Baseball Between Us

Most fans can’t resist it. It’s the Wave – that knee-jerk crowd reaction when everyone stands up then sits down in the middle of a ballgame, just for fun. It’s easy to find me in the crowd. I’m the guy not standing up. I don’t want to Wave – I want to watch the game.

It’s like Yogi Berra once said, “Baseball is 90% mental – and the other half is physical.” Well I don’t want to be distracted by a bunch of human pogo sticks on steroids. Up, down, make up your mind, but do it on your time, not mine. The Wave is lame. Go bounce a beach ball in the stands – at least that’s fun.

But the Wave may be headed for a wipe out. There’s a growing movement out there to stop the Wave: Stop The Wave

The problem is that Wavers are clueless – often jumping up, then down at the worst possible time – like when the opposing team is starting a rally. Bases loaded, nobody out and your closer can’t focus on the catcher’s mitt because 20,000 Red Bull addicts are getting their ya yas out. It’s distracting to the team in the field – but Wavers never seem to pay attention to that – they just want to be the center of attention whenever they want it.

I know. I sound like a grump. But I’m not alone:

Wiping Out the Wave

We could ban the Wave, but that might be a little too extreme. As my favorite philosopher Yogi Berra once said, “If people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s gonna stop them.”

One team, the Texas Rangers have even started putting messages on their scoreboard. Throwing your arms in the air can cause muscle strains, they say. But if you must do it, then resist temptation until the next “pro football game or Miley Cyrus concert.” Ha. That’s a good one. Think I’ll stand up and applaud. But don’t worry, I’m not doing the wave.

Baseball legend has it that Babe Ruth once promised a sick child he’d hit a home run for him. The Babe kept his promise in the very next game. Fast forward to 2011, when Casey McGehee of the Milwaukee Brewers pulled a similar feat – but in triplicate.

Just this week, McGehee, an infielder who played college ball at Fresno State,  met before game time with 7-year old Clayton Wollner of Sussex, Wisconsin. Clayton loves baseball but is sidelined this summer with craniosynostosis, a condition that affects his cranium from growing properly. Clayton’s had seven surgeries already – with more to follow. McGehee wanted to meet the youngster because his own son Mack was born with cerebral palsy.

Clayton was shy upon meeting his hero at the ballpark – saying virtually nothing. So Clayton’s mom boldly asked the Brewers slugger to hit a home run for Clayton. McGehee then proceeded to a hit a two-run homer off Edwin Jackson of the Cardinals in the first inning. Then he homered again for a two-run blast off Jackson in the third inning. But McGehee wasn’t done yet – he hit the trifecta with a solo blast in the seventh to lead the Brewers to victory over the Cardinals 10-5.

McGehee told reporters it was an “out of body experience”.  Clayton’s mom Jennifer Wollner didn’t know that McGehee was in a bit of a slump (only 1 HR since July 6) when she made her home run request. “When he hit the first home run we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so fun!’ When it got to three, we were kind of speechless,” Wollner said.

As one fan noted – it just goes to show how two “struggling guys really helped each other out.” For pictures of the magical meeting with Casey McGehee, check out this link:

7-Year Old Boy Meets Hero

Boston Red Sox fans may not want to hear this, but Jim Rice is the most overrated modern day player to make the Baseball Hall of Fame. That’s the word from Scott Barzilla, author of The Hall of Fame Index, a terrific book that dives deep into baseball numbers and “offers a revolutionary compendium of statistics that rates a players fitness for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame”.

And in Scott Barzilla’s view, Jim Rice, the Boston Red Sox slugger who played from 1974 -1989, was “a player with a relatively short peak” –  a guy who was the best player on his team only once. In an interview with Barzilla, he told me, “When I was doing research I took the top 25 players from each position. He didn’t qualify.”

Barzilla noted, “Rice drove in a lot of runs, but he didn’t draw walks and grounded into a lot of double plays. Simply put, he didn’t create enough runs.” In fact, Rice created just 1367 runs – well below Dave Parker, Andre Dawson and Harold Baines. When you add up Win Shares, Wins Above Replacement Players and other statistical variables, Barzilla ranks Rice with a total player value of 358.37 for left fielders. By contrast, Rice’s teammate Carl Yastrzemski had a total player value of 568.80, while Boston’s Ted Williams registered  760.13, for 3rd place overall in the history of left fielders. The only two better left fielders were Stan Musial of the Cardinals at 794.83  and the best of all time: Barry Bonds. The Giants slugger ranked first overall with 966.87. Critics may argue the numbers are stained by the stigma of steroids – but statistically speaking, Bonds was far and away the best ever at his position.

By contrast, the most underrated player in baseball, according to Scott Barzilla, is Bobby Grich, an infielder who played with the Baltimore Orioles from 1970 – 76, then the California Angels from 1977 – 86. Grich was a four time Golden Glove Award winner and lifetime .266 hitter. He “was one of those players who was a good fielder and a good hitter,” Barzilla told me.

The Hall of Fame Index is Scott Barzilla’s third baseball book. He also wrote Checks and Imbalances and The State of Baseball Management. Additionally, Barzilla authored a book about his experiences as a teacher called, Combating Ignorance.

Currently he contributes to numerous blogs, including The Daily Hurricane and Baseball Reflections. Scott Barzilla is also the editor at Hardball Chat. Barzilla lives in Texas, where he is also “chasing a dream of becoming a statistical analyst with the Houston Astros,” and we wish him the best of luck!

Barry Bonds hit 762 career home runs – more than anyone in baseball history. So with numbers like that, why is he striking out with fans and sports writers when it comes to the Hall of Fame? The obvious answer of course, is that Bonds is tainted by the scandal of steroids – but I want to go deeper than just the obvious.

So I interviewed Scott Barzilla, author of The Hall of Fame Index, a fascinating book that offers “a revolutionary compendium of statistics that rates a player’s fitness for induction” into baseball’s most hallowed shrine. To check out the book, click here:

The Hall of Fame Index

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds will be on the ballot for the Hall of Fame in 2013.  But will he make it in?

Scott Barzilla is very doubtful. “I would say probably not in two years. However, the greater question will be after that election. In the book, I try to steer as clear of the ethical and moral issues as I could. Bonds was a three-time MVP and the best player in baseball for more than ten years before he started using,” he stated.

“Even if you remove everything after 1998 (when he reportedly started using) he would still be a Hall of Famer. Naturally, the voters will have to consider the ethical considerations and with his recent perjury conviction. It will be a tough road for him,” Barzilla concluded.

But how do you deny a player from eternal fame when he’s the statistical leader in home runs?

“I think the voters won’t vote him in simply because there is such a reverence the voters feel towards a first ballot Hall of Famer,” Barzilla told me.

“I also think it will take the voters a number of years to work their way through the entire era. We don’t know who is on that infamous list from 2003 and we don’t know how many people used in total. I think time will heal some wounds, but Bonds assault on the records caused a pretty deep wound that won’t be healed for awhile,” Barilla opined.

Several other players accused of steroid use will also be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013, including Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Rafaelo Palmeiro. Scott Barzilla is convinced they’ll be shut out as well.

“I don’t see some of those other players making it to be honest with you,” Barzilla stated. “There just are too many questions about how much they legitimately achieved without the extra help. Clemens is a lot like Bonds in that he had a Hall of Fame career before the drugs. Guys like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Rafael Palmeiro just have too much surrounding the drugs to make any kind of definitive statement as to what they actually accomplished,” Barzilla said.

The Hall of Fame Index takes you inside the numbers to accurately gage baseball’s best players, position by position. This book will help you analyze who is truly great – and whose numbers were inflated by being on a great team. Read it and you’ll see who the greatest center fielder of all time was – based on statistical analysis (Hint: it’s not Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays).

So who are baseball’s most overrated and underrated players? Scott Barzilla will answer those questions in my next blog. Stay tuned!

When Travis Banwart takes the mound for the Sacramento River Cats, you could say he has fans on every team he faces. On Friday night, Banwart fanned six and gave up just 2 hits in six innings of work to lead his team to a 4-2 victory over the Reno Aces.

The River Cats are in first place in their division in the Pacific Coast League and Travis Banwart is a key ingredient to the club’s success. He leads the club with 92 strikeouts and has pitched more innings than any other River Cats hurler, with 99.2. I had a chance to chat with the lanky 6’3″ right-hander before Saturday night’s game at Raley Field.

Inside the Dugout with River Cats Ace Travis Banwart

Banwart’s fastball has been clocked at 96 miles per hour, but yet he told me, “I’m more of a finesse pitcher who throws strikes – that’s how your get the strikeouts.”

His slider is his “out pitch,” but he also throws a fastball, curve and changeup. And it’s the curveball that’s the hardest to throw, he told me. “It’s just hard to get your arm out front sometimes – it’s hard to place where you want it.”

Put placing the pitch was no problem for Banwart on Friday night, as he gave up just one earned run in notching the victory. He credits his catchers Anthony Recker and Josh Donaldson for their leadership behind the plate.

“They call a very good game, ” Banwart told me. “And I can trust them with whatever sign they put down. I know I can throw it and they believe in it.”

Travis Banwart also credits his dad for believing in him.

“I talk to him every day,” he said. “After I’ve pitched he always wants to know what I thought and how I did. We’ve definitely got a great relationship going”.

It was a relationship that started when Travis was just a young boy, growing up in Wichita, Kansas.

“We started out at a young age, playing catch in the backyard, just like every other kid. And then the relationship has grown so much more since I’ve been away from home.”

Travis Banwart was a star pitcher on his college team, the Wichita State Shockers. “We went to the Super Regionals my junior year,” Banwart stated. “We had a great group of guys there. I’m actually now playing against a couple of guys from that team – Connor Gillespie plays for the Fresno Grizzlies.”

From college ball, Banwart traveled to Vancouver for his first minor league team. Then it was a rapid ascent to single A ball in Illinois, before joining the Stockton Ports. Now he’s playing with the River Cats in AAA – and the difference in competition levels is huge. “In AAA you’re facing guys with a lot of big league time and they know how to hit up there and they’re not going to miss any pitches if you make a mistake,” he said. “That’s where you really got to make your pitches – and make every single one of them count.”

Banwart is hoping to make it to the next level – the Major Leagues. “I just got to keep pitching,” he told me. “That’s the only thing that’s going to get me there is to keep pitching,” and to show “consistency throughout the season.” Being just one step away from the Oakland A’s is “surreal”, said Banwart. “I realize the opportunity is right there and I just got to go get it.”

Several of his River Cats teammates have already had a taste of big league pitching – Kevin Kouzmanoff, Andy LaRoche and Adam Rosales to name just a few. Brad Kilby is also itching to get back to the Bigs. The 6’0″ pitcher grew up in Elk Grove and attended Laguna Creek High School before enrolling at San Jose State. He arrived in the Majors in September, 2009, when he took the mound for the Oakland Athletics in relief, against the Kansas City Royals – and like any rookie pitcher, he was very nervous.

But luckily Landon Powell was behind the plate for the Athletics that day. Kilby and Powell both played for the River Cats, so there was a comfort level there. Powell came to the mound to calm down the rookie and pointed out there were only 8,000 people in the stands. “You’re not nervous playing in front of this big crowd, are you?” Powell asked the pitcher. Kilby laughed and quickly settled down to retire the side.

Brad Kilby is now on a rehab assignment with the River Cats and is hoping to be back with the A’s one day. But in the meantime, Kilby – and Banwart know they are part of something special.

“We have a great group of guys,” Travis Banwart told me. “Everybody’s pulling for each other to get to the next level.”

Wes Parker was a six-time Gold Glove first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Southern California native was a defensive specialist, named as one of the 50 Greatest Gold Glove players of all time by Rawlings.

50 Greatest Gold Glovers

Parker played from 1964 – 1972, well before the stain of steroids had made its mark on the game of baseball. I had a chance to ask Wes Parker about steroids, at the recent SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) convention in Long Beach.

Wes Parker Signing Autographs at SABR

Parker pulled no punches in speaking out against steroids – and naming names, starting with former Giants slugger Barry Bonds.

“I will tell you this,” Parker exclaimed to two dozen SABR members huddled around him.  “When Barry Bonds was on a roll, when he was hitting all those home runs and hitting for average – he’s the best hitter I’ve ever seen in my life!!”

“I talked to Cepeda about it he said the same thing,” Parker noted. “I talked to McCovey  about it. He said, ‘Barry Bonds was the best hitter ever – during that stretch.’”

I didn’t know steroids could make a hitter that good,” Parker explained. “But here’s how you could tell:  it wasn’t just the home runs, it was the patience – remember all the walks he (Bonds) was getting? He was getting 150 walks and still hitting 65 – 70 home runs.”

Parker was intent on making his point: “If you watched him take a pitch – most hitters when they take a pitch there’s a little confusion because the ball’s coming so fast. So you start to swing and you stop. Or you jump back a little bit. You do something to indicate that you’re still undecided.  It was as if Barry Bonds knew the pitch was going to be a strike or a ball after the ball emerged from the pitcher’s hand three feet.  He’d be standing here, he’d just take a pitch, he’s just go BOOM – like that. It was like he read the pitch the moment it came out of the pitcher’s hand.  You can’t do that – unless you’re taking steroids.”

“Steroids enhance your reactions that much,” Parker continued.” I’ve never taken them.  But I’ve talked to guys who have taken steroids and they said, ‘Wes you can’t believe it. You can’t believe what they do for you.'”

How did players hide their steroid use?

“They were able to stay ahead of the test, ” Parker opined. “That’s the thing – the Commissioner couldn’t come up with a test that was foolproof and would catch these guys. That’s the problem with Selig is that he’s reactive, not proactive,” Parker stated.

But taking steroids in that era was not against the rules. So I asked Parker, “Why not induct Barry Bonds into the Hall of Fame since it was not illegal?”

He answered, “He was a great player before he started taking steroids – way before his head grew and his feet grew. So you could make that case.  And he is as good a ballplayer as you’re very going to see.  He really is, he’s that good.  But he still did something that he shouldn’t have done.  And it was illegal.”

But a few SABR members argued that Bonds – and other players tainted by the scandal of steroids – were not breaking any laws.

So Parker asked the group, “Okay I got a question for everyone here, do you think these steroid guys, the guys I mentioned – Palmeiro, Mark McGwire,  Sosa, Bonds – should they be in the Hall of Fame?

Almost everyone said no.

Parker added,“I don’t think so either.”

So what’s next up for Wes Parker? He told the crowd hes working on a book project about his childhood and his days with the Dodgers. His book, he said, would also focus on some of the players he competed against – “especially Clemente.”

“ If I could wish anything it would be that all of you had gotten a chance to see Roberto Clemente play a lot, ” he told the group.

“In 1966 we played the Pirates. And Saturday night Clemente went 5 for 6 and Sunday afternoon he went 5 for 5.  He went 10 for 11 in less than a 24 hour period.  And the only better hitting exhibition I saw in my career was – listen to this, talk about great hitting – we played a double header against St. Louis in 1964 in Dodger stadium. It was a day time doubleheader.  Koufax pitched the first game, Drysdale the second . Curt Flood went 4 for 4 against both of them.  8 for 8 against Drysdale and Koufax in a doubleheader!  I’m getting goosebumps,” he stated as the crowd cheered.

“Ever hear of an athlete getting into the zone?” he asked the group.

“It only happened to me one time, ” he stated. “In Houston I went 3 for 4, 1 for 4, 3 for 4, then 4 for 4 and 3 for 5.  And I got 8 hits in a row. (Later) I lined out into a double play against San Diego, then doubled and tripled,” he stated.

“I should have had 11 in a row and the record was 10.  And I got into the zone, it’s the most incredible feeling – where you don’t have to make an effort any more.  It’s like you’re channeling into energy from up above and something is working through you. God what a feeling!”

What was going through Parker’s mind when he was in that zone?

“I was thinking I can’t believe they’re paying me for playing this game – for getting all these hits.  You’re a little outside of yourself. It’s like watching yourself and everything slows down.”

There is no slow down for Baseball Between Us. Coming up in my next blog: a visit to Raley Field – and a feature story about the Sacramento River Cats! Stay tuned.

On September 9, 1965, Sandy Koufax pitched the 4th no-hitter of his career – but this one was extra special. This one was perfect.

Koufax was dominant from the opening pitch, striking out 14 Cubs in a 1-0 shutout.
The Box Score from Koufax’s Perfect Game

And playing first base for the Dodgers that night was a very nervous Wes Parker, who is now a baseball legend with the team. Parker held center court last week in Long Beach, where he entertained dozens of adoring fans attending a convention of the Society for American Baseball Research: SABR Web site

Wes Parker, a Fan Fave at SABR

Parker gave the inside story of what it was like to play in a perfect game.

“We were very aware,” Parker told the crowd.

“We only got one hit. It was the second fewest hits of any game in history or at least tied for it,” he stated.

That’s because Bob Hendley of the Cubs was equally masterful that September night – giving up just one hit to the Dodgers.

“But the interesting thing  was the one hit we got which was bloop double I think from Lou Johnson – did not result in a score,” Parker explained. ” The run came on a walk, stolen base, Johnson stole third and Chris Krug (the Cubs catcher) threw the ball into left field. And Lou Johnson scored – we didn’t get a hit. So it could have been a double no-hitter- but we still would have won 1-0. The hit did not result in a run.”

As the game entered the middle frames, Parker began believing that something truly special was unfolding at Dodger Stadium.

“After 7 innings, Jimmy Lefebre who was a rookie, I was a rookie starter at first, we came into the dugout, we know Sandy’s got a perfect game,” Parker said.

“And Jimmy turned to me and said, ‘god I hope they don’t hit the ball to me’. And I turned to Jimmy and I said, ‘Me too – I hope they don’t hit it to me, I don’t want to screw up this perfect game.’”

The two players shared a nervous laugh together about wanting to avoid the ball.

“And you know we could have sat in the dugout (in the 8th and 9th) because Sandy struck out the last six hitters. We didn’t have to go out on the field. He just blew them away with fastballs.”

“Seaver did that too,” Parker explained.  “I think he struck out the last 10 hitters. But you will almost never see a pitcher that strong at the end of a ballgame. It’s two and a half hours later and he’s been throwing up to 100 pitches. And that wears you out. It wears your arm down. And Sandy (and Seaver) were actually throwing harder at the end of the game than at the beginning. And Bob Gibson was that kind of pitcher. He’d still be throwing bullets at the end of a ballgame.”

Parker dodged a bullet that night by not having to field a ball in the 8th or 9th inning. But as a future Gold Glover, Parker most likely would have gobbled up anything hit his way.

In my next blog, something not so perfect, as Parker swings away at  Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and players tainted by the scandal of steroids.

In 1964, rookie Wes Parker was looking for his first big league hit. Parker wasn’t even supposed to start on that fateful May day, but Dodger center fielder Willie Davis was a late scratch due to a stomach flu. Ten minutes before game time, a Dodger coach instructed Parker to grab his glove and head to center field. The rookie felt totally unprepared.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he asked the coach.
“Well Willie just told Walt (Alston, the manager),” came the reply.

“So I got my sun glasses and ran out to center field,” Parker told me in an interview at the SABR convention last week in Long Beach.

The opposing pitcher that day was Jim Bunning, the ace of the Philadelphia Phillies. Nevertheless, Parker lit him up.

“I got two doubles and a triple, drove in my first RBI, made a game-saving catch. And suddenly, I was a big league ballplayer. In one day, that’s how it happened.”

Wes Parker Holding Court at SABR Convention

Getting his first Major League hit was a thrill for Parker – but what about getting drilled by the opposing pitcher? It happened to two of Parker’s Dodger teammates in a heated game against the rival Giants in August 1965 – and quickly led to one of baseball’s most famous brawls.

Parker remembers the incident this way: “Sandy Koufax was pitching (for the Dodgers),” he told the crowd. Juan Marichal was on the mound for the Giants.

“Marichal had already hit two of our guys – I think it was Wills and Fairly,” Parker told the two dozen SABR members surrounding him.

“And at the end of the inning,” Parker continued, ” Roseboro goes to Koufax and says, ‘You got to throw at Mays or McCovey. You got to hit them.'”

“Sandy said, ‘Won’t do it,'”  Parker explained.

“Sandy would not throw at anybody. He would not do it. Personal decision,” Parker said.

“So Roseboro said, ‘Okay I’ll take care of it.'”

Roseboro waited for Marichal to step into the batter’s box – the perfect moment to take revenge. Koufax delivered the pitch, Roseboro caught it and “leaned to the inside,” Parker stated.

“Marichal was a right handed hitter up at the plate. Roseboro threw the ball back – and ticked his ear. Marichal turned to him and said, ‘Did you do that on purpose?'”

Roseboro said, ‘Shut up and hit.'”

And with that, Marichal proceeded to hit Roseboro over the head three times with his bat – as both benches emptied in one of the fiercest fights in baseball history.

Dodgers/Giants BaseBrawl

Parker told the SABR crowd that Marichal “should have been suspended for the entire year.” But that never happened and  Parker explained why.

“Pennant race. Giants-Dodgers. So if you suspend Marichal for the season that ends the pennant race because he’s their best pitcher. The owners are happy, everybody’s making money, baseball’s doing great, we got a pennant race going, we’re packing the stadium.”

But Parker recalled that Marichal’s punishment was an 8 day suspension and a fine of approximately $1700.

“We read that as a joke, ” Parker explained. “Marichal took a bat and hit our catcher over the head three times in front of a million witnesses counting television. And that’s it? That’s all that happens?”

The incident probably never would have happened if Don Drysdale had been on the mound.

“If one of our guys got knocked down on the day he was pitching, ” Parker explained,
“then two of theirs would go down.”

If the Dodger were playing the Cincinnati Reds for example, Drysdale would go after “Pete Rose and Johnny Bench – it wouldn’t be Davey Concepion and Cesar Geronimo,” Parker stated. “You know they’re good players but not the best. So as a result, when Drysdale pitched – the other pitchers never threw at us. Their team would go to them and say, ‘Don’t throw at these guys.'”

It’s no wonder the Dodgers considered Drysdale to be their team leader in the clubhouse, along with Maury Wills, according to Parker.

Still, the players had tremendous respect for #32, Sandy Koufax, the first pitcher to throw 4 no-hitters – one of them a Perfect Game. And playing first base for the Dodgers during that Perfect Game was none other than Wes Parker.

What was Wes Parker thinking about on that perfect day? We’ll take you there – in my next blog.

Dodger great Wes Parker hit .279 in his last year in the Bigs, but he struck out big time as the team’s union representative in 1972. Parker told SABR members at the national convention in Long Beach – the inside story of Major League Baseball’s first ever player strike.

Gold Glover Wes Parker Fields Questions at SABR Convention

It turns out Parker was the only player rep who voted against the strike.
I asked him why he voted not to walk out – in an interview at the Long Beach Hilton.

“I loved baseball so much that I didn’t think it was worth striking,” he told me. “No matter what. The O’Malleys had been great to me . They gave me a chance – I signed for no bonus; I begged the Dodgers for a chance to play. That’s why I’m still here talking to everybody because I love this game so much. And I was so fortunate that I got to play it.”

“You don’t know this,” Parker told a group of two dozen SABR members huddled in front of him. “I called the Dodgers on the phone and said, ‘I want to play for you’.

“I talked to Charlie Dressen, he was a coach then – this was 1962. He said, ‘Son people don’t call us, we call them’.

SABR members laughed heartily as Parker reeled them in with the rest of the story.

“I said, ‘well you know me’, because he’d seen me play American Legion ball around L.A. And I said ‘I really want to play , can you just give me a chance?’ He said, ‘I’ll get back to you’. Well he found out they had a winter team – the Dodgers did, that played around L.A. He got me on the team. The winter of ’62 I was playing in Long Beach, then San Bernardino, just driving all over. I was hitting something like .450. All high school and college prospects and me. I had graduated,” Parker told the adoring crowd.

“And so the Dodgers after three months of this they said, ‘okay we’ll give you a contract, but no bonus’. They shipped me off to Santa Barbara, which was fine – I led the team in hitting at the All-Star break. In ’63 they moved me to Albuquerque which was AA. I hit .350. Next year I was with the Dodgers. It happened that fast.”

Wes Parker made it clear he was not about to bite the hand that was feeding him.

“I always had this gratitude,” he explained. “I was so lucky, I always felt I was so fortunate just to get to the Major Leagues – because I almost didn’t even get signed. So when it came time to strike after 8 years of the O’Malleys being great to me and giving me this chance – no way I was gonna strike against baseball. No way.”

“No scout offered me a contract,” he reminded us. “You know what they said. ‘Oh this kid grew up in Brentwood , he had wealthy parents so he’s not gonna be hungry. Forget him. He’s not gonna last through the first road trip. He gets on those buses he’ll quit.’

“And then they said, ‘Look at his numbers, they were all achieved against small school talent’. My high school was a senior class of 35. I hit .470 my senior year but they said, ‘Yeah but look who it’s against – small high schools, no talent’.”

“So I go to Claremont (McKenna College) and I hit .400 for three straight years and make small college All American as a junior. Who does that? Well they said again, ‘Small schools. They’re playing Laverne, they’re playing Cal Poly Pomona, they’re playing Redlands, Whittier, schools like that, so what does it mean?’ So nobody offered me a contract. That’s why I had to call the Dodgers after I graduated and BEGGED – and that’s why I voted against the strike.”

So why in the world did Parker’s teammates select him as their union representative? It was undoubtedly because the Dodger players respected him as an athlete and as a person. In 1972, Parker was honored with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award – given each year to the Major League player who best exemplifies the selfless leadership and courage of the legendary Yankee first baseman.

Parker is the first to admit his teammates threw a wild pitch by selecting him.

“The team screwed that up because I didn’t run for player rep,” he laughed. “They nominated me and voted me in.”

One of the SABR members asked Parker how his teammates reacted to his No Strike vote.

“They didn’t like it,” he said. “In fact, they impeached me. Here’s the thing – if you’re representing a ballclub, you have a conflict immediately. Do you represent your own beliefs or the beliefs of your teammates?”

“I started out representing the team,” Parker said in answering his own question. “The team – I went to the meeting which was in Dallas and they said, ‘Okay we don’t want you to vote either for or against the strike.’ We had a meeting before I left. And the whole team said we don’t know which way we want to go. We need more information. So when I got back there I abstained when it came to the vote. Because I said, ‘the team wants more information – so we abstain’. Then somebody came up to me and said, ‘well how do you feel about it?’ I said, ‘I’d vote against it’ – for the reasons I told you. So that’s what happened.”

“But you have to either compromise or you have to decide who you’re going to represent,” Parker continued. “Your thoughts – or those of the team if they feel differently than you do? Which is what happened – I was against it and the team wound up for it. But they were for it for a different reason – they were for it because they wanted a bigger pension plan after they retired. I was against it, not for that reason, but because I was so doggone grateful that I got the chance to play in the first place. And the O’Malleys were so good to us.”

In 1972, the players went out on strike – for the first time ever. Major League Baseball was forced to cancel games from April 1st – April 13th, in a dispute over pensions. The owner eventually agreed to some concessions, including allowing salary arbitration as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

But Parker remained loyal to the O’Malleys.

“They did everything,” he told me. “When we checked into a hotel, let’s say we’re going to Cincinnati, we stayed at the Nederland Hilton. When we checked in, we never went to the front desk – we walked in the front door and the traveling secretary Lee Scott said, ’Here’s your room key’. You took the key and went up to your room and then five minutes later the bags were there. When you checked out, you just put all your stuff in a suitcase, took it down to the lobby and left it there and walked out. You never paid the bill – never had to. We got on a bus that took us to the airport – with our own plane. We never went through an airport lobby ever. Not once. We got to the airport, the bus drove us out on to the tarmac, right to the steps of the airplane. You get off the steps of the bus, take two steps and climb up into the airplane. Of course they didn’t have metal detectors back then. But you never had to go through an airport. And then everybody was on board before the plane took off – why? Because we had our own private jet.”

And having a private team jet in 1972 really made the players feel special.

“I’ve been on the president’s jet at the Ronald Reagan Museum,” Parker exclaimed. “Our jet was better than his.” The crowd roared with laughter.

“That’s how good we got treated. So am I going to strike against an organization that does all that for me? Just to get a pension plan? My god after baseball I can work at something else. There were just so many other options that to me were more worthwhile than striking, just because these guys in 20 years after they retire want a bigger pension plan? That was my thinking. Some people say ‘oh that’s pollyannish or that’s because you came from wealth’. No I would have done that no matter what.”

Wes Parker stayed true Blue to the O’Malleys when most players could only see green – as in the big money they were about to get.

Coming up next: Wes Parker describes his first Major League hit – and explains why other teams were afraid to go after Dodger batters with a knock down pitch. Hint: A secret weapon who wore #53.

Wes Parker played first base for the Dodgers from 1964 – 1972, so he’s used to being on the receiving end of things. Last week in Long Beach, Parker received accolades from adoring fans and enthusiastic members of SABR – the Society for American Baseball Research. Society for American Baseball Research

More than four hundred were on hand for SABR’s national convention.

Parker held court at the Long Beach Hilton, where dozens of baseball enthusiasts surrounded him for autographs and waited patiently for inside stories about the Dodgers.

Wes was funny, entertaining and still very passionate about the game of baseball – a game in which he excelled in the field, winning six consecutive Gold Glove awards from 1967 – 1972. In his day, Parker could easily handle anything thrown his way, so I decided to toss him a few curve balls.

“Wes you played for one of the most storied franchises in all of baseball. And as you look at the Dodgers today, what are your thoughts?” I asked the former first baseman.

“Oh it’s killing me,” he stated. “I can’t tell you what I feel because I still work for the Dodgers. But it’s….”

And then Parker paused. For 12 seconds there was dead silence that said everything.

“It’s very disappointing, I will say,” he continued.

“Peter O’Malley, who never says anything bad about anybody – remember about 4 months ago in the L.A. Times, he came out with a statement saying, ‘It’s time for Frank McCourt to leave. He’s lost the faith of the city and the ballclub. It’s bad for this team’.

“We’re down 7,000 fans a game,” Parker lamented. “That’s over half a million people a year.”

“So what do the Dodgers need to do to get that magic again?” I asked.

“Well they have McCourt,” Parker responded. “I can’t really say (more) because it could go on the air and I work for the Dodgers.” (Since 2009, Parker has served as a representative of the Dodgers Legend Bureau.)

I nodded my head, then moved on to another topic – one that I thought might allow the Dodger great to hit one out of the park.

“Let me ask you about one of your former teammates,” I said.

“Maury Wills – he did not make the Hall of Fame,” I noted, “But a lot of people think Maury Wills should have made it in. What are your thoughts?”

“He’s deserving,” Parker asserted.

But other guys should also be enshrined in Cooperstown, Parker stated – guys like Johnny Callison of the Phillies, Kenny Boyer of the Cardinals,  Ron Santo of the Cubs and the Dodgers very own Gil Hodges.

But Parker saved his biggest praise for an opponent he faced in the 1965 World Series.

“Tony Oliva – great player!” Parker exclaimed. He seemed in awe of the three time batting champ from the Minnesota Twins.

“If you saw Tony Oliva before his knees ran out, he was as good as anybody. Like a Clemente but a lefthanded hitter. In fact, he was a Rod Carew with power – same type of hitter with power. Great ballplayer, great arm, good outfielder.”

“Who are some of the players today that you think are the most exciting to watch?” I wanted to know.

“I like Derek Jeter,” Parker said. “Matt Kemp is becoming like that – he’s got great skills. He reminds me of Dave Winfield. And the pitcher for Detroit – Verlander – God what electric stuff he’s got. Great pitcher – as is the left hander with the Phillies – Lee has great stuff, overpowering. Strasburg was fun to watch (before he got injured). Anybody that throws 100 is fun to watch.”

Parker was one of the finest first basemen in all of baseball – but Parker told the crowd of another Dodger who struggled in the field. His name was Steve Garvey.

“Steve came up as a third baseman before Ron Cey,” Parker noted. “But he made more errors than any third baseman ever. I think his fielding percentage at third base was the lowest maybe in history because he couldn’t throw the ball straight. And he had very little range.”

However, Garvey could hit. So after Parker retired in 1972, Dodger manager Walter Alston had to find a spot for Garvey in the lineup, to take advantage of his bat. Parker recalled Alston saying, “I can’t put him at third. He’s proven he can’t play there. Plus we have Ron Cey now. So I’m going to try him at first base.”

And it worked Parker stated, “because it hid his two major flaws – not completely, but mostly. But he had good hands. He could catch, throw and he could scoop balls out of the dirt.”

Ironically, Steve Garvey was fired by the Dodgers the day after Parker made his comments. The timing was purely coincidental – but the club terminated Garvey  from his community relations job after trying to rescue the Dodgers – by buying them from Frank McCourt. But as Garvey learned the hard way, the Dodgers are not for sale – at least not yet.

Talk about a brushback pitch.

“Who were the toughest pitchers you faced in your career?” I asked Parker, a lifetime .267 hitter.

“Jim Maloney was so underrated,” he stated.

Maloney pitched for the Cincinnati Reds from 1960 -71, with a lifetime record of 134-84.

“He threw 100 miles per hour,” Parker told me. “He pitched two no-hitters and if he hadn’t hurt his arm, he’d be in the Hall of Fame.

“Marichal was the smartest pitcher, ” Parker said emphatically. “The smartest because of his ability to throw to a hitter’s weaknesses. Like if I was looking for an outside pitch, it was like he was living in my brain. He could see it by the position of my feet or how I strode into the pitch. The next pitch would be BOOM – right in here,” he said pointing to his ribs.

“I played against Warren Spahn,” he added, noting that Spahn was also a very smart pitcher. “And James Rodney (JR) Richard (of the Astros) would be in the Hall of Fame if he hadn’t hurt his arm. Great pitcher.”

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t have to face Drysdale and Koufax?” I asked Parker.

“Yeah I never did, you’re right.” But in the ’60s he noted, “we were looking at two Hall of Fame pitchers every series. Because the Mets had Seaver and Nolan Ryan. They also had Jerry Koosman, Tug McGraw. God these guys were good.”

Parker was on a roll now. “The Cardinals had Steve Carlton and Bob Gibson. The Dodgers – we had Drysdale, Koufax and Sutton – that’s three. The Phillies had Bunning and Chris Short, who’s another one who’s close.”

And of course the Giants he noted, had Hoyt Wilhelm, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry.

“Every night you knew you had to come out there with your best attention, your best energy, your best effort – because no matter who was on the mound against you – they were going to be great.”

“The one guy I could hit was Bob Henley with the Giants,” Parker said. “And Ray Sadecki. God I hit Sadecki,” he laughed.

“He’d try and hook the outside corner with a curve. His fastball was straight, no movement. But if he saw you looking for it, he’d throw this big sweeping curve and try and hook the outside corner – because you’d see it way out there and say – that’s not a strike! But it would come back three feet. The umpire would call it a strike.”

But Parker quickly mastered Sadecki’s big sweeping curve ball.

“Well once I caught on to all that stuff, he couldn’t get me out,” he said with a smile, as the crowd roared its approval.

In 1972, Major League Baseball shut down for 13 days in the first ever player strike. And guess who the Dodgers’ player rep was at the time? None other than Wes Parker – in a role he never relished. Tomorrow night, I’ll give you the inside story of the ’72 baseball strike – from the only player rep who voted No!