Top Tigers #29: Lance Parrish
By Blake VandeBunte • Feb 16th, 2009 • Category: Lance Parrish, Top 100 Tigers- Rank: 29
- Name: Lance Michael Parrish
- Position: Catcher
- Tigers Tenure: 1977-1986
- Awards: Five-Time All Star, MVP Votes (1982-1984), Five-Time Silver Slugger, Three Gold Gloves (1983-1985)
- Best Season: 1983. Parrish did it all in 1983: He won a Gold Glove, finished ninth in MVP voting, won the Silver Slugger award, and was named to the All Star team. Not a bad year, right? Parrish hit .269 (OPS+ 119) to go with his 27 home runs and a career high of 114 RBI. He also appeared in 155 games which is absolutely nuts for a catcher. He caught in 131 games and finished ninth in the American League in at bats. He finished the season eighth in total bases, third in doubles, ninth in home runs, and fourth in RBI. That sort of production out of a catcher is outstanding. Parrish was the best all-around catcher in baseball in 1983.
- Good Stuff: Parrish put together some monster offensive seasons behind the plate for Detroit. He topped the 20 home run mark six times while with the club and topped the 30 home run plateau twice. He is the franchise leader amongst catchers in home runs (besting Bill Freehan) and is second in RBI (trailing Freehan). He was also one of the top defensive catchers of the 1980s. He was also obvious part of some pretty great pitcher-catcher batteries with the likes of Dan Petry and Jack Morris. He ranks fifth in MLB history in home runs by a catcher.
- Bad Stuff: Parrish struck out a lot and very rarely walked, all adding up to less than impressive OBP numbers. Take his 1984 season as an example. Some of his numbers look outstanding (33 HR, 98 RBI) however, a closer look shows us a dark side. Parrish’s OPS+ was a very average 99. His on base percentage was only .287. Just for comparison’s sake, Brandon Inge had an on base percentage of .303 last season and Pudge Rodriguez had an OPS+ of 98. Hmm. While with the Tigers, Parrish never walked 50 times in a season and struck out over 100 times on four occasions and struck out 99 times on another.
- Place In Tigers History: Parrish is still one of the top power hitters of the 1980s and is one of the top power hitting catchers of all time. He was a member of the 1984 championship team and was a member of Alan Trammell’s coaching staff a few years back. Parrish left the Tigers as a free agent following the 1986 season.
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Got the chance to meet Lance a couple of years ago when he was managing the Great Lakes Loons and he seemed like a great guy. I approached him pre-game and had him sign my tiger hat. There were few fans there that early and he took the time to chat with me and my son. He got canned after one year with the Loons. I believe he either got re-assigned within the dodgers organization or is working somewhere in the minors.
I knew he was with the Loons for at least one season. It’s strange that he was there for only one season, most guys get more of a shot than that.
Lance Parrish was my favorite Tiger growing up. I remember when he left the Tigers as a free agent after the 86 season. I was ten years old and I read the sports page that morning and cried like a little baby after reading the news that he left for Philadelphia.