View source for Larry Parrish

{{short description|American baseball player and manager (born 1953)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name        = Larry Parrish
| image       = Larry Parrish.jpg
| position    = [[Third baseman]] / [[Right fielder]] / [[Designated hitter]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]]
| bats        = Right
| throws      = Right
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1953|11|10}}
| birth_place = [[Winter Haven, Florida]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
| debutdate   = September 6
| debutyear   = 1974
| debutteam   = Montreal Expos
|debut2league = NPB
| debut2date   = April 8
| debut2year   = 1989
| debut2team   = Yakult Swallows
|finalleague = MLB
| finaldate   = October 2
| finalyear   = 1988
| finalteam   = Boston Red Sox
|final2league = NPB
| final2date   = August 27
| final2year   = 1990
| final2team   = Hanshin Tigers
|statleague = MLB
| stat1label  = [[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
| stat1value  = .263
| stat2label  = [[Home run]]s
| stat2value  = 256
| stat3label  = [[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
| stat3value  = 992
| stat4label  = Managerial record
| stat4value  = 82–104
| stat5label  = Winning %
| stat5value  = .441
|stat2league = NPB
| stat21label  = Batting average
| stat21value  = .260
| stat22label  = Home runs
| stat22value  = 70
| stat23label  = Runs batted in
| stat23value  =183
| teams       =
'''As player'''
* [[Montreal Expos]] ({{mlby|1974}}–{{mlby|1981}})
* [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]] ({{mlby|1982}}–{{mlby|1988}})
* [[Boston Red Sox]] ({{mlby|1988}})
* [[Yakult Swallows]] ({{npby|1989}})
* [[Hanshin Tigers]] ({{npby|1990}})
'''As manager'''
* [[Detroit Tigers]] ({{mlby|1998}}–{{mlby|1999}})
'''As coach'''
* [[Detroit Tigers]] ({{mlby|1997}}–{{mlby|1998}})
* [[Atlanta Braves]] ({{mlby|2011}})
| highlights      =
* 2× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1979 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1979]], [[1987 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1987]])
* [[Montreal Expos#Montreal Expos Hall of Fame|Montreal Expos Hall of Fame]]
}}

'''Larry Alton Parrish''' (born November 10, 1953) is an American former professional [[baseball]] player, [[Coach (baseball)|coach]] and [[Manager (baseball)|manager]]. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) and in [[Nippon Professional Baseball]] (NPB) as a [[third baseman]] from 1974 to 1990, most prominently as a member of the [[Montreal Expos]] and the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]].

A two-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-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 the [[Boston Red Sox]], he played his final two seasons of professional baseball in Japan with the [[Yakult Swallows]] and the [[Hanshin 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 in [[Toledo Mud Hens]] history, serving as the team's manager for a record eight seasons, highlighted by back-to-back [[List of International League champions|Governors' Cup championships]] in 2005 and 2006.<ref name="Parrish named to International League’s Hall of Fame">{{cite web |url=https://www.toledoblade.com/Mud-Hens/2013/01/30/Parrish-named-to-International-League-s-Hall-of-Fame.html |title=Parrish named to International League’s Hall of Fame |publisher=toledoblade.com |access-date=14 January 2023 }}</ref> He was inducted into the [[International League Hall of Fame]] in 2013 for his career as the Mud Hens manager.<ref name="Parrish named to International League’s Hall of Fame"/> He has his managerial number 15 retired by the Mud Hens, just 1 of 3 for the organization.

==Playing career==
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 more [[home run]]s in a season 5 times during his Major League career. He was a two-time All-Star, and in 1979, he was named the [[Montreal Expos Player of the Year]] after batting .307 with 30 homers and 82 [[runs batted in]], and finishing fourth in National League [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|MVP]] 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 with [[Dave Hostetler]] from the Expos to the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]] for [[Al Oliver]] on March 31, 1982. He originally was supposed to have been the Rangers' starting [[right fielder]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/01/sports/gamble-bars-deal-expos-get-oliver.html Chass, Murray. "Gamble Bars Deal; Expos Get Oliver," ''The New York Times'', Thursday, April 1, 1982, 1982.] Retrieved October 31, 2020</ref> In 1982, during his first season with the Rangers, Parrish tied a major league record held by [[Jim Northrup (baseball)|Jim Northrup]] when he hit three [[Grand slam (baseball)|grand slams]] in the span of one week.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_grsl.shtml|title=Grand Slam Records|website=www.baseball-almanac.com|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref>

Parrish ranks 15th on the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]]' all-time home run list with 149 and 14th in RBIs at 522. He closed out his American Major League career by joining the [[Boston 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 in [[Major 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.

==Coaching career==
After retiring from the majors and spending time playing for the [[Yakult Swallows]] and [[Hanshin Tigers]] of the [[Nippon Professional Baseball|Japanese]] [[Central League]], Parrish became a full-time coach within the [[Detroit Tigers]] organization. In 1992, Parrish was named the manager for the [[Single-A (baseball)|Single-A]] Niagara Falls Rapids of the [[New 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 the [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]] [[Jacksonville Suns]], where he won another League Championship the same year. Parrish then served as [[bench coach]] under Tigers manager [[Buddy Bell]] for the 1997 season and part of the 1998 season before Bell was fired. Parrish was promoted as the replacement and [[Manager (baseball)|managed]] the Tigers from 1998 to 1999, compiling an 82–104 record. However, he was replaced by [[Phil Garner]] for the 2000 season. Parrish managed the Tigers through their final season at [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Tiger Stadium]]. Parrish remained in the Tigers organization as a [[Scout (sport)|scout]] from 2000 to 2002, and in 2003, he returned to the [[Dugout (baseball)|dugout]] once again as the manager for the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[Toledo Mud Hens]] of the [[International League]].

In 2005, Parrish managed the Mud Hens to an impressive 89–55 record and the [[Governors' Cup]] as champions of the International League. The Mud Hens defeated the [[Indianapolis Indians]]. Following the season, Parrish was named the 2005 Minor League Manager of the Year by ''[[The 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 the [[Rochester Red Wings]]. The team moved on to play in the first [[Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game]], in [[Oklahoma City]], where they would take on the [[Tucson Sidewinders]] of the [[Pacific 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 the [[Atlanta Braves]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Larry Parrish hired as Braves hitting coach! |url=https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-15905054 |access-date=July 20, 2024 |publisher=[[Minor League Baseball]] |date=October 29, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Larry Parrish named hitting coach |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=5741777 |access-date=July 20, 2024 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=ESPN.com |date=October 29, 2010}}</ref> replacing [[Terry Pendleton]], who was moved to first base coach. After the Braves offense went from first in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] in [[On-base percentage]] in 2010 to 14th in 2011 with roughly the same lineup, Braves general manager [[Frank Wren]] announced on September 30, 2011, that Parrish would not return to his duties for the [[2012 Atlanta Braves season|2012 season]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110930&content_id=25401480&vkey=news_atl&c_id=atl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002042458/http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110930&content_id=25401480&vkey=news_atl&c_id=atl|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 2, 2011|title=Parrish let go as Braves hitting coach|website=Atlanta Braves|publisher=MLB|date=30 September 2011}}</ref>

Parrish was named manager of the [[West Michigan Whitecaps]] for the 2013 season.

Parrish was elected to the [[International League Hall of Fame]] as a manager in 2013.<ref name="ilhof">{{cite web |url=http://www.milb.com/documents/2013/01/29/41228564/1/Class_of_2013_Bio_Page.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063440/http://www.milb.com/documents/2013/01/29/41228564/1/Class_of_2013_Bio_Page.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |title=International League Hall of Fame Class of 2013 |access-date=June 10, 2013}}</ref>

On September 18, 2013, it was announced that Parrish would return to the Mud Hens for his third stint as manager. He replaced [[Phil Nevin]], whose contract was not renewed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/whitecaps/index.ssf/2013/09/west_michigan_whitecaps_lose_m.html |title=West Michigan Whitecaps lose manager Larry Parrish to Toledo Mud Hens |work=[[MLive]] |first=Peter |last=Wallner |date=September 18, 2013 |access-date=September 18, 2013}}</ref> On August 2, 2015, Parrish announced his plan to retire at the end of the Mud Hens' season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/08/22/detroit-tigers-larry-parrish/32208051/ |title=Q&A with Mud Hens retiring manager Larry Parrish |newspaper=[[Detroit Free Press]] |first=George |last=Sipple |date=August 22, 2015 |access-date=August 22, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-147977592 |title=In finale, extra-inning win sends Parrish out on top |publisher=[[Toledo Mud Hens]] |first=Cameron |last=Kaiser |date=September 7, 2015 |access-date=September 7, 2015}}</ref>

==Highlights==
* Two-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] (1979, 1987).
* Hit three grand slams in one week (July 4, 7, and 10 in 1982), tying a long-standing MLB record set by [[Jim Northrup (baseball)|Jim Northrup]] in the Detroit Tigers' World Series Championship season in 1968.
* Compiled four career three-home run games, including one instance in which the home runs came on consecutive at-bats (July 30, 1978) and is one of only eight players to accomplish the feat in both leagues. (The others are [[Babe Ruth]], [[Johnny Mize]], [[Dave Kingman]], [[Cory Snyder]], [[Darnell Coles]], [[Claudell Washington]], and [[Darryl Strawberry]].)
* Four league championships as manager:
**1993 (Niagara Falls of the New York–Penn League)
**1996 (Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League)
**2005 and 2006 (Toledo Mud Hens of the International League)

==See also==
* [[List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=p/parrila01 |fangraphs=1010020 |brm=parris001lar |retro=P/Pparrl002 }}
*{{Baseball-reference manager|parrila01}}
*{{SABR Baseball Biography Project|3e57b1c8}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040531092819/http://www.mudhens.com/info/player.asp?id=51 Larry Parrish - Toledo Mud Hens Official Bio]

{{Detroit Tigers managers}}
{{Toledo Mud Hens managers}}
{{2010–present International League Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parrish, Larry}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan]]
[[Category:American League All-Stars]]
[[Category:Atlanta Braves coaches]]
[[Category:Baseball coaches from Florida]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Detroit Tigers coaches]]
[[Category:Detroit Tigers managers]]
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[[Category:Hanshin Tigers players]]
[[Category:Jamestown Expos players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball third basemen]]
[[Category:Montreal Expos players]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen]]
[[Category:People from Haines City, Florida]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Polk County, Florida]]
[[Category:Québec Carnavals players]]
[[Category:Seminole State College of Florida alumni]]
[[Category:Seminole State Raiders baseball players]]
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[[Category:Toledo Mud Hens managers]]
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[[Category:Yakult Swallows players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Seminole County, Florida]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]