Sparky enjoying years off

Mark Synder Mark my Words

Every time I enter Tiger Stadium, the same thought races through my mind.

There I was, 10 years old, searching for the rarefied dirt of the infield. Various sections of the diamond were obscured by the stadium support beams and as a kid wanting to see a ballgame, the rationale of construction was lost on me.

But the magnitude of the day was in proper perspective. It was the final day of the 1987 season and my beloved Tigers secured the division title on a Larry Herndon home run.

Following the game, I remember the police horses that surrounded the field . But more than anything, I recall the excitement of the old man.

It was Sparky Anderson at his best. The exuberance of that day - also seen in 1984 when the Tigers captured the World Series title - lit up Sparky's face. Cheering, laughing and enjoying the victory, he made the Tigers fun to watch and fun to love.

But his teams took on a downward spiral and by 1990, Anderson had to leave the team in the middle of the season citing exhaustion.

He came back to manage the Tigers through the 1995 season, but was never the same.

That glow which hooked me on baseball no longer dominates George Lee Anderson. Despite his contention to the contrary, the years have clearly taken their toll on the man's passion for the game.

In Ann Arbor yesterday to sign copies of his new book, Sparky laughed and joked like a man comfortable with his place in the world - away from baseball.

Now, his days are consumed with rounds of golf in sunny California. For the man who went gray early in life, retirement is treating him well as he reminisces on the life he has led.

"To think that where I started out as a kid in South Dakota, to have met the greatest players in the history of the game - and had some of them on my team - nobody could dream that up," he said.

With the exception of the home telecasts he does for the California Angels as a color commentator, Sparky has distanced himself from the game which made him a legend.

"I will always miss managing, but I don't miss baseball," Anderson said.

How could this man, a hero to millions in the city of Detroit and one of the greatest mangers the game has ever known, be driven from the game?

Anderson stood firm during the 1995 baseball strike by refusing to manage the replacement players.

His respect for the game wouldn't allow him to be branded "a clown" and tarnish it in such a manner.

"I feel very strongly that any time you make a mockery out of something, you don't want me," he said. "You can take all the money you want from me, but you aren't going to make me a clown."

But those values, while they appeared controversial at the time, are what endeared him to his legions of players and fans.

To see the legend in the Tiger Stadium dugout again - smiling - before the stadium closes next year would renew my faith in the game.

Even if I had to sit behind a pole.

- Mark Snyder can be reached via

e-mail at msnyder@umich.edu.

04-15-98