Felt he deserved better the the RIP thread we have. I will never forget the joy I had with the 84 team, it cemented my love for baseball... A true class act and my wishes of peace to his family... He will be missed.
He was very good friends with Ernie Harwell. They used to go on long walks together and stuff. Kind of ironic that we lost them both around the same time.
I loved his optimism...he predicted future greatness for Mike Laga and Torey Lovullo. His best year was '87...the Tigers start out like 11-19 and he says this is the best Tiger team he has been around and they will win...they end up having a great year and winning the division. Sparky will be missed and remembered.
Gool ole country boy at heart. Helped his father paint barns and silos in South Dakota as a child. Looked old at 35 years of age. No player from the 1984 Tiger Words Series team has been inducted into the HOF yet....But Sparky has...
Tied with Chuck Daily for the title (my personal title) of favorite coach/manager in Detroit sports. I'd throw Scotty Bowman in there as well but Chuck and Sparky were in a class by themselves. Thanks for all of the great boyhood memories Sparky!
Hard to believe based on the dates on the HOF plaque that he was in Detroit twice as long as he was in Cinci, but is still more known for the Big Red Machine than the one and done bless you boys...
Great memories. The summer of 1984 is burned in my memory because all I did that year was play baseball, watch the Tigers, and listen to them on the radio at night. The start to that season was the best ever... [STRIKE]only matched by the Flip Saunders led 2006 Pistons.[/STRIKE] Sparky always seemed unpredictable to me in an old school manager kind of way. Here are a couple factoids from that season: After the first 40 games, the Tigers had a +116 run differential! In that streak, we only shut out the opponent once. And on the season, we were shut out 7 times and only shut out the opponent 8 times. However, we held them to 1 run 24 times and 2 runss 26 times. That's almost half the season where 3 runs on offense wins the game for us. We had 2 nine game win streaks. 2 eight game streaks. 4 seven game streaks. 5 six game streaks. And 7 five game streaks. Easily one of the best teams ever. And as I'm pointing out, the starting pitchers were great, but it took managing to get this thing done. 14 saves from Sr. Smoke and 32 saves from Willie Hernandez + a Cy Young. 11 saves by Willie in 1 run ball games!
Should be noted that two of the nine game streaks & one of those 8 game streaks occurred in the first 40 games when the Tigers jumped off to a 35-5 record and coasted home leading league from start to finish. The only question was would they take care of business in post season. I will go out on a limb and say that this team in 1984 was possibly better than the much heralded HOF Big Red machines on the 70's.....they just sustained their reign with two series wins and four pennants and the Tigers were never able to duplicate the success of the 84 season. 1984 Detroit Tigers Schedule by Baseball Almanac The other thing about that year is I met the future Mrs. Dre the day after the Tigers swept the Royals in the ALCS 10/6/84.....I think I will thank Sparky for that too as she fell in love with this excited Tiger fan still lost in Los Angeles..
Saw Sparky a couple times walking with a friend in my neighborhood a few years back. Each time I was in my car driving by. The thought to stop and get his autograph hit me both times but he looked like he was enjoying his walks and I didn't want to bother him. Instead I just waved and he waved back. One of the all-time greats. Thanks for the memories, George. Rest in peace.
