Sports
Sparky Anderson
1934–2010 · baseball manager
Hall of Fame manager who led the Tigers from 1979 to 1995, won the 1984 World Series and holds the club record for managerial wins.
- Born
Bridgewater, South Dakota- Died
Thousand Oaks, California
aged 76- Birth name
- George Lee Anderson
- Also known as
- Captain Hook
- Detroit years
- 1979–1995
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Sparky Anderson first saw Detroit's ballpark as a teenager, when his Los Angeles American Legion team won the 1951 national championship at Briggs Stadium. After winning two World Series with Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, he was hired by the Tigers in June 1979 and promised a champion within five years. He delivered: the 1984 Tigers started 35–5, a major-league record, won a franchise-record 104 games and swept through the playoffs to beat San Diego in the World Series, making Anderson the first manager to win the title in both leagues. White-haired, talkative and famous for colorful exaggerations about his players, he became one of Detroit's best-known figures and managed seventeen seasons, winning 1,331 games, still the most in club history. In 1987 he founded the CATCH charity to help children at Detroit hospitals. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Tigers retired his No. 11 in 2011.
Highlights
- Managed the Tigers 1979–1995; 1,331 wins, a club record
- 1984 world champions after a record 35–5 start
- First manager to win the World Series in both leagues
- American League Manager of the Year 1984 and 1987
- Hall of Fame 2000; No. 11 retired by the Tigers in 2011
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1951, 1979–1995
Tiger Stadium (site)
Demolished · 1912–1999
Where his Legion team won a national title in 1951 and where he managed the Tigers for seventeen seasons; demolished in 2008–2009.
Memorial · 2011
Comerica Park
The Tigers retired his No. 11 here in 2011. The park is due to be renamed Fifth Third Park before 2027.