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355 comments Add your comment
Ben Thinken
October 29th, 2010
3:37 pm
I find it amazing that there are so many experts on pitching, batting, and managing out there who have never been involved in professional baseball decision making or playing. I wonder how they came to think they know so much.
Habersham Dawg
October 29th, 2010
3:37 pm
Ted Williams was one of the best pure hitters of any era, but he was a terrible coach. He just couldn’t understand why the young men he was teaching didn’t have his eyesight or reflexes, and that’s why many of the good hitters turn out to be average instructors. They don’t have to understand the mechanics of seeing, swinging, and hitting. They just do it. Parrish may be a good one at instructing, but I still wish they could have got Don Baylor.
JD
October 29th, 2010
3:38 pm
@Terry – Howie McCann doesn’t need the job and wouldn’t take it if offered. Besides, it would suck having your dad on the team as a hitting coach if you were the starting catcher, know what I mean? I mean if you’re going to go down that path, then why not have Larry Jones Sr. as the hitting coach???
NEW CARS
October 29th, 2010
3:38 pm
double,
You mean like their previous manager that they fired, Joe Girardi.
I wonder if Parrish can work some magic with his former player, Wilken Ramirez and maybe we have an inhouse solution for LF and can go spend the bucks and put Werth in CF
Welcome Parrish
October 29th, 2010
3:39 pm
Now lets get a power hitting outfielder and fill a few more holds and play ball.
Man the escorting of passenger Jet to JKF is a problem..Military and air problems are real problems. NOT the hitting Coach.
Hooter Girl
October 29th, 2010
3:40 pm
I remember when Charlie Lau played for the Braves, a terrible hitter who became a very good teacher of hitting. I also remember when Parrish played and while not a perrienial
all-star he was a hitter to be respected. I will trust the baseball people who recommended him above the opinions of the people of this blog who feel the need to criticize and critque every move negatively. After all it shouldn’t be too difficult to be a better hitting coach than TP.
STH
October 29th, 2010
3:41 pm
Parrish may do very well, I dont know much about him I admitt, but man what a splash… Did we interview either Chipper’s dad or Mcann’s dad, they never made the big leagues either…..
Big Al
October 29th, 2010
3:41 pm
We survived Merv Rettenmund, we can survive Larry Parrish, too.
Just Pat
October 29th, 2010
3:41 pm
Anyone looked up stats on the year he DID serve as hitting coach? That might change a few minds if those players were improved under him.
FJR
October 29th, 2010
3:42 pm
Larry Parrish fact: He had 4 seasons where he hit more homeruns than Brian McCann has hit in any season.
Theron Sapp
October 29th, 2010
3:42 pm
BDawg asks the perinent question, namely what Parrish has been doing since 1999. He has apparently managed the Toledo Mud Hens since 2003.
STH
October 29th, 2010
3:42 pm
Good point Big Al, we also survived Terry, you make a good point
urban redneck
October 29th, 2010
3:43 pm
gotta be better than TP…………right?
Larry M
October 29th, 2010
3:44 pm
Good god – a career OBP of .318 and he’s going to be teaching people how to get on base????
JB
October 29th, 2010
3:44 pm
Willing to give him a chance, but wish he had a proven track record as a hitting coach. There are great coaches without great stats, but there are so many career .300 hitters around — like Chipper — who should be great coaches. Since when do we rely on Detroit for advice ?
STH
October 29th, 2010
3:45 pm
Lets hope we didnt miss as bad as Parrish did as a player because if you go by those numbers he had as a player, we may have been better with Leo Mazzone as a hitting instructor. I agree with some saying you dont have to be a great hitter to be a great coach, oh I hope Wren got this one right….
Mathman
October 29th, 2010
3:45 pm
Don Baylor had a career batting average of .260 in the majors. Parrish hit .263.
Nate McLouse hit .187.
mike jones
October 29th, 2010
3:45 pm
Lance parrish was the catcher, not larry, he was an outfielder. Some of people aren’t that intelligent.
FJR
October 29th, 2010
3:46 pm
LOL, wait, he wasn’t a catcher, I guess I just took one of the other bloggers as that being a fact. He was more of 3B. Anyway, jsut thought I would clear that up. Still though, his hitting numbers aren’t MVP type, but were still very good for the era.
dangerousdan885
October 29th, 2010
3:46 pm
TXD is right. The best players don’t always make the best coaches or managers. Why? They have a hard time relating to the average player because their skills came more naturally to them.I don’t have a problem with Parrish. Give him a chance before you trash him.
TDub
October 29th, 2010
3:47 pm
Honestly. You know nothing about what it takes to be a hitting coach, the process they went through, etc. For anyone to say right now that this is a disaster is asinine. And as for the “if you didn’t hit/pitch in the majors, how can you be a hitting/pitching coach” crowd, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Mike Maddux was mediocre at best in the majors. Rudy Jaramillo only played in the minors. And on and on.
Please – if you don’t know what you’re talking about, just don’t say anything.
Patrick
October 29th, 2010
3:48 pm
Why do I feel like the Braves took the cheap way out with the “search”
STH
October 29th, 2010
3:48 pm
fjr, that is our point, as thankful as we are to have the best catcher in baseball, our tired beat up catcher shouldnt be leading the team in home runs. I hate this though, who care about hr? 5 singles in a row score more than waiting for the one big bop…just hit man
FJR
October 29th, 2010
3:48 pm
Larry M, nobody in the ’70s had really high OBP’s. My bad Mike Jones, I just read what other people were saying and figured they were right. Yes, I remember Lance Parrish.
FJR
October 29th, 2010
3:51 pm
STH, the thing about just hitting the ball is that you can’t really guide the ball for hits. A hitting coach isn’t going to be able to teach a player how to get more hits and hit for a higher average, unless they can teach the player to hit more homeruns and strike out less.
The only thing hitters can control is whether they strike out, walk or hit homeruns. Everything else gets a hit about 32% of the time.
Robbie
October 29th, 2010
3:54 pm
Lance Parrish was a catcher. Larry Parrish was an infielder. Lots of comments about the new hitting coach as a catcher- wrong guy.
i'm larry
October 29th, 2010
3:54 pm
Guys….263 avg….that is average, but he’s a coach/teacher. hopefully he’ll be working with players with more talent/ability than what he had. Give him a chance, he’s an up grade over TP, and I love TP..but he didn’t get it done. If he can teach better than he hit, we’ll be fine!
Boca Baby
October 29th, 2010
3:55 pm
I am really wondering if the Braves are going to continue to look like the Bobby Cox teams of the past twenty-five years. I think the old adage “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Let’s face it Fredi is a Cox Brave through and through. I feel good about this.
JN
October 29th, 2010
3:55 pm
I was hoping for Lance Parrish, not Larry. Didn’t Larry strike out a lot?
World Be Free
October 29th, 2010
3:55 pm
As long as Pendelton is not longer “advising” the hitters!
STH
October 29th, 2010
3:56 pm
well i agree but i do not care about teaching hitting hr, i like how you say and agree with you when you say tech to not strike out. I want to see someone to teach these Braves to choke up when having 2 strikes, or heck even quit looking for a certian pitch and just react when having 2 strikes.
ATLien
October 29th, 2010
3:56 pm
Hey STH..we’ve been sitting around waiting on that one big bop for 20 years with Bobby — NewsFLASH Freddi is the same type of manager
STH
October 29th, 2010
3:56 pm
well larry didnt strike out when job hunting this year lets hope he can translate that to our hitters
STH
October 29th, 2010
3:59 pm
Atlien I am not waiting a big bop, i hate that kind of play, but if i were waiting for a bigbop it didnt happen in this hire!
STH
October 29th, 2010
4:02 pm
I like old fasion play, dirty uni’s, and hit it where they arent, and I do not mean in the stands. I love a homerun, but hate to see a player trying to hit one.
Dion James
October 29th, 2010
4:02 pm
Anyone know where Ted Williams’ frozen head is at? Maybe Mr. Parrish does . . .
ATLien
October 29th, 2010
4:03 pm
I didnt say you were..I was referring to your prior post about waiting on a big bop…just letting you know that Freddi waits on that just like bobby did…no stealing, no hit and runs, no bunting…etc…no small ball
*BlondeBomb*
October 29th, 2010
4:03 pm
Who cares what you think about him?! What matters is that he produces results. If he’s cool with Fredi, he’s cool by me.
Tale of Woe
October 29th, 2010
4:04 pm
Do as I say, not as I did…Some people know how to hit but just don’t have the talent do execute. I think this will be a good hire. I don’t think he is going to be our long term solution though – I think Chipper is…But this will do in the short term.
Joke
October 29th, 2010
4:05 pm
Here we go again! Can you say 1970’s!!!!!!!!!!! One year in the minors, and that was a dozen years ago and the highlight is a .263 average! Dear Lord, I thought TP was bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ATLien
October 29th, 2010
4:06 pm
Every major leaguer can “HIT” .. once you get to that level its all about adjustments – I just feel that TP didnt have the ability to help hitters adjust to how Pitchers were getting them out..Hopefully Parrish can do a better job with helping guys adjust
STH
October 29th, 2010
4:06 pm
I hope Chipper is our next hitting coach, but he hasnt exactly asked for this job, he may not want it guys…
lurker
October 29th, 2010
4:09 pm
If career batting average is so important in a hitting coach, then the Parrish-haters should all grab shovels and go dig up Ty Cobb.
FYI – Parrish’s career OPS+ is 107 with highs of 146, 128 and 121.
Delbert D.
October 29th, 2010
4:09 pm
Parrish said he didn’t want a job unless he could make a difference. That says a lot about his personal expectations.
Here are some Parrish notes:
Hit three grand slams in a week
Hit 3 HRs in a game 4 times
Hit over 20 HRs 5 times
4 league championships as a minor league manager
He’s 56 years old
steve
October 29th, 2010
4:10 pm
80-82, 4th place in the NL East. Fragile Freddie Freeman .212 5 hr 39 RBIs … need I say more.
Biff Pocoroba
October 29th, 2010
4:10 pm
Biff Pocoroba must have been busy…
Umm, no actually, aside from my duties as president of the Rick Camp fan club, I’m still available.
Richard Dawson
October 29th, 2010
4:10 pm
This guy used to kill the Braves when he was with the Expos. Like it better than Presley. Hitting .263 back in the day wasn’t so bad, with the power he had.
JF McNamara
October 29th, 2010
4:10 pm
How’s this better than T.P.? He was squeezing juice out of lemons. Heck, he got Infante and Prado to the All Star game. Its not like the batters were leaving here and getting drastically better. All of his failures (KJ, Frenchy, Andruw Jones) haven’t been great. Only KJ, who returned to his 2009 form looked better, but he was good in 2008 under T.P. too. It seems like a change just to make a change to me.
meh
October 29th, 2010
4:10 pm
I don’t know much about Larry Parish but I’m going to trust that Fredi and the management know what they’re doing. Looking forward to next year. Maybe we’ll have legitimate starters at all 3 outfield spots!
ATLien
October 29th, 2010
4:11 pm
Steve is from Philly
David O'Brien
October 29th, 2010
4:13 pm
Just got off phone with Parrish, seems like a good guy, student of hitting who recent has viewed many hours of film and studied hitters from Ruth to Aaron right up through Bonds, Pujols and other current hitters, trying to see the things they had in common, etc. Interesting guy. He plans to use video, one-on-one instruction and whatever else different hitters need, said all hitters are different and he doesn’t believe in trying to make them the same, but rather accentuating their strengths.
He also plans to get in the cage and take some cuts to demonstrate at times.
JSS
October 29th, 2010
4:14 pm
@ Robbie
Co-sign…
Have any of you taken the time to see what kind of hitters came out of Toledo under Parrish’s watch to Detroit? Take a moment and do a little investigating… I look forward to your answers…
Paul
October 29th, 2010
4:16 pm
“I’ve already phoned the ticket office to cancel my season tickets.” – Fish Bisch
Yay!! That means more tickets for real Braves fans! Thankyou!
As for the hire, I am optimistic about it. I remember Larry Parrish, he was a solid ball player and has apparently had some experience as a coach. Most of the people bashing him just like to hear themselves bellow. It’s a shame that we have to sift through all the ignorant comments to actually read some good content about baseball. GO Braves!
Delbert D.
October 29th, 2010
4:16 pm
As for Chipper Jones, why would a multi-multi-millionaire want to sit in dugout from March to October and do all the required travelling? He might as well be working for free, with the extreme difference in pay from his days as a player. I’m pretty sure that Derek Jeter is not going to be a coach either. Tony Gwynn is an exception, but he’s in his home town coaching a college team.
Ghost of Gil Garrido
October 29th, 2010
4:17 pm
All of you folks stating that Chipper or McCann will look to their dads (or own mentors) for coaching just help to prove the point about hitting coaches. It takes two to coach. The Chippers and McCanns of the baseball world don’t really need a batting coach except just for tweaks. The players who need a good batting coach are (a) young players and (b) veterans who are in a rut with the same hitting approach they’ve always had. If Parrish has good, fresh ideas and approach to hitting to offer to (a) and (b), then Hallelujah — if the players choose to listen.
As many have commented – - Ted Williams (.342 career avg., 520 HRs) was a notoriously impatient hitting teacher and coach – - his four years as a manager didn’t help his teams hit, as they finished 4th, 6th, 5th, and 6th in their divisions. On the other hand, a journeyman catcher with a .255 career average and 16 career HRs became widely-regarded as the best hitting coach ever. Charlie Lau taught his hitting style to some of the best hitting teams of the 1970s and 1980s – - the ‘69 Orioles, the ‘70 A’s, the ’70s K.C. Royals (with Brett, Wilson, Mcrae, Otis), the late 70s-early 80s Yankees, and the early ’80s White Sox. Here’s hoping Parrish fits in the Lau mold.
After all, as Braves fans, we should recognize that – - to be the best in the business as a coach – - you don’t need to have been a great player. See Cox, Bobby and Mazzone, Leo.
skip
October 29th, 2010
4:18 pm
Hitting coaches are kind of like golf instructors…….it’s not so much what the coach says, it’s what the player hears.
DC Bravesfan
October 29th, 2010
4:20 pm
First…
Obee
October 29th, 2010
4:20 pm
This is fun. It’s like watching piranha in an aquarium.
kool$kat
October 29th, 2010
4:21 pm
ya buncha dipwads…if hitting stars made the best coaches, then the Braves would have had Hank Aaron as the hitting coach all these years and they would have surely won 14 consecutive world series titles…
jc
October 29th, 2010
4:22 pm
urban redneck – that chimp who threw the banana at kramer would be better than tp.
To Mr Polygraph
October 29th, 2010
4:22 pm
I hate to say it, but using the reasoning that the move is great because the Braves made it is more sound than saying it is terrible because I read a very short article about the guy … lol. Even if you had personally interviewed the guy, I might still be inclined to trust the people who have spent their career in baseball rather than someone who likes to blog about it.
Granted, blogs are all about opinions, so you are welcome to yours.
Delbert D.
October 29th, 2010
4:23 pm
I live in South Jersey from 1975 through 1979, and I had 13-game Phillies season tickets for 3 of those years. Parrish and Andre Dawson were the big sticks on the Expos during that time.
Norman Cochran
October 29th, 2010
4:24 pm
Keep in mind that some of the Greatest coaches and managers never were stars when playing or even if they ever made the majors. So I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but give the man a chance and see what he can do. It is only one year contract anyway.
ATLien
October 29th, 2010
4:25 pm
Yes lets give the guy a chance ! After all we still got TP is we need him !!
Steve
October 29th, 2010
4:31 pm
TP did an awsome job concerning what he had to work with. They need more diversity on the team and not all of those kids from Cobb County. You can have the best hitting coach but if you don’t have any talent you may as well pack up and go home!!!
Cali Dawg
October 29th, 2010
4:31 pm
That was Robert Parrish, not Larry!
Delbert D.
October 29th, 2010
4:33 pm
Ghost of Gil Garrido – Thanks for the Charlie Lau mention. I agree strongly.
Lee
October 29th, 2010
4:34 pm
I like this hire. All you dodos, go back to mulling around the water cooler at your HVAC office job. There’s a reason why you have never been hired to make managerial decisions.
Senator Blutarski
October 29th, 2010
4:36 pm
Greg Norton didn’t get the job?
Ed Zachary
October 29th, 2010
4:37 pm
Can he teach bunting and hitting for productive outs?
Nova Scotia Steve
October 29th, 2010
4:41 pm
Jesus Christ himself could improve the Atlanta Braves offense – they need to make a deal or two from outside the organization…or get lucky with someone of the cheap who has a great year.
It’s unfortunate but it’s the way it is and has been and will be for close to four years in a row.
So this Parrish hiring – Meh. Whatever.
Nova Scotia Steve
October 29th, 2010
4:42 pm
*couldn’t
Bottom Line
October 29th, 2010
4:42 pm
Good hire. I know LP and he is very smart and will relate to players very well.
AGTFan53
October 29th, 2010
4:50 pm
Got to love sports fans. Not a single Braves batter has faced a single pitch after being coached by Parrish and he’s trashed unmercifully. It truly takes a special kind of idiocy (me included) to be a sports fan.
Nick P.
October 29th, 2010
4:52 pm
i never truly understand how a player who himself had what i would consider a not so great batting average, get to teach other players about hitting? i just dont get that! Same with Mark McGwire, how is it that your techiniques which did not pay off for you yourself, all of a sudden gonna help another player take off, i mean i guess you teach from experience, and what you know, and if it did not do great things for you some how it will for others. I was personally hoping for DON BAYLOR, but i guess he either turned down the Braves, or another team took him already, i know Blue Jays did not hire him as their manager, so I really thought we had a chance, being that he was here once before. Anyways, i’ll stay quiet and see how he does, but lets just say, i am not too impressed!
RM
October 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
All of you “experts” need to chill and give the guy a chance. Why trash the guy before he even gets to work? Unless you yourself are trash…
Strike Three
October 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
Hey- At least he picked a new hitting coach. Imagine the comments here had he decided to keep Pendleton on as the hitting coach! Give the man some credit and time to prove himself. Geez.
hammer
October 29th, 2010
4:59 pm
I tried to tell you Larry was the man for the job.
sgebraves
October 29th, 2010
5:00 pm
for the record Don Baylor was a 260 career hitter. It doesn’t matter how well you hit it’s about how well you can instruct. Give the guy a chance.
RM
October 29th, 2010
5:02 pm
Nick P, most of the best coaches in the league were not superstar players in their day. But most of them have a common bond in their work ethic, love of the game and desire to get better.
hangman
October 29th, 2010
5:02 pm
D id you ever stop to think that the beloved LARRY is the one that gave JH the hitting advice that causes him to meltdown? Chipper had forgotten how to hit himself! Why should he suddenly remember how to teach anyone else? Chipper was a case of too many cooks in the kitchen and the team will be better off when he goes.
long gone
October 29th, 2010
5:03 pm
Wasn’t Presley the Braves third baseman who said the Braves were making a terrible mistake by getting Terry Pendleton in 1991?
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
October 29th, 2010
5:03 pm
wait a year and then begin to start throwing insults at parrish. regardless of the experience, sometimes all it takes is a change of face and approach.
John OTC
October 29th, 2010
5:05 pm
God has smiled on our Braves….
DawgDad
October 29th, 2010
5:10 pm
Do a massive search-and-replace on all the “TP”s in the blog archives and you’ve got a great preview of next year’s posts in-hand. Now, if Diory Hernandez hits .350 next year and nails down the starting shortstop job then I might start to believe a hitting coach is something more than a dinner and drinking partner for the pitching coach.
Crystal
October 29th, 2010
5:13 pm
He was a two-time All-Star. in 1979, Parrish was named the Montreal Expos Player of the Year after batting .307 with 30 homers and 82 runs batted in. He ranks seventh on the Texas Rangers all-time home run list ,149, and eighth in RBIs at 522.
Don’t be so hard on the guy
DC Brave
October 29th, 2010
5:17 pm
He will likely be better than TP. Anyway, just because you are a great hitter does not mean you can teach people to hit. Anyone think Manny Ramirez could teach anybody anything? The point is those people who did not have as much talent as some of the other hitters in the league probably had to focus on mechanics, scouting reports, etc and had to develop good hitting habits instead of relying on talent alone. If they can provide these good habits to others, then they will be a good teacher.
One of the worst teachers I ever had in college was brilliant, widely recognized among peers and publications as one of teh finest economists around, but he was a HORRIBLE teacher. He could not understand why we did not get the concepts he relayed to us. To him, they were easy to grasp, but not to us. Give me a guy who can relate to what other players are going through and had to work through their own issues. I think they are the best teachers and I think Larry could be that.
jay
October 29th, 2010
5:18 pm
Don Baylor is thought to be one of the premier hitting coaches in baseball and the best the Braves have ever had in my opinion. What was his career average? .260… Howard Johnson is respected…His career average…211…Walt Hriniak…probably the best ever…Played less than one year in the majors and batted .253….Point is…Career batting average has nothing to do with coaching.
nick
October 29th, 2010
5:18 pm
all you guys bashing him listen to this…
He hit three grand slams in a week (July 4, 7, and 10, 1982), tying the MLB record set by Jim Northrup. he compiled four career three-home run games, including one instance where the home runs came on consecutive bats, and is one of only eight players to accomplish the feat in both leagues (Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize, Dave Kingman, Cory Snyder, Darnell Coles, Claudell Washington and Darryl Strawberry are the others) so i think he is a pretty good hitter so get off his back
Larvell Blanks
October 29th, 2010
5:20 pm
“I always thought a “Hitting” coach should be someone that can “HIT” ? .263 ? TP was .270 and you see what that got you”
Mid-talent guys usually make better coaches than superstars. .263 sounds just about right. (Although I think DOB is a bit generous calling him a “slugger”).
Rodney Derrick
October 29th, 2010
5:23 pm
Go to the MLB website for the Toledo Mud Hens and you will find their individual hitting stats (and pitching) for 2005 through 2010. You will find some impressive players. In a quick review, noted Omar Infante played a bit for him and had an OPS over .800 walking over 10 percent of the time (he did not walk much for the Braves with a semi-Francoeur approach at the plate). Rookie star Brennan Boesch played for him and so did Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames and Carlos Pena to name just a few. Of course, he also had some really big names go through the team when recovering from the DL such as Magglio Ordonez.
He won more games managing Toledo than any other manager in their long history.
MWC
October 29th, 2010
5:25 pm
Just wondering about “Phillies Class Of The NL” … LMAO!!!
Army of the Gators
October 29th, 2010
5:26 pm
Larry Parrish is going to be a great addition to the Braves coaching staff.Man knows the power of the bat.Played ball with him back in our younger days,good cudos on his hire.Makes the game fun again.
jerry
October 29th, 2010
5:39 pm
In baseball, the old adage ” it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” certainly holds true. Name a few players that he has actually helped to become good hitters……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………I’m still waiting.
Angel
October 29th, 2010
5:45 pm
Probably a good hire. This summer I heard a discussion on MLB radio about the job he did in Toledo and how a great teacher/instructor he is. I guess we will have to wait and see… but I like this one better than TP or Pressley.
Joe
October 29th, 2010
5:46 pm
Gosh, I guess Greg Orton was already taken.
David O'Brien
October 29th, 2010
5:47 pm
The original story’s been updated with quotes from Parrish, Gonzalez, and more details about hiring.
Joe
October 29th, 2010
5:50 pm
meant Greg Norton sorry
jfreak13713
October 29th, 2010
5:52 pm
The man is an upgrade … PERIOD!
bob
October 29th, 2010
5:52 pm
was Dave Kingman busy?