CINCINNATI -- Sparky Anderson is 71 years old and has been
retired for 10 years, but he would return to the dugout under the
right circumstances.
During ceremonies to retire his Cincinnati Reds uniform No. 10
Saturday night, the former manager looked over at fellow Hall of
Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez sitting to his left
and said, "I would come back if you could guarantee me that I
could have these players."
The Reds added Anderson's number to those of Bench (5), Morgan
(8), Perez (24), Frank Robinson (20) and the late Fred Hutchinson
(1) and Ted Kluszewski (18) that have been retired by the team.
Jackie Robinson's No. 42 hangs with those numbers on the facade of
the press box at Great American Ball Park.
Anderson, 71, compiled an 863-586 record in nine seasons as the
Reds manager. He is the winningest manager in club history. The
Reds won the NL pennant in 1970, his first season, before losing to
Baltimore in the World Series.
The "Big Red Machine" added three more pennants, and they won
the World Series in 1975 and 1976. Those are the last NL teams to
win back-to-back championships.
"When you have the players I had
Oh, my gosh, what a
treat," Anderson said during a brief speech.
Anderson was fired by the Reds after the 1978 season and was
hired by Detroit during the 1979 season. He went 1,331-1,248 and
won the 1984 World Series in 17 seasons with the Tigers.
Anderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 and
is the only manager to win a World Series in both leagues. He also
is the only manager to lead two franchises in wins, and he was the
first manager to post 100-win seasons in each league.
His 2,164 career wins are third, behind Connie Mack's 3,731 and
John McGraw's 2,763.