Bless You Boys

Background

Bless You Boys: Diary of the Detroit Tigers' 1984 Season is a book written in 1984 by Sparky Anderson with Dan Ewald, the Tigers' public relations director. It contains Anderson's diary account of the first 151 games of the championship season, in which the team became the first American League team since the 1927 New York Yankees to lead the race from wire to wire and win the World Series. Anderson recorded his immediate reactions after each game: "Every night before I went to bed, I'd put the game on tape."

Success of the book

Released as an insta-book in October 1984, Bless You Boys capitalized on the publicity from the Tigers' World Series championship and became an instant best-seller in the Detroit area. Anderson embarked on a week-long book signing tour, starting at the Hudson's store at Northland Mall. The Detroit Free Press reported that the crowd waiting for Sparky's autograph stretched through most of Hudson's basement, snaking through the carpet and furniture departments back to fine furniture.

Hundreds of fans, including people in business suits, babies in strollers, and many wearing Tigers caps, lined up. The book was described as going faster than World Series tickets. Near the tour's end, Anderson noted his hand was very sore and that over 100,000 copies had been printed, outselling Iacocca in New York. Vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro even referenced the phrase during a Detroit campaign stop. One bookstore owner called the signing a mob scene unlike anything before.