George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager.

[4] Anderson began his playing career with the Santa Barbara Dodgers of the Class-C California League, where he was primarily used as a shortstop.

[5] After five minor league seasons without appearing in a Dodger uniform at the MLB level, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on December 23, 1958, for three players, including outfielder Rip Repulski.

[3] The Phillies gave Anderson their starting second base job, and he spent what would be his one full season in the major leagues in 1959.

[5] After watching several practices, Leafs owner Jack Kent Cooke observed Anderson's leadership qualities and ability to teach younger players from all backgrounds.

[7] He made his way back to the majors in 1969 as the third-base coach of the San Diego Padres during their maiden season in the National League.

Within a day of being hired in Anaheim, he was offered the opportunity to succeed Dave Bristol as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

His appointment reunited Anderson with Reds' general manager Bob Howsam, who had hired him as a minor-league skipper in the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati organizations.

They took the National League West division title again in 1973, but lost to the New York Mets in the NLCS, a hard-fought series that went the full five games.

After finishing a close second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974, in 1975 the Reds blew the division open by winning 108 games.

During this time, Anderson became known as "Captain Hook" for his penchant for taking out a starting pitcher at the first sign of weakness and going to his bullpen,[6][11] relying heavily on closers Will McEnaney and Rawly Eastwick.

When the aging Reds finished second to the Dodgers in each of the next two seasons, Anderson was fired on November 27, 1978[11] by general manager Dick Wagner, who had taken over for Howsam a year earlier.

[11] Under new manager John McNamara, the Reds won the division title again in 1979, but lost three straight games to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the League Championship Series.

The 1984 Tigers became the first team since the 1927 New York Yankees to lead a league wire-to-wire, from opening day to the end of the World Series.

[7] Anderson led the Tigers to the Major Leagues' best record in 1987, but the team was upset in the ALCS by the Minnesota Twins.

The next day, American League President Lee MacPhail largely upheld Anderson's argument and forfeited the second game to the Tigers, 9–0.

[17][18] Anderson retired from managing on October 2, 1995,[7] reportedly disillusioned with the state of the league following the 1994 strike that had also delayed the start of the 1995 season.

In an interview on Detroit's WJR radio after his retirement, Anderson said he had told his wife that season, "If this is what the game has become, it don't need me no more."

He finished with a lifetime record of 2,194–1,834,[19] for a .545 percentage[19] and the third-most wins for a Major League manager at the time (behind only Connie Mack and John McGraw).

[20] His win total has since been surpassed by Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox, and Joe Torre, placing him sixth on the all-time list.

From 1979 to 1986 (with the exception of 1984), Anderson was often paired with Vin Scully and later Jack Buck on CBS Radio's coverage of the World Series.

He chose to wear the Reds cap at his induction in honor of former GM Bob Howsam, who gave Anderson his first chance at a major-league managing job.

[1] Before his induction, Anderson had refused to go inside the Hall because he felt unworthy, saying "I didn't ever want to go into the most precious place in the world unless I belonged.

"[6] In his acceptance speech he gave a lot of credit to his players, saying there were two kinds of managers, "One, it ain't very smart.

In 2006, construction was completed on the "Sparky Anderson Baseball Field" at California Lutheran University's new athletic complex.

"[27] On November 3, 2010, it was announced that Anderson had been placed in hospice care at his Thousand Oaks home because of his deteriorating dementia condition.