Goodbye Captain Hook

It took me a while to get over it.

OK, I really never got over it, but I let it go.

When Tigers manager Sparky Anderson took the field for the first time I was not happy, not at all.

Now, I was glad he was the Tigers skipper, heck, it was fantastic.

What I didn't like was his uniform.

I was simply upset, and in fact, I might have started to cry.

Sparky Anderson was wearing #11...wait, what. no, it couldn't be, #11?

Hey, that's Bill Freehan's number I cried out...how dare the Tigers disgrace my boyhood hero's number like that...#11 belonged to the best catcher the Tigers ever had, not a guy in his first game.


OK, I know that was a minor flaw in my character, but hey, I had been personally hurt, so I thought, by the Tigers  injustice towards my hero.


Sparky Anderson passed away today, and to say I was sad would be a tremendous disservice to one of the greatest baseball men ever.


Sparky was a true baseball man, a man who loved the game more and more every single day.


The Tigers should honor Sparky in some way, and I think that way should be to retire #11, do it next year, Freehan turns 69 this month, and honor both those great men at Comerica Park.


#11 was a special number, and I think the Tigers have been slow in doing things like this.


Sparky is in the Hall of Fame, and the Tigers need to do the right thing.


May Sparky rest in peace.