"The Sparkeroo" as Howard Cosell often called him going, going, gone at 76.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20101104/SPORTS0104/11040457/Hall-of-Fame-Tigers-manager-Sparky-Anderson-dead-at-76
MLB
Sparky Anderson was a great manager who wasn't afraid to move his players around (he had Pete Rose move to third base after eight years in the outfield, to make room for long ball hitter George Foster in the outfield). He managed five pennant winners, and his teams won three World Series.
Anderson was also a principled man, who refused to manage a team made up of replacement players during 1994-1995 labor dispute. Although he managed the Reds for nine years and the Tigers for eighteen, he had a Reds cap on his head for his plaque at Cooperstown, in memory of Bob Howsam, his first GM.
Although they did not speak for many years, Anderson and Pete Rose were not on bad terms lately.
Anderson saw Rose at the Hall of Fame in July 2009, when at the urging of his wife, he went into one of the shops where Rose was doing his annual autograph signing session. The two spoke briefly.
Then, this past summer, Rose was a guest at Anderson's home for an afternoon/evening.
A class act, all around. R.I.P.
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