Joe Lapointe, long-time New York Times sports reporter, was on the sports beat in Detroit in the late 70's and early 80's at the same time I was. He was a sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press. I was a sports reporter and anchor for the CBS affiliate, WJBK-TV, Channel 2. Sparky was "old school" and wasn't thrilled with women sports reporters coming into his team's locker rooms. But he never blocked my entry, always treated me fairly and -- eventually, once I had earned my stripes, he and I had a great working relationship.
He was a high quality man of integrity and great charisma. He held himself and all of his players to high standards. I can't do better than Joe Lapointe did in profiling a high quality man who rose from very humble roots to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Click here to read Joe's piece on Sparky.
