Born in Massillon, Ohio, Sparma attended Ohio State University and played quarterback on the 1961 and 1962 football teams coached by Woody Hayes. Sparma and his leading receiver, Paul Warfield, led the 1961 Buckeyes to an 8-0-1 season and a Big Ten Conference championship Sparma accounted for 474 yards in the Buckeyes\' 1961 50-20 victory over the Michigan Wolverines. Sparma quit the team after three years due to differences with Hayes and opted to pursue a career in Major League Baseball.\n', '

Sparma received a $32,000 bonus to sign with the Detroit Tigers in 1963. He played six seasons with Detroit, from 1964-1969. In 1965, Sparma was in his first full season with the Tigers, when he was assigned to be the starting pitcher against the Yankees on "Mickey Mantle Day" in New York. When Mantle came to bat for the first time in the game, Sparma walked off the mound, approached Mantle, and said: "You know, I\'ve never had a chance to meet you in person, and I\'ve always admired you." Sparma and Mantle shook hands, and Sparma went back to the mound and struck Mantle out. Mantle turned to Detroit\'s catcher Bill Freehan and said: "They have a day for me and your manager\'s got to put some hard-throwing kid out there. Couldn\'t he have put in some soft-tossing left-hander for me to hit off of, so I could look like a hero in front of all those people?" (Bill Freehan, "Behind the Mask" (1970), pp. 7–8)\n', '

Sparma\'s best season was 1967, when he posted a record of 16-9 with 11 complete games, five shutouts, and a 3.76 ERA.\n', '

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