Quote Originally Posted by border5150 View Post
It is an absolute shame that the Tigers have not retired Sparky's #11 AND erected a statue of him on the elft centerfield concourse at Comerica Park. Hell, they don't even have his last name on the right center field wall with all of the other Tiger Hall of Famers.

I know there was some bad blood between Sparky and the Ilitches when he retired, but he is the greatest manager in the history of the team - one of the greatest of all time for that matter.
I'll bet they'll do that after he passes away. I totally agree, it's a travesty, it should have been done a long time ago.

Sparky's refusal to manage the replacement players during the strike season really angered management / owners. He stood his ground though, did what he believed was the right thing to do.