BengalszoneBilly Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Sparky Anderson, Hall of Fame Manager, in Hospice Care With DementiaHall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson is suffering from dementia and has been placed in hospice care, his family said Wednesday. The 76-year-old Anderson won the World Series at the helm of both the Reds (1975-76) and Tigers (1984). He reached the playoffs four additional times in a managing career that ran from 1970-95, compiling a career record of 2,194-1,834. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 after being elected by the veteran's committee. He has lived since retirement in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he'll undergo care for complications of dementia, according to a statement released Wednesday by his family. It read in part: "The Anderson family, which consists of wife Carol, sons Lee and Albert, and daughter Shirley Englebrecht, wishes to express appreciation to all friends and fans for the support and kindness they have shown throughout Sparky's career and retirement." Sad to see such a great man go out this way. Thanks for leading the Big Red Machine Sparky. Read the full article here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 One of my favorite people in sports.Truly sad for not only him, but his whole family.God bless them all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 He's gone. />http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/11/04/hall-fame-manager-sparky-anderson-dead/So long, Sparky. Thanks for all the championships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 I just read about his passing. Sad to hear about the dementia. True story. About 15 years ago I did some work at Sparky's home in Thousand Oaks. Sadly, he wasn't there at the time. Anyways, after the job was completed his wife asked me for a favor. Would I please climb to the top of a ladder and change some of the burned out bulbs she couldn't reach. Sure thing, I said, and up the ladder I went. Below me a voice soon called out. "Oh by the way, since you're already up the ladder how about knocking down the cobwebs?" Not a problem, said I, and down came the cobwebs. Happy to do it, I said. Later, as I'm loading up my truck with equipment his wife approached me carrying a bat autographed by every member of the championship Tiger team, including several players who were inducted in the Hall of Fame. I tried to refuse the gift but Sparky's wife wasn't having it, saying...."If you don't want the bat follow me into his study and pick something else out. It's all junk to me." Horrified at the thought of her taking anything else from Sparky without his knowledge I agreed to accept the bat, which I later gave to my nephew as a Christmas gift. Fast forward several years later and I actually meeet Sparky while standing in line at a Thousand Oaks area Kentucky Fried Chicken. I introduced myself as a big fan, prompting him to ask..."Reds or Tigers?" I answered by naming the entire batting order of the Big Red Machine. He cracked up. Then I told him the story about his wife and the autographed bat. Rather than being angry he just laughed more and said..."I guess I'm lucky that woman doesn't give away the rings still on my fingers." Later, after eating his meal with his friend he stopped by my table to say goodbye. Then he left and after a few minutes I watched him drive by the window in an aging white Lincoln TownCar that looked like it hadn't been washed in years. And of course he waved to me as he passed by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Nice story Hair, thanks for sharing.Sparky WAS Cincinnati Reds baseball when I was growing up. Sure, I knew all the players, had the ballcards, bats and so on, but everyone knew Sparky. He, as well as many other Reds at the time came to the schools and spoke to the kids and those were always some of my favorite days growing up. For those of you to young to remember, he was and always will be a great sports figure and person to Cincinnati. I hope I speak for others when I say, he will truly be missed. Very sad day in my book.Prayers go out to all of his family left behind...Bye Sparky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Nice story Hair, thanks for sharing. One of my current employees just told me a story of meeting Sparky while shopping here in Thousand Oaks. Same friendly conversation. Same willingness to spend time talking to fans. Autographs for everybody who wanted one. And he said Sparky paid a little extra attention to his younger brother despite him being too young to even know who Sparky was. R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted November 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Nice story Hair, thanks for sharing.Sparky WAS Cincinnati Reds baseball when I was growing up. Sure, I knew all the players, had the ballcards, bats and so on, but everyone knew Sparky. He, as well as many other Reds at the time came to the schools and spoke to the kids and those were always some of my favorite days growing up. For those of you to young to remember, he was and always will be a great sports figure and person to Cincinnati. I hope I speak for others when I say, he will truly be missed. Very sad day in my book.Prayers go out to all of his family left behind...Bye SparkyExcellent story Hair, and R.I.P. Sparky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semiotter Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Baseball lost a Icon of the game today. One of the greats. Class act all around. On and off the field. R I.P Sparky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakq27 Posted November 13, 2010 Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 It's a little late but that was a nice story Hair. I had a chance to get his autograph at a baseball memorabilia show and he seemed like a descent guy like everyone has portrayed him.As a kid, I thought that Sparky was like a father figure or this person of great authority that you believed in blindly. He couldn't be wrong. To a lesser extent I always felt that Pete had that same self-conviction that made you believe that anything they said was possible. I think that's why those two meshed together so well.He will truly be missed. Looking back on all of the highlights and clips makes me realize how much harsher sports is today. Maybe it was my age at the time but today everything is so overblown and over analyzed with this edge of nastiness. Everyone is just waiting to knock the king off of the hill, witness Tiger, LeBron and Favre of late. That era seemed to be a little more respectful and less hateful.RIP Main Spark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakq27 Posted November 13, 2010 Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 For the folks who may not have seen any of the local coverage on Sparky, here are some links.Sparky photoshttp://news.cincinna...11030810&Ref=PHSparky tribute at GABPhttp://news.cincinna...11050804&Ref=PHSparky quoteshttp://cincinnati.co...nderson-quotes/Sparky "Did You Know" factshttp://news.cincinna...n-Did-you-know-Sparky WKRP video http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2008/06/wkrp-episode-sparky.htmlJoe Morgan on Sparkyhttp://news.cincinna...emembers-Sparky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted November 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 For the folks who may not have seen any of the local coverage on Sparky, here are some links.Sparky photoshttp://news.cincinna...11030810&Ref=PHSparky tribute at GABPhttp://news.cincinna...11050804&Ref=PHSparky quoteshttp://cincinnati.co...nderson-quotes/Sparky "Did You Know" factshttp://news.cincinna...n-Did-you-know-Sparky WKRP video http://www.dailyfungo.com/2010/11/04/video-sparky-on-wkrp-in-cincinnati/Joe Morgan on Sparkyhttp://news.cincinna...emembers-SparkyThat WKRP in Cincinnati episode was a great find Tony! Just hearing that theme song makes me feel good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakq27 Posted November 13, 2010 Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 Thanks Bill. Love the line of "every time I come to this town, I get fired."I love hearing him say "Cincinnat-a" too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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