USC baseball will honor Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson before Friday's game against Arizona State by dedicating the right field corner in his name.
Anderson grew up in a house located near the current right field foul pole at Dedeaux Field when Bovard Field was the home for Trojan hardball. His connection to the program started when he returned a foul ball to Rod Dedeaux who asked the teenager if he wanted to be a bat boy.
The rest, as they say, is history. Anderson went on to skipper the Reds (1975 and 1976) and Tigers (1984) to World Series titles. He passed away at the end of last year.
Anderson grew up in a house located near the current right field foul pole at Dedeaux Field when Bovard Field was the home for Trojan hardball. His connection to the program started when he returned a foul ball to Rod Dedeaux who asked the teenager if he wanted to be a bat boy.
The rest, as they say, is history. Anderson went on to skipper the Reds (1975 and 1976) and Tigers (1984) to World Series titles. He passed away at the end of last year.
Sparky is the hard-nosed kid in the white tee-shirt sitting front row. (1948 photo)
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