Tanner was baseball's happy warrior. That was one of the axioms -- they were axioms to him -- that Tanner embraced. He was a man who loved to say, "The best thing you can do on a given day is win a baseball game. The second best thing is lose one."
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And he meant it. He smiled perpetually. The last time I saw him, he was wearing his fishing hat and smiling. The last time I spoke with him -- he was hospitalized at the time -- he said by phone that he was wearing his fishing cap. That he was wearing a smile, too, was a given.TO WATCH THE VIDEOS CLICK HERESome folks, though never the ones who knew him well, suggested the smile was a facade -- that in private moments Tanner would break a pencil, slam a door, or even kick a trash can. Roland Hemond, the world's nicest baseball executive, said he never saw a harsh side of Tanner, and doubted one existed. Rich Gossage, who held Tanner in the highest regard, never saw it. Willie Stargell acknowledged he saw Tanner disappointed and/or "out of character." And he recalled seeing the semblance of a temper once. "But I can't remember when. He's not too good to be true. He's just good, and it's all true." Watch Tanner was baseball's happy warrior.
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