When I was growing up in Dearborn, MI, and being an enthusiastic young baseball fan as many boys are, there were always two figures who stuck out to me more than any others. One was the Tigers radio announcer - a wonderful man named Ernie Harwell, who passed away from cancer last year. Listening to Tigers games as a boy has left his voice imprinted on my mind: he's still calling every Tigers game I watch or listen to, in my mind's ear. The other was another elderly man, also not a player - it was Sparky Anderson, manager of the Tigers from 1979-1995. I can always see him leaning on the dugout, a crotchety look on his face.
Sparky was one-of-a-kind. He had his own set of firm beliefs and morals about managing a ballclub and he stuck by them. He pulled pitchers when he grew impatient with them. He benched guys. He insisted that his ballplayers be clean-shaven (remember those 80s mustaches?). He heaped praise on them. He famously called Kirk Gibson "the next Mickey Mantle" when he came up from the minors... both Sparky and Gibby acknowledged later that perhaps that put a lot of undue pressure on the young outfielder. But Sparky made the Tigers champions.
Sparky inherited a young, talented team that was the product of a strong Tigers farm system (a farm system which remains strong today). Kirk Gibson was still in the minors, but he had youngsters like Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris and Lance Parrish already up. Whitaker and Trammell formed an All-Star 2B/SS combination that would hold for almost two decades in Detroit. Both Lou and Tram played their entire careers as Tigers, which was something that marked Sparky's Tigers team - they felt like family. Parrish was a Tiger until 1986. Gibson until 1987. Morris until 1990. It was a different era in baseball then, compared to now, where it seemed like those franchise guys stuck around. But it was partly Sparky too, who loved his players so much that it got him fired from Detroit.
Sparky will always be remembered most in Detroit for the 1984 season - a magical year when the Tigers started out 35-5 (a major league record to this day) and ended the season with 104 wins, a franchise record for the Tigers. They beat the Padres that year, in five games, winning the World Series. For Sparky, it was his third World Series win and it made him the first manager to win it all with AL and NL teams. He'll be remembered, when Kirk Gibson took the plate in the eighth inning, the Tigers ahead 5-4, runners on 2nd and 3rd. Goose Gossage, who struck Gibson out in his first Major League at-bat, decided against an intentional walk. Sparky flashed Gibson five fingers. Gibson flashed back ten. A ten-dollar wager. Gibson hit the hit of his life - a blast to the right-field seats that sealed the game and the victory. It's a moment that lives on in Detroit's memory. It's Gibson's moment. It's Sparky's moment.
Sparky retired in 1995. He clashed with the Tigers ownership when he refused to manage replacement players at the start of the strike-shortened 1995 season. Ownership placed him on an involuntary leave; he returned to manage the Tigers when the striking players did. After the season ended, Sparky retired. Whether it was his choice, or the Tigers front office pushing him out as gracefully as possible, or a mutual realization that resentments lingered from his refusal to manage replacement players... no one knows for sure. What's known is the tragedy - that fences were never mended. That Sparky died this past November with his number not yet retired in Detroit. He was as important a sports fixture in Detroit as anyone else in the past quarter-century. It's deserved. And, thankfully, it's time.
Sparky's number 11 will be retired today at Comerica Park. Even more poetic is that the Tigers are playing the Diamondbacks right now and they'll be there for it - their manager is Kirk Gibson, their bench coach is Alan Trammell. Sparky's kids will be there. I hope Mike Illitch, the Tigers owner since 1992, is there, burying the hatchet once and for all as Detroit gives honor and praise to the man who helped reinvent the Tigers and bring a love of baseball back to the city. When I think of baseball, I think of Sparky Anderson, in his fabric Tigers jacket, looking like a grandfatherly curmudgeon in the dugout. Sure, I still hear Ernie Harwell in my ears, but when I look at the dugout of my mind's eye, Sparky Anderson will always be in charge there.
One additional note.
Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball right now and he does not appear to be slowing down. I don't know what clicked for him this year, but it seems like during his brief struggles and then his no-hitter against Toronto, something just fell into place for him. It shows. Verlander is beyond dominant ever since. He's 8-0 in his last 10 starts with a 1.56 ERA. He's 6-0 with a 0.72 ERA in his last six. He's got his opponents hitting below .200 off of him. That's just hitting. And he struck out a career-high 14 last night against Arizona. Verlander is in the middle of the best streak of his career and, amazingly, it shows no signs of slowing down. He's throwing his 100-mph fastball in the eighth and ninth innings and displaying a degree of calm and control that's absolutely stunning to watch. You hear people say "he's a machine" - about anyone, at a job they're good at. Verlander is a machine this season. Watching him, he just looks that good. I don't know when he'll slow down, when he'll get torched again, but for now - Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball.
At the ten-win mark, Verlander:
10-3 record, 2.38 ERA, 4 complete games, 2 shut-outs, 1 no-hitter, 124 strikeouts, 27 walks, 0.84 WHIP.
His 124 strikeouts and 0.84 WHIP are currently the best in the league. He's tied for most wins, at 10, with CC Sabathia and Jair Jurrjens. His 2.38 ERA is fifth-best in the league.
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