Wes Parker

Maurice Wesley Parker III (born November 13, 1939) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to . He also played one season in Japan for the Nankai Hawks in .

As of 2009, Parker has been a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization serving as a representative of the Dodgers Legend Bureau.

Biography

Major League playing career

Parker was part of the Dodgers' and World Series teams. Known as one of the slickest fielding first basemen of all time, he won the National League Gold Glove Award for first base every year from to 1972. In 1970, Parker posted a career high batting average of .319 and performed the unusual feat of driving in over 100 runs in a season while hitting no more than 10 home runs.

In a game against the New York Mets on May 7, 1970, Parker hit for the cycle.Helfgott, Hali. "Wes Parker, First Baseman", ''Sports Illustrated'', March 22, 1971. He was the last Los Angeles Dodger to accomplish that feat until Orlando Hudson did so against the San Francisco Giants on April 13, 2009.

On August 21, 2007, Parker was voted the best defensive first baseman in baseball since the inception of the Gold Glove award in 1957, and named to the Major League Baseball All-time Gold Glove Team."Their Work with the Glove is Golden," ''Los Angeles Times,'' Sports, D5, August 23, 2007. He is the only member of the team who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Parker is not eligible to enter the Hall of Fame as a player because he played in only nine seasons, one less than the minimum required for consideration.)

Parker is the only Dodger to have received the All-Time Gold Glove Team award.

After Sunday home games in the final years of his career, Parker would hit fly balls to local kids outside Dodger Stadium, then drive as many as would fit into his car for ice cream and sodas. He said that he enjoyed his interactions with the kids more than he did playing the games for which he was paid.

Career statistics

In nine seasons and 1,288 games played, Parker compiled a .267 batting average (1110-4157), with 548 runs scored, 64 home runs, 470 RBI, 532 walks, .351 on-base percentage and .375 slugging percentage. In 11 World Series games (1965 and '66) he hit .278 (10-36). At 1,108 games at first base, his primary position, his fielding percentage was .996. He also played at all three outfield positions.

Labor issues

Major League Baseball had its first ever work stoppage with a strike at the beginning of the 1972 season, which lasted 13 days. The player representatives voted 47-0, with one abstention, in favor of the strike. The abstention was Parker, who felt a deep appreciation for everything the Dodgers had done for him.

Other endeavors

Parker retired from Major League Baseball after the 1972 season. He worked as a television color analyst for the Cincinnati Reds in 1973, then played in Japanese professional baseball in 1974.Leahy, Michael. ''The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers,'' pp. 450-1, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, New York, 2016. .

Parker subsequently pursued an acting career, and appeared in a number of television roles in the 1970s. His most famous role came in episode #17 of ''The Brady Bunch'', "The Undergraduate" (January 23, 1970), as the fiancèe of Greg Brady's math teacher, on whom Greg has such a huge crush that it distracts him from his studies. Parker promises Greg two tickets to opening day if he earns an A in the class. Parker eventually gave up acting, saying it did not fit his introverted personality.

Parker also was a baseball broadcaster for NBC in 1978–79 and for USA Network in 1980–83.

Personal life

Parker grew up in West Los Angeles. He attended Claremont McKenna College, transferred to USC, and graduated from USC with a B.A. in history.Leahy, Michael. ''The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers,'' pp. 32-47, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, New York, 2016. .

Beginning in 2001, Parker began as a volunteer teacher of a weekly sports class at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.

Religious views

Parker served as a voice of faith for the ministry of television preacher Dr. Gene Scott. During a 1982 broadcast (index number S-1086-3), Parker spoke with Scott publicly for over twenty minutes, stating that before coming across Dr. Scott's television program, he had never understood or felt drawn toward Christianity. He explained that it was Scott's intelligent and fact-based approach to teaching that earned his respect and allowed him to build faith. He stated that his earlier exposures to Christianity had no effect, because they were mostly based on simplistic platitudes such as "God is love" which he found unconvincing.

See also

* List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
* List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle

References

Further reading

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External links

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Retrosheet
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Wes
1939 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Japan
Baseball players from Illinois
Cincinnati Reds announcers
Gold Glove Award winners
Los Angeles Dodgers Legend Bureau
Los Angeles Dodgers players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball first basemen
Nankai Hawks players
Sportspeople from Evanston, Illinois
Albuquerque Dukes players
Santa Barbara Rancheros players
Arizona Instructional League Dodgers players