Pride of the Prairie Series – Barry, Anderson and Leahy Connected to Glory
(Note - this blog is the first in a "Pride of the Prairie" series, that will feature all-time greats from South Dakota and the Midwest).
For writers, finding a few gems of knowledge, particularly new jewels that have been hidden for some time, is like a kid enjoying a twist ice cream cone on a hot Sunday afternoon. You get excited and imbibe in a treat that is refreshing but leaves you wanting more.
Recently, I found out that the legendary University of Southern California baseball and basketball coach Justin "Sam" Barry was born in Aberdeen, S.D. After reading about his life, I learned that he along with George "Sparky" Anderson of Bridgewater, S.D., and Frank Leahy of Winner, S.D., had connections including being born or growing up as youth in South Dakota.
Barry, along with Cincinnati and Detroit baseball manager Anderson, and Notre Dame coaching legend Leahy had careers that left an imprint on the national sports scene. All three men have been inducted into prestigious national Halls of Fame. And, interestingly, both Anderson and Leahy have direct connections to Barry.
After the death of legendary USC football coach Howard Jones in 1941, Barry was named head coach of the Trojans for football, baseball and basketball, a rarity. Barry had served as Jones’ top assistant for years and had come to the Los Angeles campus because of Jones, who coached with him at Iowa.
Jones left Iowa in 1923 after directing the Hawkeyes to a co-championship of the Big Ten, which wasn't again accomplished until 1956. He went to Trinity College (later became Duke University) for a year before he was hired in 1925 at USC. When USC’s basketball job opened in 1929, Jones recommended his friend and former colleague. Barry took the job and also was named head baseball skipper.
Over the next 12 plus years, both men experienced significant success, as Barry also served as a football assistant to Jones. USC won three national titles in football, seven PAC-10 conference titles and five Rose Bowls. USC's baseball (5) and basketball (3) teams, coached by Barry, won a combined eight conference championships.
The USC football team, which was mourning Jones’ death, didn’t recover in 1941, falling to a 2-6-1 record with Barry at the helm. Yet, Barry led the team to a pair of impressive performances, including knocking off Oregon State, who would go to the Rose Bowl that season. In the season opener, Barry, in his first game as USC football coach, directed the Trojans to a 13-7 win as USC scored the winning TD with 13 seconds to play.
Later in the year, Barry directed his troops to a near upset of fourth-ranked Notre Dame at South Bend, where the Irish were led by first-year coach Frank Leahy, who finished 8-0-1. For Leahy it was the start of a remarkable career. Barry would serve as USC's coach just two more games before leaving the campus to serve in the U.S. Navy in 1942. Barry's final game as head coach was a 7-7 tie with city rival UCLA in the 1941 season finale.
So, there it was a Winner kid (Leahy) and an Aberdeen boy (Barry) matching coaching strategy as their teams butted head on the biggest of stages. Leahy's Irish won a close encounter, 20-18, before more than 54,000 in attendance.
An interesting sidebar about that 1941 game is that both Barry and Leahy were first-year coaches. In the long rivalry of USC-ND, it wasn’t until Brian Kelly of Notre Dame and Lane Kiffin of USC met in 2010, that another pair of first year coaches faced off in one of America's most famed rivalries.
Also during that time, Barry became acquainted with Sparky Anderson, who served as the bat boy for the USC baseball team in the early 1940s.
All three men had famed careers and biographies worth noting. Here is a look back at the careers of the three men, all who unfortunately have passed on, but are prime examples of the "Pride of the Prairie."
George "Sparky" Anderson
When Anderson was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, he was able to say hello to a lot of old friends. "Sparky" often mentioned his Bridgewater, S.D., roots during his long association in major league baseball.
He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 World Series championships, then added a third title in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers of the American League. He was the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues. His 2,194 career wins are the sixth most for a manager in Major League history. Named the American League Manager of the Year in 1984 and 1987, Anderson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
When he was just eight years old, Anderson moved with his family to Los Angeles. Later he was a batboy for the USC Trojans and attended Susan Miller Dorsey H.S. After graduation, he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953, Interestingly, he was on the 1951 team that won a national American Legion baseball championship, held at Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.
After several years in the minor leagues, Anderson was given his chance to start with the Philadelphia Phillies as their second basemen in 1958. He hit just .218 and was back in the minor leagues. Following four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International league, owner Jack Kent Cooke, who later would own the Los Angeles Lakers, encouraged Anderson to seek a career in managing and offered the Leafs job to him in 1964 when Anderson was 30.
During this period, he had pennant winners four straight seasons, including 1965 with the Rock Hill Cardinals of the Western Carolinas League, 1966 with the St. Petersburg Cardinals of the Florida State League, 1967 with the Modesto Reds of the California League and 1968 with the Asheville Tourists of the Southern League.
In the 1966 season, Sparky’s team lost to Miami, 4-3, in 29 innings, which remains the longest baseball game played by innings without being interrupted.
Anderson was named third base coach for the San Diego Padres during 1969 when the expansion Padres began its tenure in the National League. A year later he was named to the California Angeles staff by Lefty Phillips. However, he didn’t go to Anaheim. Soon after being hired, Cincinnati General Manager Bob Howsam, who had hired him as a minor league manager in the St. Louis and Cincinnati farm systems, offered Sparky the chance to take over for Dave Bristol as the Reds head man.
He began his first major league managing job on Oct. 8, 1969, amidst negative commentary such as “Sparky who?”
Undaunted, Anderson directed Cincinnati to the 1970 pennant, winning 102 regular season games. During that season, the Reds would be given the moniker, “The Big Red Machine,” even as they lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles in five games.
The Reds won the pennant again in 1972 although they fell to Oakland in the World Series. In 1973, Sparky’s Reds won a divisional title and then finished second in 1974 (to the Dodgers). In 1975, baseball was awakened to the power of the "Big Red Machine,"which won the division and had a major league best-108 wins. In one of the most dramatic and still talked about World Series, the Reds edged the Boston Red Sox in seven games. The Reds won the World Series again in 1976 after winning 102 regular season games. And, Yankee haters will love this -- the Reds swept the Yankees in the 1976 World Series.
Cincinnati was dominating in the playoffs those two seasons, going 14-3, including winning the final eight postseason games in succession. In fact, in Anderson's three World Series championship runs, his teams had a combined 21-4 record.
Anderson followers know that he was given the nickname, “Captain Hook,” for his impatience with starting pitchers in Cincinnati where he relied on ace relief pitchers Will McEnaney and Rawly Eastwick. And, it should be noted that his impatience with starting pitchers didn't change in Detroit, even with the likes of Jack Morris, Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox. With league MVP Willie Hernandez (32 converted save opportunities), "Captain Hook" continued to rely on his bullpen.
The Reds G.M. Dick Wagner fired Anderson in November of 1978 after the Reds had consecutive second place finishes. Anderson, who didn’t warm to management in Detroit or Cincinnati, refused to fire his coaching staff and the Reds replaced him with John McNamara.
Clearly, Anderson had one of the most dynamic personalities in the game and the Detroit Tigers needed some spark. In June 1979, they hired "Sparky" to take over its young and talented, if undisciplined, team. He promptly predicted that the Tigers would have a pennant winner in five years.
The Tigers immediately finished above .500 in each of Sparky’s first three seasons. In 1983, Detroit won 92 games and finished second to Baltimore.
A year later, Sparky’s prognostications held true.
The Tigers opened the season with a major league record 35-5 mark, breezing to a franchise record for wins with 104 (58 losses). It was at Detroit that Sparky became the first manager to win 100 games with two different teams.
Detroit swept Kansas City in the league championship series and rolled past San Diego, his former employers, in five games to capture the 1984 World Series crown.
After third place finishes in 1985 and 1986, the Tigers had the majors’ best record in 1987, holding off Toronto in a race to the finish. Anderson, who in 1986 had become the first manager to win 600 games in both the American and National leagues, saw his Tigers upset by upstart Minnesota, who would defeat St. Louis in a classic World Series. The title was the Twins' first since 1924 when it was the Washington Senators.
The Tigers finished second to Boston in 1988 (by one game), and then, in 1989 lost 103 games. Detroit rebounded in 1991, finishing second behind Toronto.
Anderson retired in 1995, likely due to his indifference with the Tigers management. After a stint in TV as a color analyst, Sparky was inducted into Cooperstown in 2000 and he wore the Cincinnati cap in honor of Howsam, who gave him his first managerial opportunity.
Five years later, Cincinnati inducted Sparky into their Hall of Fame and retired his #10. The Tigers had a day honoring Anderson in 2000 but it wasn't until June 26, 2011 that Detroit retired his #11. A flag with his name now flies at Comerica and the Tigers are wearing the #11 on their jersey sleeves this season. Still, the long wait by Detroit leaves a stain on the organization, especially since Anderson died in 2010.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101104&content_id=15996288
Frank Leahy
Leahy, who died 28 years ago on June 21, 1973, grew up in Winner, S.D., after moving to South Dakota with his family from O'Neill, Neb. He starred in football, basketball and baseball at Winner until he moved to Omaha as a senior. Leahy played tackle on Knute Rockne's last three Notre Dame teams from 1928-30.
After graduating from Notre Dame in 1931, he hooked on as a line coach at Michigan State, where “Sleepy” Jim Crowley was head coach. Crowley was one of the famed “Four Horsemen” at Notre Dame in the early 1920s. The Irish legendary backfield, the “Four Horsemen,” came from a New York Herald Tribune column by noted journalist Grantland Rice, after the Irish, who finished #1 and unbeaten, defeated Army in 1924. In his column, Rice compared Crowley and his mates to the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." The other members of that famed group included Elmer Layden, Don Miller and Harry Stuhldrehler.
It was at Michigan State where Leahy was on the sidelines for the Spartans when they defeated University of South Dakota, 20-6, in the eighth game of the 1932 season. That Coyotes team included Coyote Hall of Famers Dan Lennon (Lennon Relays and longtime Coyotes track coach) of Vermillion, S.D., and Cletus Clinker of Mobridge, S.D. On the USD coaching staff was longtime Coyote basketball coach and Athletic Director Carl B. "Rube" Hoy.
Leahy was later the line coach at Fordham, where the "Seven Blocks of Granite,” bulldozed opponents under head coach Crowley guidance. The Fordham teams were 12-1-3 in 1936 and 1937 and included Vince Lombardi, long before his famous career with the Green Bay Packers. The other "Blocks of Granite,"were Leo Paquin, John Druze, NFL Hall of Famer Alex Wojciechowicz, Ed Franco, Al Babartsky and Natty Pierce.
In 1939 Leahy took over the Irish head coaching duties from his fellow "Horsemen" mate, Layden.
Leahy coached the Irish in 1939-40, 1941-43 and 1946-53, compiling a mark of 107-13-9, or an .864 winning percentage, which still ranks second best in NCAA DI football annals. He trails only his mentor and coach Knute Rockne.
A member of two Notre Dame national title teams as a player in 1929 and 1930, Leahy and was head coach for four Irish squads in 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1949. Leahy also served as the athletic director at Notre Dame from 1947 until 1949. Leahy led Notre Dame to six unbeaten seasons and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1970.
Leahy, who served in the Navy beginning in 1944 and reached a rank of lieutenant, returned to South Bend in 1946. He led the Irish to another national title that season after playing Earl Blaik's Army team to a scoreless tie in Yankee Stadium. The game called one of the "Games of the Century" was a battle of defenses, despite the presence of four Heisman Trophy winners (past, current, future) - including Army's "Touchdown Twins" of Doc Blanchard (1945) and Glenn Davis (1946); and the Irish's Johnny Lujack (1947) and Leon Hart (1949). It is the only time in history four Heisman winners played in the same collegiate game.
The Irish won national titles again in 1947 and 1949. A 14-14 tie against Southern California in 1948 prevented perhaps what would have been three straight national crowns for Leahy's Irish.
In 1953, Leahy's last season in South Bend, the Irish finished with a 9-0-1 mark. The one blemish was a 14-14 with Iowa, which cost the team another national crown and Leahy respect. It was alleged that his Irish players "faked" injury to prevent the clock from winding down. Twice, the Irish scored (late in the first half and late in the second half) after players "faked" injury to stop the clock with Notre Dame out of timeouts.
Leahy resigned in 1954 due to health issues.
During his Leahy coached four Heisman Trophy winners including Angelo Bertelli in 1943, Johnny Lujack in 1947, Leon Hart in 1949, Johnny Lattner in 1953. He also recruited Paul Hornung, who won the Heisman in 1956 before becoming an all-time great with the Green Bay Backers.
Leahy, who called his players "lads," was as old school as he gets. His tough-nosed style of football didn't value field goals. He said "Notre Dame didn't kick field goals, Notre Dame was too tough to kick field goals." It is a philosophy that cost his team in the 1946 Army game when the Irish moved the ball inside the Cadets' four-yard line. They turned the ball over on downs.
Leahy's final foray into football was serving as the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers' general manager in 1960.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DroTXCHt81M
Justin "Sam" Barry
Barry is considered one of the greatest coaches in collegiate sports history. He played a major role in the development of the basketball and baseball programs at The University of Southern California. He is just one of three coaches ever to have led a men's basketball team to the Final Four and lead a baseball team to the College World Series.
Originally of Aberdeen, his family moved to Wisconsin at a young age. He was a standout in basketball, baseball and football at Madison, Wisc., after which he competed at Lawrence College and earned a degree at the University of Wisconsin. He served a short stint as coach at Madison High and then became A.D. for little known Knox College in Illinois from 1918-22.
Barry led the Hawkeyes' basketball team to Big 10 co-championships in 1923 and 1926 – the first two conference titles in team history.
At USC, Barry's Trojan basketball teams enjoyed remarkable success, including PAC 10 titles in 1930, 1935 and 1940. His 1940 team was considered the best team in the nation and later would be be selected as the 1940 national champions (by the Helms Foundation) despite its failure to win the NCAA tournament, which was in its infancy stages. While today's "Big Dance" includes 68 teams and is one of the most watched events in sports, the NCAA tournament began as an eight-team tournament in 1939. In 1940, USC lost to Kansas when the son of Phog Allen made a basket in the closing seconds of the game played at Kansas City.
His baseball teams were more successful with conference titles in 1930, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and World Series berths in both 1948 and 1949.
Barry was also a valued part of the USC football teams which claimed national championships in 1931, 1932 and 1939, as well as seven PAC-10 titles and five Rose Bowl victories. Barry served as Jones' top assistant and was likely the team's defensive coordinator, although assistants did not have titles tied to their duties.
USC football had a 25-game win streak from 1931 to 1933, with the 1938 team finishing undefeated after vanquishing Duke, 7-3, in the 1939 Rose Bowl. Duke had held all of its opponents scoreless that season.
In 1942, Barry joined the Navy to do his part in World War II. While in the Navy, he took control of physical and military training for Navy personnel in the South Pacific. As a result of his effort, he was the recipient of a Naval Commendation honor from Secretary of Navy James Forrestal.
Upon fulfilling his Naval services in 1945, Barry returned to take over USD basketball and baseball and serving as an assistant for head football coach Joe Cravath. He directed USC to the 1948 College World Series where they defeated Yale and captain and future president George Bush for the title. USC returned to the CWS in 1949 but lost twice to Wake Forest by scores of 2-1.
Barry died on Sept. 23, 1950 while scouting for the USC football team at the University of California.
It was fitting that at the Trojan’s next home game – against Iowa -- Barry was honored for his 18 seasons as a USC assistant football coach (1929-40, 1945-50) and his long run as a head baseball and basketball coach. It should be noted that the Aberdeen native had four consensus All-American basketball players in Jerry Nemer, Lee Guttero, Ralph Vaughn and Bill Sharman.
One of Barry's remarkable legacies is the number of players who became great coaches. They included Sharman, who directed the Lakers to the 1972 NBA title, Alex Hannum (coached the 1966 Philadelphia 76ers and 1958 St. Louis Hawks to NBA titles), Tex Winter, Jack Gardner, Forrest Twogood and Bob Boyd in basketball, and perhaps the greatest college baseball coach ever, Rod Dedeaux.
It was Barry who suggested that USC hire Rod Dedeaux (12 College Baseball World Series titles - most ever) when he entered the Navy in 1942. The two men later co-coached USC during runs to the College World Series.
Barry was innovative who was partly responsible for eliminating the center jump after free throws in basketball, which sped up the game. He was also responsible for creating the center line and 10-second rule. Barry also invented the triangle offense which Winter and University of North Dakota alum Phil Jackson turned into great success with the NBA championship teams in Chicago and Los Angeles.
One final note on Barry, he established a 40-game winning streak in men's basketball against UCLA – pre-John Wooden – from 1932-42 and in 1946. It is longest winning streak by any coach against a single opponent in the history of college basketball. In 1966, he became a member of the charter class of inductees to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and in 1978, he was elected to membership in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was among the 2007 class of inductees to the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.
For writers, finding a few gems of knowledge, particularly new jewels that have been hidden for some time, is like a kid enjoying a twist ice cream cone on a hot Sunday afternoon. You get excited and imbibe in a treat that is refreshing but leaves you wanting more.
Recently, I found out that the legendary University of Southern California baseball and basketball coach Justin "Sam" Barry was born in Aberdeen, S.D. After reading about his life, I learned that he along with George "Sparky" Anderson of Bridgewater, S.D., and Frank Leahy of Winner, S.D., had connections including being born or growing up as youth in South Dakota.
Barry, along with Cincinnati and Detroit baseball manager Anderson, and Notre Dame coaching legend Leahy had careers that left an imprint on the national sports scene. All three men have been inducted into prestigious national Halls of Fame. And, interestingly, both Anderson and Leahy have direct connections to Barry.
After the death of legendary USC football coach Howard Jones in 1941, Barry was named head coach of the Trojans for football, baseball and basketball, a rarity. Barry had served as Jones’ top assistant for years and had come to the Los Angeles campus because of Jones, who coached with him at Iowa.
Jones left Iowa in 1923 after directing the Hawkeyes to a co-championship of the Big Ten, which wasn't again accomplished until 1956. He went to Trinity College (later became Duke University) for a year before he was hired in 1925 at USC. When USC’s basketball job opened in 1929, Jones recommended his friend and former colleague. Barry took the job and also was named head baseball skipper.
Over the next 12 plus years, both men experienced significant success, as Barry also served as a football assistant to Jones. USC won three national titles in football, seven PAC-10 conference titles and five Rose Bowls. USC's baseball (5) and basketball (3) teams, coached by Barry, won a combined eight conference championships.
The USC football team, which was mourning Jones’ death, didn’t recover in 1941, falling to a 2-6-1 record with Barry at the helm. Yet, Barry led the team to a pair of impressive performances, including knocking off Oregon State, who would go to the Rose Bowl that season. In the season opener, Barry, in his first game as USC football coach, directed the Trojans to a 13-7 win as USC scored the winning TD with 13 seconds to play.
Later in the year, Barry directed his troops to a near upset of fourth-ranked Notre Dame at South Bend, where the Irish were led by first-year coach Frank Leahy, who finished 8-0-1. For Leahy it was the start of a remarkable career. Barry would serve as USC's coach just two more games before leaving the campus to serve in the U.S. Navy in 1942. Barry's final game as head coach was a 7-7 tie with city rival UCLA in the 1941 season finale.
So, there it was a Winner kid (Leahy) and an Aberdeen boy (Barry) matching coaching strategy as their teams butted head on the biggest of stages. Leahy's Irish won a close encounter, 20-18, before more than 54,000 in attendance.
An interesting sidebar about that 1941 game is that both Barry and Leahy were first-year coaches. In the long rivalry of USC-ND, it wasn’t until Brian Kelly of Notre Dame and Lane Kiffin of USC met in 2010, that another pair of first year coaches faced off in one of America's most famed rivalries.
Also during that time, Barry became acquainted with Sparky Anderson, who served as the bat boy for the USC baseball team in the early 1940s.
All three men had famed careers and biographies worth noting. Here is a look back at the careers of the three men, all who unfortunately have passed on, but are prime examples of the "Pride of the Prairie."
George "Sparky" Anderson
When Anderson was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, he was able to say hello to a lot of old friends. "Sparky" often mentioned his Bridgewater, S.D., roots during his long association in major league baseball.
He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 World Series championships, then added a third title in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers of the American League. He was the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues. His 2,194 career wins are the sixth most for a manager in Major League history. Named the American League Manager of the Year in 1984 and 1987, Anderson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
When he was just eight years old, Anderson moved with his family to Los Angeles. Later he was a batboy for the USC Trojans and attended Susan Miller Dorsey H.S. After graduation, he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953, Interestingly, he was on the 1951 team that won a national American Legion baseball championship, held at Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.
After several years in the minor leagues, Anderson was given his chance to start with the Philadelphia Phillies as their second basemen in 1958. He hit just .218 and was back in the minor leagues. Following four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International league, owner Jack Kent Cooke, who later would own the Los Angeles Lakers, encouraged Anderson to seek a career in managing and offered the Leafs job to him in 1964 when Anderson was 30.
During this period, he had pennant winners four straight seasons, including 1965 with the Rock Hill Cardinals of the Western Carolinas League, 1966 with the St. Petersburg Cardinals of the Florida State League, 1967 with the Modesto Reds of the California League and 1968 with the Asheville Tourists of the Southern League.
In the 1966 season, Sparky’s team lost to Miami, 4-3, in 29 innings, which remains the longest baseball game played by innings without being interrupted.
Anderson was named third base coach for the San Diego Padres during 1969 when the expansion Padres began its tenure in the National League. A year later he was named to the California Angeles staff by Lefty Phillips. However, he didn’t go to Anaheim. Soon after being hired, Cincinnati General Manager Bob Howsam, who had hired him as a minor league manager in the St. Louis and Cincinnati farm systems, offered Sparky the chance to take over for Dave Bristol as the Reds head man.
He began his first major league managing job on Oct. 8, 1969, amidst negative commentary such as “Sparky who?”
Undaunted, Anderson directed Cincinnati to the 1970 pennant, winning 102 regular season games. During that season, the Reds would be given the moniker, “The Big Red Machine,” even as they lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles in five games.
The Reds won the pennant again in 1972 although they fell to Oakland in the World Series. In 1973, Sparky’s Reds won a divisional title and then finished second in 1974 (to the Dodgers). In 1975, baseball was awakened to the power of the "Big Red Machine,"which won the division and had a major league best-108 wins. In one of the most dramatic and still talked about World Series, the Reds edged the Boston Red Sox in seven games. The Reds won the World Series again in 1976 after winning 102 regular season games. And, Yankee haters will love this -- the Reds swept the Yankees in the 1976 World Series.
Cincinnati was dominating in the playoffs those two seasons, going 14-3, including winning the final eight postseason games in succession. In fact, in Anderson's three World Series championship runs, his teams had a combined 21-4 record.
Anderson followers know that he was given the nickname, “Captain Hook,” for his impatience with starting pitchers in Cincinnati where he relied on ace relief pitchers Will McEnaney and Rawly Eastwick. And, it should be noted that his impatience with starting pitchers didn't change in Detroit, even with the likes of Jack Morris, Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox. With league MVP Willie Hernandez (32 converted save opportunities), "Captain Hook" continued to rely on his bullpen.
The Reds G.M. Dick Wagner fired Anderson in November of 1978 after the Reds had consecutive second place finishes. Anderson, who didn’t warm to management in Detroit or Cincinnati, refused to fire his coaching staff and the Reds replaced him with John McNamara.
Clearly, Anderson had one of the most dynamic personalities in the game and the Detroit Tigers needed some spark. In June 1979, they hired "Sparky" to take over its young and talented, if undisciplined, team. He promptly predicted that the Tigers would have a pennant winner in five years.
The Tigers immediately finished above .500 in each of Sparky’s first three seasons. In 1983, Detroit won 92 games and finished second to Baltimore.
A year later, Sparky’s prognostications held true.
The Tigers opened the season with a major league record 35-5 mark, breezing to a franchise record for wins with 104 (58 losses). It was at Detroit that Sparky became the first manager to win 100 games with two different teams.
Detroit swept Kansas City in the league championship series and rolled past San Diego, his former employers, in five games to capture the 1984 World Series crown.
After third place finishes in 1985 and 1986, the Tigers had the majors’ best record in 1987, holding off Toronto in a race to the finish. Anderson, who in 1986 had become the first manager to win 600 games in both the American and National leagues, saw his Tigers upset by upstart Minnesota, who would defeat St. Louis in a classic World Series. The title was the Twins' first since 1924 when it was the Washington Senators.
The Tigers finished second to Boston in 1988 (by one game), and then, in 1989 lost 103 games. Detroit rebounded in 1991, finishing second behind Toronto.
Anderson retired in 1995, likely due to his indifference with the Tigers management. After a stint in TV as a color analyst, Sparky was inducted into Cooperstown in 2000 and he wore the Cincinnati cap in honor of Howsam, who gave him his first managerial opportunity.
Five years later, Cincinnati inducted Sparky into their Hall of Fame and retired his #10. The Tigers had a day honoring Anderson in 2000 but it wasn't until June 26, 2011 that Detroit retired his #11. A flag with his name now flies at Comerica and the Tigers are wearing the #11 on their jersey sleeves this season. Still, the long wait by Detroit leaves a stain on the organization, especially since Anderson died in 2010.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101104&content_id=15996288
Frank Leahy
Leahy, who died 28 years ago on June 21, 1973, grew up in Winner, S.D., after moving to South Dakota with his family from O'Neill, Neb. He starred in football, basketball and baseball at Winner until he moved to Omaha as a senior. Leahy played tackle on Knute Rockne's last three Notre Dame teams from 1928-30.
After graduating from Notre Dame in 1931, he hooked on as a line coach at Michigan State, where “Sleepy” Jim Crowley was head coach. Crowley was one of the famed “Four Horsemen” at Notre Dame in the early 1920s. The Irish legendary backfield, the “Four Horsemen,” came from a New York Herald Tribune column by noted journalist Grantland Rice, after the Irish, who finished #1 and unbeaten, defeated Army in 1924. In his column, Rice compared Crowley and his mates to the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." The other members of that famed group included Elmer Layden, Don Miller and Harry Stuhldrehler.
It was at Michigan State where Leahy was on the sidelines for the Spartans when they defeated University of South Dakota, 20-6, in the eighth game of the 1932 season. That Coyotes team included Coyote Hall of Famers Dan Lennon (Lennon Relays and longtime Coyotes track coach) of Vermillion, S.D., and Cletus Clinker of Mobridge, S.D. On the USD coaching staff was longtime Coyote basketball coach and Athletic Director Carl B. "Rube" Hoy.
Leahy was later the line coach at Fordham, where the "Seven Blocks of Granite,” bulldozed opponents under head coach Crowley guidance. The Fordham teams were 12-1-3 in 1936 and 1937 and included Vince Lombardi, long before his famous career with the Green Bay Packers. The other "Blocks of Granite,"were Leo Paquin, John Druze, NFL Hall of Famer Alex Wojciechowicz, Ed Franco, Al Babartsky and Natty Pierce.
In 1939 Leahy took over the Irish head coaching duties from his fellow "Horsemen" mate, Layden.
Leahy coached the Irish in 1939-40, 1941-43 and 1946-53, compiling a mark of 107-13-9, or an .864 winning percentage, which still ranks second best in NCAA DI football annals. He trails only his mentor and coach Knute Rockne.
A member of two Notre Dame national title teams as a player in 1929 and 1930, Leahy and was head coach for four Irish squads in 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1949. Leahy also served as the athletic director at Notre Dame from 1947 until 1949. Leahy led Notre Dame to six unbeaten seasons and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1970.
Leahy, who served in the Navy beginning in 1944 and reached a rank of lieutenant, returned to South Bend in 1946. He led the Irish to another national title that season after playing Earl Blaik's Army team to a scoreless tie in Yankee Stadium. The game called one of the "Games of the Century" was a battle of defenses, despite the presence of four Heisman Trophy winners (past, current, future) - including Army's "Touchdown Twins" of Doc Blanchard (1945) and Glenn Davis (1946); and the Irish's Johnny Lujack (1947) and Leon Hart (1949). It is the only time in history four Heisman winners played in the same collegiate game.
The Irish won national titles again in 1947 and 1949. A 14-14 tie against Southern California in 1948 prevented perhaps what would have been three straight national crowns for Leahy's Irish.
In 1953, Leahy's last season in South Bend, the Irish finished with a 9-0-1 mark. The one blemish was a 14-14 with Iowa, which cost the team another national crown and Leahy respect. It was alleged that his Irish players "faked" injury to prevent the clock from winding down. Twice, the Irish scored (late in the first half and late in the second half) after players "faked" injury to stop the clock with Notre Dame out of timeouts.
Leahy resigned in 1954 due to health issues.
During his Leahy coached four Heisman Trophy winners including Angelo Bertelli in 1943, Johnny Lujack in 1947, Leon Hart in 1949, Johnny Lattner in 1953. He also recruited Paul Hornung, who won the Heisman in 1956 before becoming an all-time great with the Green Bay Backers.
Leahy, who called his players "lads," was as old school as he gets. His tough-nosed style of football didn't value field goals. He said "Notre Dame didn't kick field goals, Notre Dame was too tough to kick field goals." It is a philosophy that cost his team in the 1946 Army game when the Irish moved the ball inside the Cadets' four-yard line. They turned the ball over on downs.
Leahy's final foray into football was serving as the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers' general manager in 1960.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DroTXCHt81M
Justin "Sam" Barry
Barry is considered one of the greatest coaches in collegiate sports history. He played a major role in the development of the basketball and baseball programs at The University of Southern California. He is just one of three coaches ever to have led a men's basketball team to the Final Four and lead a baseball team to the College World Series.
Originally of Aberdeen, his family moved to Wisconsin at a young age. He was a standout in basketball, baseball and football at Madison, Wisc., after which he competed at Lawrence College and earned a degree at the University of Wisconsin. He served a short stint as coach at Madison High and then became A.D. for little known Knox College in Illinois from 1918-22.
Barry led the Hawkeyes' basketball team to Big 10 co-championships in 1923 and 1926 – the first two conference titles in team history.
At USC, Barry's Trojan basketball teams enjoyed remarkable success, including PAC 10 titles in 1930, 1935 and 1940. His 1940 team was considered the best team in the nation and later would be be selected as the 1940 national champions (by the Helms Foundation) despite its failure to win the NCAA tournament, which was in its infancy stages. While today's "Big Dance" includes 68 teams and is one of the most watched events in sports, the NCAA tournament began as an eight-team tournament in 1939. In 1940, USC lost to Kansas when the son of Phog Allen made a basket in the closing seconds of the game played at Kansas City.
His baseball teams were more successful with conference titles in 1930, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and World Series berths in both 1948 and 1949.
Barry was also a valued part of the USC football teams which claimed national championships in 1931, 1932 and 1939, as well as seven PAC-10 titles and five Rose Bowl victories. Barry served as Jones' top assistant and was likely the team's defensive coordinator, although assistants did not have titles tied to their duties.
USC football had a 25-game win streak from 1931 to 1933, with the 1938 team finishing undefeated after vanquishing Duke, 7-3, in the 1939 Rose Bowl. Duke had held all of its opponents scoreless that season.
In 1942, Barry joined the Navy to do his part in World War II. While in the Navy, he took control of physical and military training for Navy personnel in the South Pacific. As a result of his effort, he was the recipient of a Naval Commendation honor from Secretary of Navy James Forrestal.
Upon fulfilling his Naval services in 1945, Barry returned to take over USD basketball and baseball and serving as an assistant for head football coach Joe Cravath. He directed USC to the 1948 College World Series where they defeated Yale and captain and future president George Bush for the title. USC returned to the CWS in 1949 but lost twice to Wake Forest by scores of 2-1.
Barry died on Sept. 23, 1950 while scouting for the USC football team at the University of California.
It was fitting that at the Trojan’s next home game – against Iowa -- Barry was honored for his 18 seasons as a USC assistant football coach (1929-40, 1945-50) and his long run as a head baseball and basketball coach. It should be noted that the Aberdeen native had four consensus All-American basketball players in Jerry Nemer, Lee Guttero, Ralph Vaughn and Bill Sharman.
One of Barry's remarkable legacies is the number of players who became great coaches. They included Sharman, who directed the Lakers to the 1972 NBA title, Alex Hannum (coached the 1966 Philadelphia 76ers and 1958 St. Louis Hawks to NBA titles), Tex Winter, Jack Gardner, Forrest Twogood and Bob Boyd in basketball, and perhaps the greatest college baseball coach ever, Rod Dedeaux.
It was Barry who suggested that USC hire Rod Dedeaux (12 College Baseball World Series titles - most ever) when he entered the Navy in 1942. The two men later co-coached USC during runs to the College World Series.
Barry was innovative who was partly responsible for eliminating the center jump after free throws in basketball, which sped up the game. He was also responsible for creating the center line and 10-second rule. Barry also invented the triangle offense which Winter and University of North Dakota alum Phil Jackson turned into great success with the NBA championship teams in Chicago and Los Angeles.
One final note on Barry, he established a 40-game winning streak in men's basketball against UCLA – pre-John Wooden – from 1932-42 and in 1946. It is longest winning streak by any coach against a single opponent in the history of college basketball. In 1966, he became a member of the charter class of inductees to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and in 1978, he was elected to membership in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was among the 2007 class of inductees to the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.
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