos of the place & players. (Although he got the radio station info wrong. CKEY 590 that broadcast Maple Leafs game is not the same station as The FAN. The FAN used to be CKFH 1430... Foster Hewitt's old station. I think the two stations swapped spots on the dial quite a few years ago).

 

 

What a great shot, JohnL.

So there was a time when they played ball on real grass in Toronto. It's nice to think about.

When I used Google Image to find that head shot to add to the lede part of the storyy, there were good options in Cicy Red and in Detroit Tiger uniforms. I thought for a moment about which was more appropriate, then decided, in the words Marty Brennaman has repeated so many hundreds of times, "this one belongs to the Reds!"