Sparky Anderson's pajamas

By Mel Antonen

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson, who died Thursday at age 76, will be remembered for his three World Series titles, white shock of hair,  humility and story-telling ability.

On one spring day in 1995, when I visited at his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he was sitting out the Detroit Tigers' spring training and refusing to manage replacement players, he didn't disappoint. He was as colorful as ever.

Here's how the day went:

• I arrived at 10:30 a.m. He'd been up for three hours, drinking coffee, reading papers and watching CNN.
• We went to a deli, returned home and the Tigers-Dodgers Grapefruit League game was on LA radio. "I'm not listening,'' he said. "I'm not dumb. That's not the Dodgers and the Tigers.''
• The only baseball in his house was under glass and signed by Pope John Paul in Latin. "It says, 'Bless you My Son.''' Sparky said.
• His other baseball memorabilia was in the attic, stored in separate boxes for each of his kids.
• He wanted Pete Rose in the Hall. "What counts is on the field.''
• He smoked a pipe in the backyard, where he had two Tiger Stadium seats painted brown to match the fence.
• The family had one car, "So we don't get too big for our britches.''
• He didn't bother with church, because he said that if you're nice to people, you don't have to go to church.
• His wife, Carol, sitting in a chair doing crosswords puzzles, rolls her eyes. She said they were grade-school classmates, and joked, "He knew everything back then, too.''
• His usual routine was to play golf and put on pajamas at 4 p.m.  He put on some that were red and white. "That's what I like about home,'' he said. "My job is to be out-going, but I don't like celebrity. Baseball is not real. Home is real.''