07 Inductees

St. Marys – The two cities that most people associate Sparky Anderson with are Cincinnati and Detroit, but the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame will be recognizing his seven years in Montreal and Toronto when he is honoured at the annual Induction Ceremony in St. Marys, Ontario slated for 11:00am EST, June 23, 2007.

Montreal-born Sherry Robertson, an infielder who played ten years in the major leagues mainly with the Washington Senators, and who later became an executive with the Minnesota Twins, will be inducted posthumously. Robertson died in a car accident in 1970 at the age of 51.

Joining Anderson and Betty Robertson (Sherry's wife) at the podium in St. Marys will be Vancouver native John Haar, who managed Team Canada to its first and only World Championship in 1991, was the field manager for the National Baseball Institute, and has been coaching in all ranks of British Columbia baseball for more than 30 years.

The threesome will become the 76th, 77th and 78th inductees at the 23rd Induction Ceremony in the Ball Hall's history. The 11th Annual Celebrity Golf Classic, followed by a Sports Celebrity Banquet, will take place the day before the ceremony. Both have been sold out for five consecutive years, so the Hall reminds everyone to register early.

“This is a fantastic blend of inductees,” noted Hall president and CEO Tom Valcke.

“In addition to Sparky's accomplishments in Toronto and Montreal, he has thousands of fans in Southern Ontario due to his success with the Detroit Tigers. Sherry Robertson has been overlooked far too long, and while John Haar may not be the household name that Sparky and Sherry are, there is not a Canadian who surpasses his knowledge and passion for the game - he is the purest baseball man I know.” George Lee “Sparky” Anderson

Sparky Anderson was born on February 22, 1934 in Bridgewater, South Dakota, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was nine years old. His love for baseball was nurtured by his father, a pitcher, his uncle, a former minor league catcher, and Rod Dedeaux, who allowed Sparky to be his batboy at the University of Southern California.

The fiery second baseman began his professional career in 1953, and after being named MVP of the 1958 Governor's Cup winning Montreal Royals (International League - IL) in his second season there, he earned his only major league stint with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1959. However, after batting only .218 with 34 RBI in 152 games, Anderson was assigned to the Toronto Maple Leafs (IL), where he played the following four seasons. The Leafs had one of their greatest years in history in 1960, moving from the cellar to first place as they compiled a 100-54 win-loss record and going on to win the Governor's Cup. Anderson was named to the IL's All-Star team that season.

While Anderson's .221 batting average during his four years with the Maple Leafs would ultimately hold him back from the major leagues, he won several fielding awards and was voted the IL's Smartest Player by managers in five of the six seasons he played in Montreal and Toronto.

“I was taught well and all I can say is that I knew what to do, when to do it, and how to do it," said Anderson from his home in Thousand Oaks, California.

As he began to focus on his managerial skills, former major league manager Charley Dressen, who loved Anderson's competitiveness, alertness and spirit, encouraged him to pursue coaching.

“Little Man,” Anderson recalls Dressen saying, “you ain't never missed a sign. Someday you'll be a manager.”

Anderson was given his first opportunity to manage in 1964 by soon-to-be fellow Canadian Baseball Hall-of-Famer Jack Kent Cooke, who was inducted in 1985.

“At 30, I was awfully young to be a manager,” admitted Anderson.

“But Jack Cooke was a pioneer, an original, and he had endless great ideas. He reminded me of Charlie Finley.”

Anderson’s true destiny began as the Maple Leafs' skipper compiled an 80-72 record in 1964, and he made his way up the managerial ladder from there, landing the top job with the Cincinnati Reds in 1970. He guided the decade's most dominant team to National League pennants in 1970, 1972, and 1973 and World Series titles in 1975 over the Boston Red Sox and 1976 over the New York Yankees.

After joining the Detroit Tigers in 1979, Anderson guided his young troops to a better record each season through 1984, when the Tigers won 35 of their first 40 games and went on to win 104 games and defeat the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

“The responsibility of management certainly never cooled my hot-pepper style," said Anderson.

“I took nothing from no one. I was possessed with winning.”

Anderson was regarded as somewhat of a pioneer himself with the way he used his bullpen. His heavy use of relief pitchers earned him the nickname “Captain Hook.” But his practice has now become a major league baseball standard.

Anderson became the first manager to win a World Series in both the National and American Leagues (Tony Larussa became the second in 2006). He was the first manager to win more than 100 games in a season with two different teams, and the first manager to win more than 800 games with two major league teams. He was named manager of the year four times (1972, 1975, 1984 and 1987), and stands fourth all-time in wins with 2,194 major league wins.

Nicknamed “Sparky” from his time in Fort Worth, Texas, “because I was just plain ornery!”, Anderson has fond memories of his time in Canada.

“People don't come much nicer than Canadian people,” added Anderson.

“I appreciate this honour so much, and I am looking very forward to coming to St. Marys in June. My friend Tommy Lasorda tells me it is a beautiful town and just the right setting for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Anderson married his high school sweetheart, Carol Valle, and has three children, George Jr., Shirley and Albert.

JOHN HAAR

John Haar's passion for baseball is worn on his sleeve to this day, but he was a three-sport star at the University of British Columbia, and he is the only athlete in UBC's history to have an opportunity to play professionally in three sports. UBC's 1968 Athlete of the Year was recruited by Oakland of the North American Soccer League, and pursued by the British Columbia Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions for his football prowess.

But it was clearly baseball that was in Haar's blood from the beginning, as his father Rudd, who recently passed away, had not only a love for the game but was also the Head Groundskeeper at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver. In addition to becoming an outstanding baseball prospect on the field under his father's tutelage, few Canadians to this day can boast more expertise in the area of field maintenance than John Haar.

Haar grew up a second and third baseman but was converted to an outfielder as he reached Double-A with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees organizations.

He was a grass roots coach known for getting the most out of his players, and his first high profile coaching job came in 1975 as an assistant with Team Canada in the Pan-American Games in Mexico City, followed by an assistant's role with Team Canada in the Intercontinental Cup in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Team Canada came calling again as Haar became its field manager in 1986 and 1987, finishing 5th in the World Cup in Cuba, and qualifying for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

It was also in 1986 that Baseball Canada, in partnership with the Toronto Blue Jays, formed the National Baseball Institute (NBI), which enabled top Canadian players to attend any post-secondary school that met their educational needs while practising and playing together in Vancouver. John Haar was the manager of the NBI for all 14 years of its existence, and the program quickly became highly respected and Haar became well-known for upsetting many top-notch US colleges. Scouts began to flock to the NBI to see Canada's top prospects reaching their potential.

Eight NBI grads who played for Haar went on to play in the major leagues: Denis Boucher, Rob Butler, Jason Dickson, Aaron Guiel, Corey Koskie, Steve Sinclair, Paul Spoljaric and Matt Stairs.

Haar's defining moment as a coach came in 1991, as he guided the Canadian Junior Team to Baseball Canada's first and only international gold medal. That team was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, while Haar was named Canada's Coach of the Year in 1991 and the International Baseball Federation's Coach of the Year in 1992. He was also inducted into UBC's Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

Haar also served as the Canadian Baseball League's Director of Operations in 2003.

“I thought if there was ever going to be a Haar inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, that it would be my dad," said a tearful Haar from his home in Burnaby, BC, where he still coaches individuals and teams in BC's Premier League.

“It is an unbelievable honour, and all I can say is that the more I give to the game, the more the game continues to give back to me. Anybody who gives coaching a try will realize the same thing.”

Haar and his wife Carol have two daughters, Allison and Rebecca.

SHERRARD “SHERRY” ROBERTSON

Sherry Robertson was born on New Year's Day in 1919 in Montreal. When his father Jim died at a young age, Jim's sister and her husband, Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith, helped out by taking in two of the seven children while moving Sherry, the other four siblings, and Sherry's mother, to Washington in a nearby home.

The six-foot, 180 pound left-handed hitter made his major league debut in 1940 and went on to play ten years for the Senators, finishing off with a year in Philadelphia in 1952. His major league career was briefly interrupted as he served in the Navy in 1944-45. His 597 major league games played stands 23rd on the all-time Canadian list, and all of those players with more service have been inducted except for Rob Ducey, who is not yet eligible.

Robertson's lifetime average was .230, but he was known for his defensive versatility, splitting his role almost evenly between the outfield, second base and third base, with a handful of games at shortstop as well. His best year was 1949, when he batted .251 in 110 games, with 94 hits, 59 runs scored, 11 homeruns, 17 doubles, a slugging percentage of .401, and finished 5th in the American League with ten stolen bases.

Two of Robertson's 26 career homeruns were notable in 1946, when he tied a record set in 1913 by Harry Hooper when he lead off two consecutive games with a homerun. On September 17th of that year, he homered in Briggs Stadium off of the Tigers Al Benton. The next day, he took rookie Ralph McCabe deep in Cleveland with a leadoff homer. Earlier in that same year, he hit a first inning homerun off of Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Marchildon, who was inducted in the Hall's first class in 1983.

Robertson has played the second most major league games by a Quebec native. Montreal-born Pete Ward, who was inducted into the Canadian Ball Hall in 1991, ranks first with 973 games played.

The Washington Senators named Robertson as Farm Director of Minor League Talent in 1953 and he held this post throughout the transition from Washington to Minnesota in 1961 and in 1966 he was promoted to Vice President and Farm Director until his untimely death on October 23, 1970, when he died in a car crash while on a hunting trip at 51 years of age.

The Twins created "The Sherry Robertson Award" that is presented annually to their minor league player of the year. Included in the list of winners is Kent Hrbek, Marty Cordova, David Ortiz and Joe Mauer.

“This is the most wonderful news!”, said Sherry's ecstatic widow Betty Roberston, 85, from Minneapolis.

“Sherry was a very proud Canadian and I can tell you sincerely that he is just overjoyed with this honour.”

Sherry and Betty were married in 1941 and had a son who died at a young age, as well as two daughters, Sherry Ann and Joan. Sherry's brother, Calvin, who died in 1999, became the owner of the Senators in 1955 after their uncle Clark Griffith died. It was Calvin who moved the Senators to Minneapolis, wanting to find a city that would provide a larger fan-base for his club. As if there wasn't enough baseball in the family already, the legendary Joe Cronin married Robertson's oldest sister, Mildred, and major leaguer Joe Haynes married Thelma, another of Sherry's sisters.

SPARKY ANDERSON TO BE INDUCTED INTO CANADIAN BASEBALL HALL OF FAME SHERRARD ROBERTSON AND JOHN HAAR WILL ALSO BE ENSHRINED

SPARKY ANDERSON TO BE INDUCTED
INTO CANADIAN BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
SHERRARD ROBERTSON AND JOHN HAAR
WILL ALSO BE ENSHRINED