Book Review: "They Call Me Sparky"

This book appealed to me as an Ohio baseball fan.  I cut my baseball teeth in 1975, the first of two World Series victories by the real Big Red Machine.  While the rest of my family visited with my grandparents, I was in their bedroom watching the games one night after another.  I don't recall whether I watched any games from our own home, three hours to the north.  I only remember watching my favorite players from that bedroom.  

I had my own Joe Morgan twitch.  Second base was my position at the time, though my hard-throwing arm led me to third eventually.  But, as a second baseman, my hero was very clear.  I also loved the stolen base, and who, on the Reds anyway, was better at that than Joe Morgan?  

Well... maybe Davey.

Hmm... I'm getting distracted.  

"They Call Me Sparky", by Sparky Anderson and Dan Ewald was a fun read for me mostly due to my Reds fandom, but also because Sparky was such an interesting character.  That character comes through in this book!

For the first few chapters, I had the impression that only a Sparky fan could endure the book.  It felt choppy.  But, as I continued reading, I found the format kind of fun, and began looking forward to the variety.  Every other chapter is written clearly in Sparky's voice (even down to the grammar), the other chapters being in the voice of Mr Ewald, narrating the stories of Sparky's life.  The more narrative chapters fill in some gaps in the stories, whereas the chapters in Sparky's voice seem like interviews.  

Miss those interviews with Sparky?  Those chapters are definitely for you.  Heh heh heh.

Fun read, especially for Reds or Tigers fans.