George Lee “Sparky” Anderson will go down as one of the great managers in baseball history. Anderson led his teams to three World Series titles and was the first skipper to win a World Series in both the American and National Leagues. Sparky led the mighty “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds’ teams of the 1970s to back-to-back titles in 1975 and 1976 and later led the Detroit Tigers to the title in 1984.

On September 1, 1995, Anderson was entering his final month as a manager when he took the helm for the 4,000th time. The Tigers took on the visiting Cleveland Indians at Tiger Stadium where Charles Nagy and the Indians defeated Detroit 14-4. This offered Official American League Gene A. Budig ball was used in Sparky’s 4,000th managerial game. This ball displays outstanding use with a large smudge mark on the stamped sweet spot and other abrasion marks. Sparky signed his name on the opposite sweet spot in blue pen and inscribed “9-1-95 4000 Games” on the adjacent panel with the “CUSHIONED CORK CENTER” stamp. Anderson finished his career with 2,194 wins and is currently sixth all-time in managerial wins. This ball comes with a LOA from the family of Sparky Anderson and a LOA from Beckett Authentication for his signature on the ball.

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