Sparky Anderson

Sparky Anderson, a former baseball manager and member of the Baseball Hall Of Fame, is in hospice care at his home in California. His family reports that he is ailing from complications of dementia.

Sparky Anderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, and is 76 years old. Here are five things that you may not know about Sparky Anderson:

1. He led his team to a World Series victory three times, with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and the Tigers in 1984.

2. He appeared in a Disney Channel movie in 1983, called Tiger Town, and played himself.

3. “Sparky” is a nickname, and Sparky Anderson’s real name is George Lee Anderson.

4. Anderson’s father played baseball on a semi-pro team, which is what first got him interested in the sport.

5. He met his wife Carol Valle, in the fifth grade. They were finally married in 1953.

Sparky Anderson