Sparky Anderson, who managed for a long time with the Reds and Tigers, was a mix of the old and the new. You might look at him as one of the old-line managers because he was around for so long, but Sparky was in a class by himself. With the nickname “Sparky,” you might expect him to be kind of a spark plug or maybe a hothead. Instead, he was one of the nicest guys I ever knew, just great. You saw a lot of respect for him from his players that you didn’t always see with other managers. Sparky could put up a hell of an argument with an umpire, but he was soft-spoken with his players. And when he talked, they listened.

I was talking to Sparky one day when a sales representative from a shoe company came into the clubhouse, and a lot of the Tigers were looking at the shoes. Rob Deer was very interested in a pair of high-tops.

Rob was a big strong guy who could hit some monstrous home runs. He also put up monstrous strike-out numbers. Rob paid a lot of attention to the way he looked in his uniform and always checked himself out in the clubhouse mirror before heading out to the dugout. His uniform had to fit just right, the pants snug and extending to just the right spot above his shoes. Even the eye black on a sunny afternoon had to cross his cheekbone just right. He thought the high-top shoes would be a nice touch.

Personally, I’ve never liked high-tops. I liked baseball shoes that looked like baseball shoes, not basketball shoes. I guess I’m old-fashioned. I liked it when players wore their pants so the stockings showed all the way up the calf, not almost completely hidden, the way they are now, with pants extending all the way to the shoes. Sparky apparently felt the same way I did.

While we were talking, Sparky kept his eyes on Deer and the salesman. All of a sudden, he called Deer over and asked, “You like those high-tops?”

“Yeah, what do you think?” Deer said.

“I don’t like them at all. You get those, you’re sitting right next to me on the bench.”

Deer went back to the salesman. “I don’t want them,” he said.

I looked at Sparky and said, “I don’t think many managers these days could get away with what you just did. Nowadays, players do what they want and wear what they want. I can’t believe Rob did that.”

“Aw,” Sparky said. “Robbie’s a good guy. He’ll listen.”