Bless You Boys: Diary of The Detroit Tigers' 1984 Season - Success of The Book

Success of The Book

Bless You Boys was released as an "insta-book" in October 1984 to captalize on the publicity that followed the Tigers' World Series championship. It was an instant best-seller in the Detroit area. Anderson conducted a week-long book signing tour that opened at the Hudson's store at Northland Mall. The Detroit Free Press reported that the crowd waiting to have Sparky sign the book "stretched through most of Hudson's basement, snaking back through the carpet and furniture departments, all the way back to fine furniture." The Detroit Free Press described the public reaction to the book this way:

"Hundreds of fans -- some wearing three-piece business suits, some wearing diapers and seated in strollers, many sporting Detroit Tigers caps -- lined up in Hudson's Northland basement to have Sparky autograph his new book. ... It's going faster than World Series tickets, which could make Sparky something of a threat to Norman Mailer in this writing business."

Near the end of the book-signing tour, Anderson noted that his hand was "very sore." He added: "We're over 100,000 printed now. They say it's the greatest thing they've ever had. They said in New York it was even outselling Iacocca." When U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, visited Detroit on a campaign stop in late October, she opened her remarks by saying, "I just want to start off by saying, bless you, boys -- and girls." One bookstore owner noted there was a mob scene at his store when Anderson showed up to sign his book: "There never was anything like it."