Hall of Fame World Series winner in American and National leagues.
Nick Sharkey of Ford Public relations sends this tribute along. Sharkey is both a PR and Baseball expert, but he is too modest to admit it. What follows is Nick’s writing:
“Sparky Anderson, 76, manager of the Detroit Tigers from 1979-1995, died on Thursday, November 4th. He was the first manager to guide teams to World Series titles in the American League (Detroit 1984) and National League (Cincinnati Reds 1975-76). The Metro Detroit Ford Dealers were major sponsors of Tigers’ TV games. In addition, Ford Motor Company was an important contributor to Sparky’s favorite charity, CATCH (Caring Athletes Team for Children in Hospitals). Thus, Ford had strong ties with Sparky.
“At the time Sparky was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame (June 2000) I was Ford’s Public Affairs regional manager in Michigan and Ohio,” said Sharkey. “Sparky did not like to fly and it was known that he was going to take an automobile after CATCH’s annual golf tournament at Meadowbrook in Michigan and drive to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame ceremony.
“So, I arranged for Sparky to borrow a Windstar minivan that had all the bells and whistles (thank you, Elaine Hopkins who ran Ford’s press fleet). This van even had a washer and dryer.
“One day I picked up my phone in my office and heard that familiar gravelly voice say, “Sharkey, this van you got me has everything but a woman.”
“Sparky also did not like to stay in hotels. So, he stayed in the Troy home of the Tigers’ veteran PR guy, Dan Ewald, the night before he left for Cooperstown.
“I arranged a news conference with Sparky for the morning of his departure. When I arrived at Ewald’s house at about 6 a.m. the street was clogged with TV trucks and their large satellite dishes. I walked into the house and introduced myself to Ewald and Sparky. After a few minutes Ewald excused himself to complete some last minute packing.
It was just Sparky and me and some cereal and toast. Sparky ate little which was probably why he stayed so thin. Wow, I thought to myself. I never expected to be alone with Sparky for breakfast on the morning of his departure for the Hall of Fame. I tried to think of something to ask him.
“Suddenly, I remembered a news story about the induction of veteran Cincinnati Reds announcer Marty Brennaman on the same day as Sparky. Marty had said that in his remarks at the ceremony he was going to talk about Pete Rose not being in the Hall of Fame.
“I asked Sparky if he was going to mention Pete during his remarks.
“No, no, no,” he quickly responded. “I will not say a word about Peter. I would never say anything that would embarrass the game of baseball. Baseball has been so good to me.”
“As Sparky often did, he went on and on about how he loved baseball. Then he returned to the subject of Pete Rose, “Despite what I tell them, John and Joseph will have nothing to do with Peter.”
“I thought, “John and Joseph” who are they? Is that a Biblical reference? Then it hit me. He’s talking about JOHNNY Bench and JOE Morgan. He went on to tell me how Rose had involved Bench and Morgan in several bad business deals. Bench and Morgan would not forgive Rose.
“During the news conference in Dan Ewald’s driveway, the theme of Sparky’s remarks was: ‘I have no idea how a .219 lifetime hitter like me is associated with people like Mays, Mantle, Ruth and Cobb (as Hall of Fame members). I’m not in their league.’
“Finally, Sparky ended the news conference, got into the Windstar and drove down the street. A few minutes later the TV trucks and reporters were gone. To my surprise 10 minutes later Sparky pulled the van into Ewald’s driveway. I asked Sparky what was going on.
‘Oh, I don’t drive these days,’ he said, ‘I wanted to make it look good for the TV cameras. My wife won’t let me drive our car to the grocery store. She doesn’t trust me behind the wheel.’
Then he said, ‘Get in, Dan. It’s time to go to Cooperstown!’
“With that, Dan Ewald got behind the wheel of the Windstar and he and Sparky drove down the street.
“May Sparky rest in peace.”
Editor’s note: Nick Sharkey (nicksharkey@comcast.net) is a lifelong baseball fan, and is retired from the Ford Motor Company. He is too modest to admit that he is both a P.R. and a baseball expert.