Montreal – Larry Parrish, who served as manager of the Toledo Mud Hens in 1994 and also skippered the Detroit Tigers in 1998-99, will return to the Glass City next season as the manager of the Mud Hens. But the Larry Parrish who was introduced as the Hens' new manager at a press conference yesterday is different from the one who took over as Hens manager in May of 1994.

"I won a championship in Single-A, and I won a championship in Double-A, and from there I went to the big leagues as a coach," Parrish said. "Maybe you get full of yourself sometimes; you think, I am pretty smart.' But after you get up there [to the majors], you realize, I am pretty smart if I've got good players.'"

Parrish, who spent 15 seasons as a player at the major league level, was a bench coach for the Tigers under Buddy Bell in 1997 and '98, Parrish took over as interim manager in Detroit in the last month of the 1998 season before being named to the position full-time on Oct. 15. He had a 13-12 record in Detroit in the final month of 1998, then was 69-92 in 1999 before being replaced by Phil Garner.

The Larry Parrish file

Name: LARRY ALTON PARRISH

Age: 49 ( Born 10 November 1953 )

Personal: Wife, Jenny; two daughters and one son; lives in Haines City, Fla.

Playing record: A 15-year major-league veteran who played third base for Montreal (1974-81), Texas (1982-88) and Boston (1988) ... Was named to the All-Star team in 1979 and 1987 ... Had seasons of 20 or more home runs five times and twice had more than 100 RBIs ... Also played two seasons in Japan (1989-90) and led the league with 42 homers for Yakult in 1989.

Managerial record: Served as Detroit Tigers manager for the last month of 1998 (13-12 record) and all of the 1999 season (69-92) for an 82-104 major-league record ... Manager of Mud Hens for most of 1994 and had a 56-62 mark ... Also manager at Double-A Jacksonville for the second part of the 1996 season and at Short Season Niagara Falls in 1992-93 ... Jacksonville won the Southern League title under Parrish in 1996 ... His career minor league managerial record is 178-163 (.522 winning percentage). "I don't want to make too much of it, but I was a little bit frustrated with the game or bitter or whatever," Parrish said about his firing. "I didn't feel one year was quite enough to judge if a guy could manage there. The scouting was interesting at that time; it was getting away from the field a little bit."

So Parrish, who has spent the past 10 years in the Detroit organization, became a major league scout. Scouting suited Parrish at first, but eventually the itch to return to the field grew strong. "Especially last year, even a lot of the old scouts were saying, You don't belong up here [in the stands] with us; you belong on the field,'" Parrish said. "And they were probably right. I feel very comfortable when I'm in a uniform and on the field, being able to interact with the players." Rick Bennett, the Tigers' director of minor-league operations, said choosing Parrish for the Hens' managerial position was an easy decision.

"One of the biggest qualities that L.P. brings to the organization is his baseball experience," Bennett said. "He was in the big leagues for 15 years, and he's been in our organization as an instructor, manager and coach for the last 10 years. That alone made him one of our leading candidates all along. Now that we have him on board, we're really excited about that." Mud Hens general manager Joe Napoli also is pleased to have Parrish as the team's manager.

"There is a lot of value in having Larry Parrish as the manager," Napoli said. "One thing is his experience at the major league level, and a second is the respect that he has based on his interaction with the players in the minor leagues. A third is that he's been a scout at the major league level, and his opinion is highly valued by the Tigers." Parrish's familiarity with the Detroit system extends to his coaches. Hens pitching coach Jeff Jones served as Parrish's pitching coach with the Hens in 1994 and was Parrish's bullpen coach in Detroit in 1999.

"Jeff Jones and I worked together here in the past, which is a tremendous asset," Parrish said. "You know you're going to get along with the pitching coach and you know you're going to be on the same page. He's a first-rate pitching coach and a class guy. "[Hitting coach Leon] Bull' Durham has done a good job [here] the last few years. I've never worked with him, but I've watched him in the last couple of years. The club had great success and we hope we're going to do it again."

But Parrish had a wide smile yesterday just because he knew he would return to the dugout next spring. "I was going to manage again somewhere this year - I was out of the scouting," he said. "I just felt I needed to get back on the field. This opportunity came up. It's an organization that I've been with a long time and that I'm familiar with. I'm familiar with the coaches and the farm system. I'm familiar with Ricky and with Steve Boros. It's just a situation that I'm very comfortable with."

Special to Canadian Baseball News – 22 November 2002