page_title: Lance Parrish
section_title: Major League career
hierarchical_section_title: Lance Parrish / Major League career
caption_attribution_description: English: Professional baseball player Lance Parrish
context_page_description: Lance Michael Parrish, nicknamed "Big Wheel", is an American former professional baseball player who played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1977 through 1995. He played for the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Toronto Blue Jays. He was most recently the manager of the West Michigan Whitecaps. He was regarded as one of the best catchers in the 1980s for both his offensive and defensive play. He currently serves as a special assistant to the general manager of the Detroit Tigers.
context_section_description: Parrish reached the major leagues in 1977 on a part-time basis, and by 1979, he had replaced Milt May as the team's regular catcher. In 1979, he also played winter baseball in Puerto Rico with the Mayagüez Indians. Parrish hit for a .286 batting average along with 24 home runs and 82 runs batted in during the 1980 season to earn his first American League All-Star team berth as well as winning his first Silver Slugger Award.
  Early in his career with the Detroit Tigers, Parrish and manager Sparky Anderson clashed over Parrish's use of weights in his physical training. Anderson believed that bulking up too much would ruin a player's flexibility and hamper his effectiveness. Parrish, an avid weight lifter, disagreed. He continued to lift weights and had one of the most muscular bodies in the game.
  Parrish's most productive offensive season was 1982 when he posted a .284 batting average with 32 home runs and 87 runs batted in, winning another Silver Slugger Award in the process. He followed that in 1983 with 27 home runs and 114 runs batted in, earning his third Silver Slugger Award and winning his first Gold Glove Award. Parrish was an integral member of the world championship-winning 1984 Detroit Tigers team. Batting as the clean-up hitter, he produced 33 home runs and 98 runs batted in, adding another Silver Slugger Award as well as a second Gold Glove Award to his credentials. He also caught Jack Morris' no-hitter on April 7 of that season. The Tigers led the American League Eastern Division season from start to finish and defeated the Kansas City Royals in the 1984 American League Championship Series before winning the 1984 World Series against the San Diego Padres.
  After ten years with the Tigers, Parrish signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent before the 1987 season. The Phillies' season slogan was "Lance us a Pennant." He quickly fell out of favor with the Philadelphia fans and media in his second season there as a result of poor offensive output, ranking near the bottom of full-time Major League players in 1988 with a .215 batting average. Afterward, he played three seasons and parts of a fourth with the California Angels before ending his career with short stints for the Mariners, Indians, Pirates, and Blue Jays. Parrish was also with the Los Angeles Dodgers in spring training 1993, but he failed to make the squad because rookie Mike Piazza's performance showed the club that Piazza was ready to be a starting Major League catcher. Parrish also signed to return to the Tigers in 1994, but his contract was purchased by the Pirates before he ever got back to the majors with Detroit. He signed with the Royals in 1995 but was traded to Toronto before he appeared in any Major League games with Kansas City. He signed once again with Pittsburgh in 1996 but did not make the team.
caption: Parrish in 1983
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