Joseph Everett Sparks (born March 15, 1938, at McComas, West Virginia) is the advance scout for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball, a former coach for four MLB teams, and a retired longtime manager in minor league baseball. A former infielder in the minor leagues, Sparks batted left-handed, threw right-handed, stood 6' (1.8 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (89 kg).
Sparks managed for all or part of 20 seasons (1970-78; 1980-83; 1986-88; 1991-94) in the farm systems of the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos and Detroit Tigers and compiled a career won/loss mark of 1,330/1,247 (.516). From 1986-88, he won three consecutive American Association championships while at the helm of the Indianapolis Indians, then Montreal's top affiliate. He also won the championship of the Class A Northern League in 1970, his maiden season as a manager.[1]
Sparks served one-year coaching terms with the White Sox (1979), Cincinnati Reds (1984), Expos (1989) and New York Yankees (1990), and was an advance scout for the St. Louis Cardinals for eight seasons (1996-2003). His son, Greg Sparks, a former minor league first baseman and manager, is the Athletics' minor league hitting coordinator.[2]