McEUEN: Keep Legion spark alive

"Sparky always remembered his roots - especially American Legion Baseball, which was special to him."

I quote Bill Haase, Senior Vice President, National Baseball Hall of Fame (with permission). When George "Sparky" Anderson arrived at Detroit's Tiger Stadium in 1979 as the team's manager, it was a return to his roots. While many will remember Anderson as a professional baseball icon, Legionnaires remember him as something more. Long before Anderson got his nickname in the minor leagues in 1955, he was a spunky California boy playing Legion Baseball for Los Angeles Crenshaw Post 715. He helped his team win the Legion World Series at Detroit's Briggs Stadium (renamed Tiger Stadium) in 1951.

His was the first Legion Baseball team to travel by air instead of train to the Major League Baseball World Series in New York City for special recognition. When Anderson retired from pro ball in 1995 he walked off the field with 2,194 MLB victories as a manager, the third highest number in history. A year later, he spoke passionately about his roots, at the 1996 American Legion World Series banquet in Roseburg Ore., saying, "Legion Baseball players measure up to the finest traditions of the game in tangible ways."

When Anderson gave his acceptance speech as an inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, he said one of his greatest moments was winning the Legion Baseball World Series nearly a half century before.

The city trying to get rid of the Legion ball diamond before replacing it with another is like stabbing every veteran and youth in the heart.

RICHARD R. BAKER

Chaplain Post 14

Coeur d'Alene