Sparky Anderson

Nice remembrance of Sparky Anderson, whose jersey was retired by the Detroit Tigers Sunday.

"We used to be in the car and we'd bet, as he was talking with other people," (his daughter Shirlee) Engelbrecht said. "We'd say, 'When he comes back, he's going to say, 'That's the nicest person I've ever met." And every time he'd come back -- whether it was old, young, male, female -- he'd get in the car, and he'd say, 'That's the nicest person I've ever met.' And then we'd just start laughing."

Anderson, a Hall of Fame manager, led the Tigers to the World Series title in 1984. He had won championships in 1975 and '76 with the Cincinnati Reds.

Killer Cancer

Harmon Killebrew has died.

I don't want to make anything more of this than it was - I didn't know him personally, he wasn't my favorite player or on my favorite team.

But he occupied a place in my childhood, as the 1968 Topps baseball card of mine (right) testifies. I knew who he was, of course. He was a mighty, mighty home run hitter, Paul Bunyanesque even, which is appropriate for an athlete tearing up the field in Minnesota. A terrific hitter and, by all accounts, a terrific person, which is good.

And yet, there is something very sad about Killebrew's death to me, something I can't quite put my finger on, but I have a notion what it is. I suppose what's bugging me can be summed up by critics as the usual sentimental and superstitious tripe that effervesces from a Christian worldview.

I have no desire to be maudlin, to drum up emotions that aren't there or even necessary. Something is just bugging me, that's all. Killebrew's death is sad and I hope his family finds comfort in the days to come. It is sad because another man whose work I admired as a child became old enough to die and that means the clock is ticking. For everybody. Maybe I'm just sobered by the brevity of life and the certainty of its end.

And maybe I'm sobered by the idea that being a terrific person isn't enough when the end comes.

Herzog's 24 Retired

The St. Louis Cardinals retired former manager Whitey Herzog's uniform number on Saturday.

Audio and photos from the Post-Dispatch.

Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog, Hall of Famer

You know him better as Whitey.

Here's a good article from ESPN.

UPDATE: Just watched Whitey's induction speech at MLB.com and it was a lot of fun, but I wish he had told more stories about Casey Stengel and talked about the good teams he had.

Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch has a nice tribute here.

Random Baseball Thoughts. And Football.

I said it was random.

All kinds of stuff going on that are interesting in the last 72 hours or so.

Matt Holliday was retained by the St. Louis Cardinals after testing the free agent market. Keeping him in the fold was huge for the Cards. It is huge because he offers good protection in the lineup for Albert Pujols and relieves some of the pressure off Ryan Ludwick. Keeping him allows the Cards to try a kid at third, David Freese, who won't be as pressured to deliver right away.

The addition of Brad Penny to the rotation deepens an already pretty good staff that may just need a bit of bullpen help to be well rounded. Would like to see John Smoltz stick around for another year.

St. Louis looks like a good bet to defend it's Division title.

Andre Dawson was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. Not much to say other than 'Hawk' is probably a worthy selection. He was, for nearly a decade, as good a player in the game as you could ask for. He did everything well and you have to wonder what he might have been with healthy knees.

Randy Johnson called it a day by announcing his retirement from baseball. Is he the greatest left-handed pitcher ever? Some think so. Five years from now we should be talking about his Hall of Fame selection.

Mike Shanahan goes to Washington to coach the Redskins. This is interesting on many levels. First, Shanahan was very successful in Denver for many years but there is a school of thought that coaches are less effective as they age. Second, the owner of the Redskins is a meddler who WILL NOT let his football people alone to run the team. And the coach he just hired is extremely hands on and desires control. They are making nice right now, but stay tuned. Third, the Redskins are a franchise that matters. The Yankees and Red Sox matter. The Lakers and Celtics matter. The Cowboys and Patriots matter. So do the Redskins and it's irrelevant if you are a fan of them or not. What happens with the Redskins will be watched closely.

And Charlie Weis to Kansas City? Very cool. I'm not a Chiefs fan, never have been, except when I was. For two years KC had Joe Montana and I liked them then. I was living in Ft. Worth at the time and it was nice to follow someone besides the Cowboys.

I like this Weis deal and despite his mediocre run as a head coach at Notre Dame, he has a track record of success as an offensive coordinator in the NFL. I like this move by Scott Pioli a lot.

I'm reading Cal Ripken Jr.'s autobiography which I got at Christmas. There is a lot that goes into making a career in major league baseball and Ripken's book lets us in on it. It's not splashy, but neither is the author. The book has his personality - it gets the job done.

Rickey With Rice

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has selected two more players for induction into the hallowed hall located in Cooperstown, NY. Joining the elite are Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson.

Rice was, for a time, the most feared batter in the game. He had a decent average and tremendous power. It also helped that the lineup he was in was usually pretty potent. He doesn't have the career numbers that many HOF players do and he was a DH for the bulk of his playing days, factors which hurt his chances for election. Indeed, he made it on his 15th try. I always liked him, but I was undecided over whether he merited election.

There are no such qualms over Henderson's election. He is simply the greatest lead off hitter the game has ever seen. He has more stolen bases that anyone, breaking the career record of my childhood hero, Lou Brock. He had more home runs from the lead off spot and scored more runs than anyone ever. A very deserving choice.

We celebrate Henderson's enshrinement by posting an image of Brock.