Friday, February 11, 2000
Sparky big Junior fan
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sparky Anderson has some advice: Buy tickets, Reds fans. Ken Griffey Jr. is worth the price of admission.
“I've been saying for five years that this guy is the best player in baseball,” Anderson said.
“When you watch him, you say, "Oh my goodness!'”
Power is Griffey's calling card, but Anderson says that's by choice.
“If he wanted to,” Anderson said, “he could hit .350 every year. He's that good of a hitter. But that's only half of it. He's like Tiger Woods in golf and Michael Jordan in basketball. I'm not saying who's the best, but he's in that category.”
Anderson, of course, was the Reds manager when Griffey's father, Ken Sr., played for the Reds.
“Those kids (Tony) Perez's boys, Pete (Rose's) boy and Kenny's boys always wanted the colored pop,” Anderson said. “They had to have orange pop, red pop, grape pop, so I kept it in my refrigerator in my office.”
The rule was the kids were allowed in the clubhouse after a Reds win.
“Boy, if we'd lose a game or two, they'd get so sad,” Anderson said. “My wife would say, "let'em in.'”
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