By BillyB
It’s 7:00am, a bright, crisp and chilly morning. Forty guys are rallying at the local Denny’s for breakfast. Soon “The Captain” will arrive with the “Freewill Baptist Church” bus and the first keg will be tapped.
It’s opening day of Tigers baseball. The talk centers around Gibbie, Trammel, Sweet Lou, Morris, Lemon, and Hernandez, but always returns to “Captain Hook”. Will Sparky come through on his promise of a World Series title within five years for the Tigers? Sparky has said coaching the “Big Red Machine” was fun but not challenging for a coach. With the likes of Bench, Perez, Griffey, Morgan, Conception, Rose, Foster and Geronimo there was no changing of the starting lineup. But with the Tigers, Sparky got to manage and manage he did! Sparky was a tinkerer who loved to move people in and out of games. He got to know his players well and had a feel of who was up for the game and who needed a break. Sparky believed you needed a strong bullpen and that starters shouldn’t have to pitch a whole game every game if they were going to make it through a season and on to the postseason.
The bus has arrived at the corner of Trumbull and Michigan Ave and the second keg is almost dry. The Captain pilots the Freewill Baptist bus to the bleacher entrance of Tiger Stadium and comes to a halt. A Detroit Police officer steps onto the bus: “Are you boys interested in a parking spot?” he asked every year. Affirmatives were shouted down the isle to the same Detroit cop that boarded the bus yearly. “Who wants to buy a ticket to the Policeman’s Ball?” he would ask. Every hand shot up holding out their dollar. The officer would walk down the isle and collect the cash in return of a “thanks” but never a ticket. Inevitably someone would invite the officer to have a beer. Every year the reply was the same, “You boys know I don’t drink in uniform” as he took off his hat. He would raise his plastic cup to meet our outstretched cups in a cheer. “Here’s to Sparky and the ‘84 Tigers!” and we all downed another brew before heading off the bus.
It was time to go into Tiger stadium. Goose bumps run up and down your arms as you get your first close up of the playing field for the season, and Sparky doing what Sparky does best. He is walking around on the field at a leisurely pace, hands in his back pockets talking and laughing with his players, really just one of us. Periodically Sparky would look up into the stands and wave. Was he waving to you? As the roar of the crowd erupted it was obvious everyone thought Sparky was waving to them.
Oh but when the hands came out of the back pockets the crowd would erupt, the umps would take a step back and think “Holy shit! I am in for it now!”, and a truly magnificent show was about to begin.
So for one last time, “Here’s to Sparky and the Tigers!”
It’s 7:00am, a bright, crisp and chilly morning. Forty guys are rallying at the local Denny’s for breakfast. Soon “The Captain” will arrive with the “Freewill Baptist Church” bus and the first keg will be tapped.
The bus has arrived at the corner of Trumbull and Michigan Ave and the second keg is almost dry. The Captain pilots the Freewill Baptist bus to the bleacher entrance of Tiger Stadium and comes to a halt. A Detroit Police officer steps onto the bus: “Are you boys interested in a parking spot?” he asked every year. Affirmatives were shouted down the isle to the same Detroit cop that boarded the bus yearly. “Who wants to buy a ticket to the Policeman’s Ball?” he would ask. Every hand shot up holding out their dollar. The officer would walk down the isle and collect the cash in return of a “thanks” but never a ticket. Inevitably someone would invite the officer to have a beer. Every year the reply was the same, “You boys know I don’t drink in uniform” as he took off his hat. He would raise his plastic cup to meet our outstretched cups in a cheer. “Here’s to Sparky and the ‘84 Tigers!” and we all downed another brew before heading off the bus.
It was time to go into Tiger stadium. Goose bumps run up and down your arms as you get your first close up of the playing field for the season, and Sparky doing what Sparky does best. He is walking around on the field at a leisurely pace, hands in his back pockets talking and laughing with his players, really just one of us. Periodically Sparky would look up into the stands and wave. Was he waving to you? As the roar of the crowd erupted it was obvious everyone thought Sparky was waving to them. Make no doubt about it, this was Sparky Anderson's team. By the end of the first 40 games with a record of 35-5 no one doubted That Captain Hook was in charge.
Thank You Sparky for many seasons of wonderful ball. We will never forget you walking out to argue a call with an umpire, hands in you back pocket, jumping the baseline ready to make your point.
So for one last time, “Here’s to Sparky and the Tigers!”
Wow, great article. Your anecdote really captures what Sparky meant to the Tigers faithful. He will most certainly be missed.
ReplyDeleteVery nice job, Billy. Sparky was indeed special, as were the Tigers when he was at the helm.
ReplyDelete