Sparky Anderson | ZOOM |

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        Rookie Reds manager Sparky Anderson and the Cincinnati Reds were seven years ahead of the National League in 1970.

        In Anderson's first year at the helm of the Big Red Machine, the saves compiled by his bullpen outnumbered the complete games of the Reds' starting pitchers.

        It would be 1977 before the National League as a whole had more saves than complete games.

        It wasn't until 1975 that Anderson got the nickname “Captain Hook” — it came during a then-record 45-game stretch without a complete game — but he earned the nickname five years earlier.

HALL OF FAME WEEK

The Enquirer is running a weeklong series of Hall of Fame stories leading to Sunday's inductions:   • Sunday: Bid McPhee didn't need a glove most of his career.   • Monday: How Sparky Anderson became Reds manager   • Tuesday: How Marty Brennaman became Reds broadcaster   • Wednesday: How Tony Perez went from Cuba to the Reds system   • Today: How Anderson became “Captain Hook.”   • Friday: Brennaman's broadcasting style is sharp-edged   • Saturday: Perez's needle wove Big Red Machine fabric   • Next Sunday: Special coverage on each of the Reds' inductees.   • Hall of Fame travelers better act fast

        Newspapers credit Davey Concepcion as originating the nickname after an episode in 1975 when Don Gullett started the game and then, one by one, Anderson called on Pedro Borbon, Clay Carroll, Will McEnaney and Rawley Eastwick to preserve the victory.

        Concepcion said to Anderson after the game: “You've done it before and you'll do it again. You've hooked them all!”

        Part of the reason Anderson made such heavy use of his bullpen — writer George Plimpton called the Reds' bullpens “the sweatshops of major-league baseball” — was that the Reds' relievers had rubber arms.

        His early bullpens were built around Carroll and Borbon. From 1972 through '76, Borbon averaged a whopping 70 appearances a season — 125 innings a year.

        Carroll was almost Borbon's equal for durability:

        He averaged 58 appearances from 1970 through '75. His 37 saves in '72 set a major-league record at the time.

        Later — in '75 and '76, particularly, when the Reds were winning consecutive World Series titles — the Reds had their best bullpens because of McEnaney and Eastwick, who led the league in saves those two seasons.

        One of the better anecdotes during '75 came when Pat Darcy ended the 45-game stretch of no complete games with a nine-inning job July 30. It was a typical midsummer's night in Cincinnati: stifling heat and high humidity.

        After the game, Reds beat writer Bob Hertzel told Darcy, “People were fainting in the stands.”

        “Over a complete game?” a serious Darcy asked.

        Darcy hadn't made the connection between the weather and fans fainting. But one can understand why he might have thought his going the distance was causing people to pass out.

        As the streak of not having a complete game wore on, even Reds fans were booing Anderson loudly when he came out of the dugout to remove another pitcher. Anderson on occasion alluded to the reception his appearances were getting from the patrons.

        “One of these days they are going to have Spear Day at Riverfront,” said Anderson, “and the fan coming closest to my heart when I yank a pitcher will win a Buick.”

        When Anderson approached the mound with the intent to pull a pitcher, it was with the palm of his right hand extended to receive the baseball. He tolerated no attempts from the man on the mound when it came to wanting to stay in the game.

        He knew he was being tough on his pitchers, but he didn't see any other way to handle it.

        “My mother, I love her,” Sparky once said, “but she don't pitch for me.”

        One time, when Darcy tried to discuss remaining on the mound (“No, Sparky, I feel good”), Anderson's answer was to leave his right palm extended and say, without even the slightest trace of a smile, “No, Pat, you'll feel better in the shower.”

        Anderson had a saying for pitchers in Cincinnati, which he later used during his years managing in Detroit.

        “Boys, if you want (to complete) that game, I suggest you go out and get them one-two-three. Play this song in your mind,” Sparky would say, imitating Lawrence Welk conducting a waltz number.

        “One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three. You got no problems from me. But if you start going one-two-three ... four-five, we'll see you later, and we'll get somebody that wants to get them out.”

        That approach led to a lot of icy moments between Anderson and the Reds starting pitchers, who didn't think Anderson was allowing them to become the pitchers they needed to be — guys who could get the tough outs late in the game.

        In the 1997 book Big Red Dynasty, Anderson credited pitching coach Larry Shephard with playing a crucial role on the Big Red Machine.

        “In the nine years I was with him, he literally kept the pitching staff away from me that hated me,” Anderson said. “I could hear them yelling in the coaches' room and Shep saying, "You ain't gonna change that (expletive deleted), so there's no use in trying.'”

        But even the starters had to admit Anderson had the luxury of calling for a quick hook because he had a bullpen that almost always held the opposition and got the save.

        The bullpen was usually four or five pitchers deep, and Anderson used everybody, including those starters who were awaiting their next turn and needed to throw some in preparation.

        “Top to bottom, our staff would beat any other,” Darcy said. “(The Los Angeles Dodgers) might have had three better starters, but our 10-man staff matched up against anybody. Most staffs had two or three guys they hardly ever used. Not Sparky. He used everybody.”

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