I Had the Pleasure of Knowing Sparky Anderson

November 4, 2010

Joe Lapointe, long-time New York Times sports reporter, was on the sports beat in Detroit in the late 70's and early 80's at the same time I was.  He was a sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press.  I was a sports reporter and anchor for the CBS affiliate, WJBK-TV, Channel 2. Sparky was "old school" and wasn't thrilled with women sports reporters coming into his team's locker rooms.  But he never blocked my entry, always treated me fairly and -- eventually, once I had earned my stripes, he and I had a great working relationship.   

He was a high quality man of integrity and great charisma.  He held himself and all of his players to high standards.  I can't do better than Joe Lapointe did in profiling a high quality man who rose from very humble roots to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Click here to read Joe's piece on Sparky. 

Stay in touch with Anne

Sign up here to receive special messages from Anne about current topics.

Processing