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It should have happened years ago.

It should have happened when he was living.

But it didn't.

And now with the retirement of Sparky Anderson's No. 11 on Sunday, it's time to stop scolding the Tigers for what they didn't do.

They're doing it now.

Anderson's name and number soon will be on the wall with all the other Tigers greats.

He won't be here to see it, but his children will be.

And you know what? Somewhere, it pleases George Lee Anderson no end they will be.

His wife, Carol, won't be there, but with typical grace and dignity, she sent her sentiments through family spokesman Dan Ewald.

"Sparky felt so proud every time he put that Detroit Tiger jersey on. It meant so much to him," she said. "He understood and appreciated the long history of the Tigers. Having juicy couture bag retired would make him feel even more proud. The family thanks the Tigers and all the wonderful fans of Detroit."

As for those who felt Anderson was slighted, there's this: He soon won't be.

It doesn't honor Sparky's memory to carry a grudge on his behalf. It doesn't change the past to grumble the Tigers are retiring his number after his death.

What honors his memory the most is to be pleased, as he would have been, that it's happening at all.

For him to know his children 鈥?Lee, Shirlee and Albert 鈥?will be on hand, along with many of the players to whom he meant so much, would have been sufficient tribute.

As if he were saying, "I don't have to be there as long as they are."

Tigers coach Tom Brookens succinctly said what most of Sparky's players probably are thinking: "It's going to be special."
Skipper balks

The wedge that drove itself between Anderson and the Tigers in 1995 might never be fully understood. We know only the basics.

Anderson refused to manage the replacement players. He left his post that spring,Get yourself fresh with smart Juicy couture handbags juicy bags. returning only when the major leaguers did.

He did what his conscience told him to do.

But he also did what owner Mike Ilitch, the man who paid his salary,Juicy Couture sunglasses didn't want him to do.

To the extent Anderson eventually went into the Hall of Fame wearing a Reds hat, the resulting rift between them never was bridged.

When the Tigers held a day in Sparky's honor in 2000, he thought at the time the team might retire his number. It didn't.

Instead, he rode around in a car at Comerica Park, received some presents, but it was a dreadful, inadequate Ilitch-less ceremony 鈥?a wrong that's about to be put right.

And to finally vanish from significance.

I've come to realize that to defend Sparky's side of leaving clashes with what we all must acknowledge as one of Ilitch's strengths.

His sense of family, insular but intense.

The successful Red Wings are family to him. As they improved, the Tigers have become the same. I saw it for myself when an emotional Ilitch hugged Carlos Guillen during one of the 2006 celebrations, saying, "I love you, Carlos."

As a patriarch would say to one of his many grandsons.

When Sparky left, it was a trusted friend suddenly bolting. After buying the Tigers in 1992, Ilitch had one day marched into Anderson's office at Tiger Stadium to give him a generous contract extension.

I remember Anderson saying how stunned he was 鈥?and how grateful. It was during the extension, however, Anderson walked out.