THEY CALL ME SPARKY by Anderson, Sparky (with Dan Ewald) - 1998

Chelsea, Michigan: Sleeping Bear Press, 1998. (vi) 256 pp. Black boards lettered in silver on the spine; gray endpapers; headband; illustrated with black and white photographs. Light wear at the corners of the dustjacket; price intact; no interior markings. Sparky started his playing career in the California League for the Santa Barbara Dodgers in 1954, then moved up to Double-A Ball in 1955 with the Forth Worth Cats of the Texas League, then in 1956, he moved up to Triple-A with the Montreal Royals, Jackie Robinson's first team. He spent five seasons in the minor leagues without ever wearing a major league univform, then got traded to the Phillies where he spent one full season in the major leagues, 1959. But he was sent back down and played his next four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, which was owned by Jack Kent Cooke. Cooke appreciated Anderson's leadership qualities and convinced him to try coaching. In 1964, Anderson started to manage the Leafs, his first managing job, when the Leafs were affiliated with the Milwaukee Braves and the Washington Senators. From the Leafs, he went on to manage an assortment of minor league teams, getting to the majors as a third-base coach for the San Diego Padres in 1969. In 1970, the California Angels hired him for their coaching staff, but almost immediately after that, the Cincinnati Reds hired him as manager and the rest is well-known history. Said Johnny Bench, "There's a difference between a good manager and a great one. The good one will tell you there's more than one way to skin a cat. The great manager will convince the cat it's necessary. Sparky had the cats carrying the knives to him." The Contents are: Introduction; Statistical Legacy; Putting It on the Line; The Right Thing - The Only Thing; Sparky; What Are You Doing Here?; Makers of Men; Take the Time; Little Georgie Is Still the Same; And It Don't Cost a Dime; It's All About People; About the Real People; If at First You Don't Succeed; Learning from the Bottom Up; The Big Red Machine; About Discipline; Just Keep Going; Refusing to Quit; The Reds' Pink Slip; Turning Defeat into Victory; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chicago; A Lesson in Loyalty; Opportunity and Youth; A Character Check; The Perfect Summer; A Very Painful Wake-up; And When I'm Bad; From the High Side and Low; From the Kids; Better Late Than Never; Sparky's Greatest Gift; For the Children; The Universal Manager; It's People First; Did He Say That?; Honesty and Humor; A Bogey and a Smile; And Still Not a Dime; And in Closing.. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo.