Sparky Anderson died

[HahnSolo]

Struggling to come up with the seven.

Bench, Rose, Morgan, Perez, Concepcion(?) and...?

[batmagadanleadoff]

There was a time when George Foster appeared to be Hall of Fame bound.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Griffey?

[Frayed Knot]

According to Joe Morgan, the entire team deserved induction.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yes, Griffiey and Foster.

Foster became a Met and Griffey --- like Bobby Bonds --- had an excellent career eclipsed by siring a son who was nearly twice the ballplayer.

He really kind of wasn't much as a Yankee in what should have been some prime years. You can really reduce the paths that diverged them from the road to the Hall of Fame as "Foster became a Met and Griffey became a Yankee. There you have it --- 1982 was the year the Big Red Legacy turned on itself. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the year Rose lost control of himself and Morgan first became a douchebag.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Sparky as Phillies shortstop in 1959:

[Guest Edgy DC]

He only looks about 50 there.

[Frayed Knot]

On the plus side I bet the guy was getting senior citizen discounts for shit when he was like 50 years old - without being asked to even prove it.

[seawolf17]

Frayed Knot wrote: On the plus side I bet the guy was getting senior citizen discounts for shit when he was like 50 years old - without being asked to even prove it.

Hell, the guy was so distinctive, he probably got free stuff wherever he wanted.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Frayed Knot wrote: According to Joe Morgan, the entire team deserved induction.

Just about all of them are in the Reds Hall of Fame. I was present for the induction of Cesar Geranimo.

BTW: If you ever get the chance, the Reds Hall is not to be missed. It's incredible. And they inducted Seaver, as they should.

[Frayed Knot]

About as good a one minute summation as one could ask for:

[MFS62]

HahnSolo wrote: Struggling to come up with the seven. Bench, Rose, Morgan, Perez, Concepcion(?) and...?

Hey!
Don't forget Lee May, the dad of Lee May Jr. (d'oh) - a #1 draft pick of the Mets.
Lee Sr. was such a good hitter they moved Tony Perez to third to make room for him at first base. When that didn't work out, IIRC they tried it the other way around for a while.

Later

[seawolf17]

MFS62 wrote: HahnSolo wrote: Struggling to come up with the seven. Bench, Rose, Morgan, Perez, Concepcion(?) and...? Hey! Don't forget Lee May, the dad of Lee May Jr. (d'oh) - a #1 draft pick of the Mets. Lee Sr. was such a good hitter they moved Tony Perez to third to make room for him at first base. When that didn't work out, IIRC they tried it the other way around for a while. Later

That made me laugh. The company that owned the seats behind us when we had Ducks tickets had the most incredible collection of morons working for them. One night, while Pete Rose Jr. was at the plate, the guy behind us turned to his wife and said "You know, Pete Rose Junior is Pete Rose's son." No shit, moron.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Reportedly, this is the second time Sparky has died.

Prank on area man might have been end of road for Sparky Anderson Former minor league teammate Emerson Unzicker, of Hamilton, recalls future legend. By Rick McCrabb, Staff Writer HAMILTON � Apparently hiring Bob Howsam as general manager wasn�t the key to building the �Big Red Machine.� Neither was trading for George Foster from the San Francisco Giants. Or acquiring Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Denis Menke from the Houston Astros for Tommy Helms, Lee May and Jimmy Stewart. The future was secured on a two-lane highway in Iowa during the summer of 1954 when George �Sparky� Anderson, who managed the Cincinnati Reds to back-to-back World Championships, was a second baseman for the class-A Pueblo (Colo.) Dodgers of the Western League. Back then, minor leaguers frequently took lengthy bus trips. Since this was before air-conditioning, the ride was uncomfortable. That�s why Emerson �Emmy� Unzicker of Hamilton, a left-handed starting pitcher for the Dodgers, brewed a jug of iced tea for the road trip. He placed the tea in the luggage compartment above his seat. His roommate, George Witt, and Anderson decided that once Unzicker fell asleep, they�d sneak up the aisle, remove the jug and drink the tea while sitting in the back of the bus. Anderson, who couldn�t stop laughing at the prank, choked on the tea, stopped breathing for a minute or so � �He turned purple,� Unzicker said � and was resuscitated by teammates after the bus pulled off the side of the road. That�s how close the machine came to losing its main spark. Unzicker played with Anderson for one season. He never considered Anderson, the first manager to win World Championships in both leagues, manager material. �He was the last guy on the team you�d suspect,� Unzicker said while sitting in his Hamilton home. �He never pretended to be intelligent, but he had a lot of common sense. He was street smart.� Unzicker�s wife, Janice, called Anderson �a very common man.� Unzicker said Anderson was �a good friend� and he �hated to hear� that Anderson died Nov. 4. During the 1954 season, players on the Dodgers took their team photos around and had teammates autograph them. Years later, Unzicker realized his team picture, which included major-leaguer Maury Wills, was missing Anderson�s signature. When Anderson came to Hamilton for a dinner honoring longtime JournalNews Sports Editor Bill Moeller, Unzicker had his picture autographed. They shared a drink and a few laughs � just not at the same time. Spark of love hits baseball player Baseball players love telling stories. More than 50 years after throwing his last professional pitch in the Dodgers farm system, Emerson �Emmy� Unzicker can�t pick a runner off first base, but he enjoys spinning a good tale. Unzicker, 78, of Hamilton played seven seasons (1952-58) as a left-handed pitcher in the Dodgers organization. He never tasted the Major Leagues, but he spent one season in double-A Pueblo (Colorado), where two of his teammates were George �Sparky� Anderson, the first manager to win a World Series in both leagues, and Maury Wills, who played 14 seasons, 12 with the Dodgers. He cherishes a 1954 team picture of the Pueblo Dodgers. It�s hard to tell Unzicker from the young bat boy kneeling next to him. At the time, Unzicker, all 5-foot-8 of him, weighed 165, which was several Big Macs ago. �I couldn�t gain weight back then,� he said. �They had me putting raw eggs in milk shakes. I tried it all.� His wife, Janice, said, �It worked. Now you can�t lose.� Unzicker pitched once at Crosley Field in Cincinnati on Aug. 15, 1951, his 19th birthday. The Dodgers were in town, and they asked him to pitch batting practice. Afterward, Unzicker sat in the dugout, and he was soon joined by Jackie Robinson and a swarm of reporters. Cincinnati�s Ewell Blackwell was pitching that day, and the reporters wanted to know if Robinson, who was leading the league in hitting at the time, would rest his tired body against the Reds ace. Robinson played that day and had two hits. A love story Unzicker and his wife met in Kokomo, Ind., toward the end of his career. When he pulled his trailer into Kokomo before the 1956 season, he needed gas and a place to park. The clerk said there were two trailer parks in town, one on the north end, another on the south end, close to Highland Park Stadium. A few days later, as fate would have it, Unzicker needed groceries and a young woman named Janice was working the cash register. She caught Unzicker�s eye. When he returned later to buy more groceries and she was working, he asked her out for a cup of coffee. They dated for four months, and, after being encouraged by his manager Pete Reisner, Unzicker proposed. Sort of. It went something like this: �Pete said we should get married �� When that didn�t capture her heart, he asked, �If I ask you to marry me, will you say, yes?� They were married at home plate later that season, and they recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary. �They said it wouldn�t last,� his wife said. He compiled a 68-70 record with a 3.89 ERA during his seven-season career. When his baseball career ended, Unzicker joined American Materials Gravel Co., where he worked for more than 20 years. He later became an independent house contractor. He built 30 homes and rents them out. �It�s a nice retirement,� he said. It also gives him time to tell stories.

[Valadius]

The Tigers will be retiring Sparky's #11 this year.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Valadius wrote: The Tigers will be retiring Sparky's #11 this year.

Which is almost shameful considering how long he's been retired. Both Sparky and Mike Illitch, the owner, were stubborn folks, and never put their issues behind them.