The death of beloved manager Sparky Anderson got me to thinking about why he was so beloved. It's not just that he was an excellent manager and a winner; it is the fact that he was a character. He told funny stories, he made outlandish (but not outrageous) statements, and he understood his role and played it to the hilt. I mean,the guy went by "Sparky" for goodness sake (his given name was "George.") Can you imagine say 30 years from now anyone except his family regarding Mike Shanahan as "beloved"? Or a character? Can you imagine that for any NFL coach for that matter?
That's the beauty of baseball, really. In literary terms, it's all about character and dialogue and while the plot is important, the climax of each season's story is usually not as important as the journey we took to get there. Even at the peak of the plot line, we remember the color surrounding the plot moreso than the results. Some remember the guy (Scott Spezio) who hit the three-run homer in the 7th inning of game 6 that gave the Angels life and propelled them to a World's Championship in 2002, but everyone remembers that was the Rally Monkey World Series. When the details of this year's World Series fade, the image of Aubrey Huff and his red rally thong are sure to stay with us. (For good or bad.)
For that matter, many baseball fans are content with a beautiful or historic setting (see Wrigley Field or Rebel Park, for example) and the plot outcome, that is winning or losing, is secondary.
Modern football, on the other hand, is all about plot. Let's face it; how many times do you watch the NFL and see a guy you thought was still on your team playing on another team and you didn't even realize that he was gone? Football used to have its share of characters in the 50s and 60s including Alex Karras, Joe Namath, Paul Hornung, Artie Donovan, Big Daddy Lipscomb, Wahoo McDaniel Dandy Don Meredith, and others, but name one guy now who would be considered a "character" in the Sparky Anderson/Aubrey Huff mode? And I'm not talking about "villain"; the NFL is full of those, I'm talking about character. I can't think of any.
No one tunes in to watch Peyton Manning play quarterback. They tune in to watch the Indy Pretenders win or lose. Plenty of people tuned in, however, just to see Stephen Strasburg pitch without caring whether the Nationals win or lose.
Put it this way: The "chapters" in the NFL season are entitled, "Week 1," "Week 2," etc. Unimaginative, colorless, but appropriate. Baseball's chapter titles include "June Swoon" and the "Dog Days."
Football fans in other cities don't root for Mike Shanahan, John Harbaugh, or Mike Tomlin, but baseball fans everywhere rooted for Sparky Anderson, even if they didn't root for the teams he managed.
Rest in peace, Sparky, and thanks for the great read.
Recent Comments