Wednesday, March 01, 2000
Club celebrates for Sparky
Praise for the man
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SARASOTA, Fla. — Reds personnel might have been expected to thank Sparky Anderson, the manager, for those 1975 and '76 World Championship trophies the club owns. Instead, key Reds figures reveled in Sparky Anderson, the man, after he was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday by the shrine's veterans committee.
“I think the goodness of the person overshadows what kind of manager he was,” broadcaster Marty Brennaman said.
“He's not only one of the greatest managers of all time, but he's also one of the greatest human beings of all time,” General Manager Jim Bowden said. “A very giving man who cares about people, always put the people before his job and was very successful with the ability to motivate players and know when to kick them in the rear and when to pat them on the back. A man who always speaks with honesty, integrity and character.”
Broadcaster Joe Nuxhall recalled that he never heard Anderson complain about an individual, though he might gripe about a tough loss or two.
“Sparky really respected baseball,” Nuxhall said. “He respected the fans and his players.”
Anderson's ability to handle people helped him fine-tune the Big Red Machine where it might have counted most — off the field.
“Certainly he had some great talent,” said Don Gullett, Cincinnati's pitching coach who was a top left-hander on Anderson's staffs. “But having talent on paper and being able to get those guys to play together as a unit is an accomplishment.”
“If he didn't do anything else, the one thing he did was to keep harmony in the clubhouse,” Brennaman said. “Because you had some huge egos in there.”
Brennaman recalled when he was the recipient of Anderson's discipline. In 1974, Brennaman's first year with the Reds, the team suffered a late-inning defeat at Philadelphia. Brennaman made his way to the clubhouse afterward and found reason to laugh at something.
“Sparky called in Joe and said, "You tell him when we get beat, there will be no laughing in this clubhouse,'” Brennaman said.
Anderson was a forerunner of today's managers, who rely heavily on their bullpens. In the '70s, the complete game wasn't yet an endangered species, so Anderson's tendency to yank starting pitchers even when they were performing well earned him the nickname “Captain Hook.”
“He had the knack for knowing when to take pitchers out — again, an accomplishment,” Gullett said.
Of course, Gullett sometimes was the pitcher being removed.
“He was basically very somber when he came out. He was all business,” Gullett said. “When he came out, you usually knew that you were out of the game. He would say, "That's enough for tonight, Donald.' And very few people called me Donald.”
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