Sparky Anderson

http://detnews.com/article/20101104/SPORTS0104/11040343/1004/SPORTS/Ex-Tigers-react-to-news-of-hospice-care--Sparky-Anderson%E2%80%99s-dementia

I know that's a long URL, but use it: It connects to a "life" article as opposed to a "death" article (Sparky died yesterday). It also connects to brief conversations with many members of the '84 Tigers.

For the record, Lance Parrish was my favorite -- and, no matter what people say, Parrish (not Kirk Gibson) was responsible for bringing in the winning run during the fifth game of the World Series that year. Gibson brought in some insurance runs that were nice to have, but unnecessary.

I was at Game Five, and I was in Detroit for the NON-riot that ensued, as everyone realized that the Tigers were World Series champions. It was a great time. I still have my ticket to that game. Here's the story: I met Sparky, when he released the book Bless You Boys (I was a bookstore manager at the time), about the '84 season. It was a book signing, so everyone else was getting his signature on their copies of the book. I bought a copy, but when I was first in line, I had him sign my ticket instead. Yup, I still have it. Took a look at it this morning and uttered a sigh for a truly great manager.