The Associated Press

By voting former Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday, the veterans committee gave one of baseball’s most revered teams another first.

Wednesday, March 01, 2000

By voting former Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday, the veterans committee gave one of baseball’s most revered teams another first.

Anderson will be inducted in July along with Tony Perez, who played first base for him in Cincinnati, and broadcaster Marty Brennaman, who joined the team as it was becoming dominant.

”It almost defies belief,” Brennaman said Tuesday night from Sarasota, Fla. ”I don’t know what the odds would be for something like this happening.

”It’s never happened before – three people from the same team. It’s hard for me to articulate how big this weekend is going to be.”

Second baseman Joe Morgan and catcher Johnny Bench already have been enshrined. The next batch will give the Big Red Machine three players and a manager in the Hall.

There would have been a fourth player, but Pete Rose is ineligible because he accepted a lifetime ban for gambling.

”What it all points up is the fact that we were all privileged to watch one of the great teams in the history of the game,” Brennaman said. ”Sometimes it takes a long time to appreciate what we all were privileged to watch. I think it’s coming to the forefront right now.”

Perez got things rolling when the baseball writers voted him into the Hall on Jan. 11 on his ninth try. Brennaman was chosen for the broadcasters’ wing on Feb. 3, and Anderson made it a trio.

”I knew Sparky was going to get in. I was waiting for him,” Perez said Tuesday night, from the Marlins’ camp in Viera, Fla. ”It’s a perfect match: three from Cincinnati during the ’70s being inducted into the Hall of Fame at the same time.”

Anderson won World Series titles with the Reds in 1975-76 and another with Detroit in 1984, leaving him the only manager to win a Series in both leagues.

He has decided to wear a Reds cap for his induction, paying tribute to the team that gave him his start in managing. He’ll be glad to have so much company on July 23.

”In a way, I broke in Marty,” Anderson said. ”Marty came in ’74 and we did a lot of visiting and a lot of talking and became such good friends.

”In all honesty, I think I can say for Tony and myself both that we have great respect for each other. I think it means so much to have a player going in with you that you’re fond of.”

Anderson hopes that Bob Howsam, the general manager who assembled the Big Red Machine and hired him as manager in 1969, attends the induction.

Howsam was unavailable for comment at his home in Arizona on Tuesday, but said last week that he was thrilled by the developments.

”I couldn’t be happier to see those three, and they’re all from different areas of our operation,” Howsam said. ”When you stop to think about it, here’s Tony going in as a player, here’s Marty going in as a broadcaster and here’s Sparky going in as a manager. What more could you ask for or enjoy?”