Sparky Anderson (1934 – 2010)

It bummed me out to read that Sparky Anderson had been in hospice care recently, and it really sucked to read that he died today.

Besides being a Hall of Fame manager (2 World Series titles with the Reds, one with the Tigers) and a Cincinnati icon (coach of the Big Red Machine, dangit), from everything I've ever read or heard, he was a super-nice guy who didn't let fame and success turn him into a douchebag.

Growing up I heard all kinds of stories about the Reds teams from the 70s. Everyone who told the stories had tons of opinions on who was the best player, the biggest asshole, the most clutch, whatever, but I don't remember anyone ever saying anything bad about Sparky. Knowing that almost everyone in Cincinnati hates almost everything makes that even more impressive.

There have been all kinds of great stories written about him today, a bunch of them re-hashing memorable quotes, etc (he was notorious for butchering grammar), but my favorite was from Pete Rose, who said, “I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit for Sparky.”