| Larry Parrish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Third baseman /Right fielder /Designated hitter /Manager | |
| Born: (1953-11-10)November 10, 1953 (age 72) Winter Haven, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Professional debut | |
| MLB: September 6, 1974, for the Montreal Expos | |
| NPB: April 8, 1989, for the Yakult Swallows | |
| Last appearance | |
| MLB: October 2, 1988, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| NPB: August 27, 1990, for the Hanshin Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .263 |
| Home runs | 256 |
| Runs batted in | 992 |
| Managerial record | 82–104 |
| Winning % | .441 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Batting average | .260 |
| Home runs | 70 |
| Runs batted in | 183 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Larry Alton Parrish (born November 10, 1953) is an American former professionalbaseball player,coach andmanager. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) and inNippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as athird baseman from 1974 to 1990, most prominently as a member of theMontreal Expos and theTexas Rangers.
A two-timeAll-Star player, Parrish averaged 22 home runs and 85 runs batted in per season and hit three home runs in a game four times during his 15-year major league career. After playing one season with theBoston Red Sox, he played his final two seasons of professional baseball in Japan with theYakult Swallows and theHanshin Tigers.
After his playing career, Parrish continued to work in professional baseball as a coach and manager at both the major league and minor league levels. He is the winningest manager inToledo Mud Hens history, serving as the team's manager for a record eight seasons, highlighted by back-to-backGovernors' Cup championships in 2005 and 2006.[1] He was inducted into theInternational League Hall of Fame in 2013 for his career as the Mud Hens manager.[1] He has his managerial number 15 retired by the Mud Hens, just 1 of 3 for the organization.
Making his debut in 1974 at the age of 20, Parrish became a solid hitter as a third baseman in the 1970s and 1980s, hitting 20 or morehome runs in a season 5 times during his Major League career. He was a two-time All-Star, and in 1979, he was named theMontreal Expos Player of the Year after batting .307 with 30 homers and 82runs batted in, and finishing fourth in National LeagueMVP voting. Parrish is the only Montreal Expos player to ever hit three home runs in one game on three separate occasions (May 29, 1977, July 30, 1978, and April 25, 1980). In the May 1977 game against the Cardinals, he went 5–for–5, batting in 5 runs in a 14–4 victory. In the April 1980 game, he drove in all 7 runs for Montreal in an 8–7 loss to Atlanta.
Parrish was traded along withDave Hostetler from the Expos to theTexas Rangers forAl Oliver on March 31, 1982. He originally was supposed to have been the Rangers' startingright fielder.[2] In 1982, during his first season with the Rangers, Parrish tied a major league record held byJim Northrup when he hit threegrand slams in the span of one week.[3]
Parrish ranks 15th on theTexas Rangers' all-time home run list with 149 and 14th in RBIs at 522. He closed out his American Major League career by joining theBoston Red Sox during the stretch run of the 1988 season; while he was with the Red Sox, the team won the American League Eastern Division championship.
After his Major League Baseball career ended, Parrish played for two different Japanese major league teams. Parrish had a career .263 batting average inMajor League Baseball with 256 home runs and 992 runs batted in. In 13 career playoff games, he batted .182 with no home runs and three RBIs.
After retiring from the majors and spending time playing for theYakult Swallows andHanshin Tigers of theJapaneseCentral League, Parrish became a full-time coach within theDetroit Tigers organization. In 1992, Parrish was named the manager for theSingle-A Niagara Falls Rapids of theNew York–Penn League which won the league championship in 1993. In 1995, he was named the roving hitting instructor for the Tigers minor league system. In 1996, he returned to the dugout as the manager of theDouble-AJacksonville Suns, where he won another League Championship the same year. Parrish then served asbench coach under Tigers managerBuddy Bell for the 1997 season and part of the 1998 season before Bell was fired. Parrish was promoted as the replacement andmanaged the Tigers from 1998 to 1999, compiling an 82–104 record. However, he was replaced byPhil Garner for the 2000 season. Parrish managed the Tigers through their final season atTiger Stadium. Parrish remained in the Tigers organization as ascout from 2000 to 2002, and in 2003, he returned to thedugout once again as the manager for theTriple-AToledo Mud Hens of theInternational League.
In 2005, Parrish managed the Mud Hens to an impressive 89–55 record and theGovernors' Cup as champions of the International League. The Mud Hens defeated theIndianapolis Indians. Following the season, Parrish was named the 2005 Minor League Manager of the Year byThe Sporting News.
In 2006, Parrish led the Mud Hens to a 76–66 record and a repeat of the Governor's Cup, giving the Mud Hens their third title and making them back-to-back champions for the first time in team history. This time, the Mud Hens defeated theRochester Red Wings. The team moved on to play in the firstTriple-A Baseball National Championship Game, inOklahoma City, where they would take on theTucson Sidewinders of thePacific Coast League, but the Mud Hens fell to the Sidewinders by a score of 5–2.
On October 29, 2010, it was announced that Parrish would become the hitting coach for theAtlanta Braves,[4][5] replacingTerry Pendleton, who was moved to first base coach. After the Braves offense went from first in theNational League inOn-base percentage in 2010 to 14th in 2011 with roughly the same lineup, Braves general managerFrank Wren announced on September 30, 2011, that Parrish would not return to his duties for the2012 season.[6]
Parrish was named manager of theWest Michigan Whitecaps for the 2013 season.
Parrish was elected to theInternational League Hall of Fame as a manager in 2013.[7]
On September 18, 2013, it was announced that Parrish would return to the Mud Hens for his third stint as manager. He replacedPhil Nevin, whose contract was not renewed.[8] On August 2, 2015, Parrish announced his plan to retire at the end of the Mud Hens' season.[9][10]