LOS ANGELES -Prior to this Friday's game between USC and Arizona State at 6 p.m., the Trojan baseball program will salute the late Sparky Anderson by dedicating "Sparky's Corner," located next to the right field foul pole at Dedeaux Field. Sparky's Corner is a tribute to the Hall of Fame manager, who was a batboy for the 1948 USC national championship squad.
Anderson grew up in a house located near the current right field foul pole at Dedeaux Field. When he was a teenager, he returned a foul ball to Bovard Field (the Trojans' ballpark before Dedeaux Field) and was asked by Rod Dedeaux if he wanted to become a batboy, which began Anderson's lifelong relationship with Dedeaux and his love for the USC baseball program. As the batboy for USC's first of 12 national championship teams in 1948, many members of that squad traveled to Cooperstown to see Anderson inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Sparky's Corner will feature a home plate with his name on it, located in foul territory off the right field side.
Anderson became the first manager in major league baseball history to win a World Series title in both leagues, capturing titles in 1975 and 1976 with the Cincinnati Reds and the 1984 title with the Detroit Tigers. He won 2,194 games as a manager, which was the third-highest in MLB history at the time of his retirement (he is now sixth all-time). Anderson was 76 when he passed away on Nov. 4, 2010.
