Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Manager. For twenty-six seasons (1970 to 1995), he served as manager of the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers. Born George Lee Anderson, he moved to Los Angeles with his family as a child, and was a star baseball player at Dorsey High School. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953, but ended up with the Philadelphia Phillies’ organization; he made his Major League debut with them on April 10th, 1959. Anderson appeared in 152 games with the Phillies during the 1959 season (his only MLB year as a player), recording 104 hits, while playing at the second base position. During the 1960s, he played a few more seasons of Minor League ball and turned to managing half way through the decade. He returned to the Major Leagues as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1970, and guided them to a 102 win 60 loss record and the National League Pennant (defeated by Baltimore in the World Series). In 1972, they captured their second NL Pennant under Anderson, culminating with a World Series loss to the Athletics. During the mid-1970s with Anderson as skipper, a mini-dynasty was born, as Cincinnati fielded such star players as Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Tony Perez, dubbed “The Big Red Machine”; they exceeded 100 wins twice (1975 with 108 and 1976 with 102), en route to capturing two consecutive World Series titles (1975 and 1976). Following two years of non-postseason contention, Anderson was dismissed by the Reds in 1978. He was hired by the Detroit Tigers during the 1979 season, and guided them to a 104 win 58 loss record and a World Series title in 1984; he became the first Major League manager to win a world championship in each league. In 1987, Detroit clinched the American League Eastern Division title, and Anderson was recipient of the Sporting News Manager of the Year Award. He retired following the 1995 season, compiling a 2,194 win 1,834 loss career regular season managerial record. At the time of his death, he was ranked sixth all-time for victories by a manager. Anderson was enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Reds Hall of Fame in 2000. His uniform number 10 was retired by the Reds in 2005. (bio by: C.S.)