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Friday, August 1, 1997

Missions hitting coach discovers a different game from the dugout

By DAVID KING / San Antonio Express-News

SAN ANTONIO - Every time San Antonio Missions manager Ron Roenicke calls a meeting with his players, the pecking order is the same.

"First, Ron talks for a while," says utility man Keith Johnson. "Then he asks (pitching coach) Guy Conti if he has anything to say, and he'll talk for a new minutes.

"When Guy is done, Ron will turn to Lance Parrish and ask 'Lance, you got anything to say?"

"Lance looks at us, and we look back at him. 'Nope," he always says. That's just the way Lance is."

Parrish, the Missions' hitting coach, is in his first year as a full-time coach and his first with the Dodgers organization. He's a man who, by his own admission, isn't going to talk a lot.

"I'm the last person they want to hear from," Parrish said. "Usually the meetings start off with Ron, and he pretty much covers everything. After a while I figured out there wasn't much I could add.

"I don't feel like I need to make a speech every time we have a team meeting."

Parrish has never been one for speeches. He was recognized as a quiet man during his glory days with the Tigers, on teams that included stars like Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson, Larry Herndon and Jack Morris. A six-time All-Star and a 19-year major-leaguer, he was known more for working hard to become a good catcher than for making speeches or rallying the team in the clubhouse.

After his years with Detroit, he bounced around the majors, including one season with Roenicke in Philadelphia. The two Southern Californians, who graduated from high school the same year (1974), have become friends, going hunting and playing golf together in the off-season.

That friendship, and one with former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, led to Parrish's current position with the Missions.

"I ran into Tommy during the off-season this last year and we got to talking about what I was doing and what I wanted to do," Parrish said. "I half-jokingly said I wasn't doing anything, so why don't you try to find me a job.

"Sure enough, a week or so later (Dodgers farm system director) Charlie Blaney called me and asked me if I would be interested in coaching."

Parrish, who went to spring training with the Dodgers in 1993, jumped at the chance. He knew the organization did everything first-class - "And I've been with a couple that were pretty shady," he said - and figured it was the best opportunity he was going to get to break into coaching.

He went to spring training feeling like a rookie again.

"In the early phases of this year, I was here to learn," Parrish said. "This is my first go-round as an everyday coach, and I realized early on there was a lot of things I needed to learn as a coach."

He's discovered the game is completely different from the perspective of the dugout and the first-base coaching box. There are a lot more things to notice, a lot more decisions to make.

"I find myself watching Ron a lot, taking advantage of his knowledge of the game," Parrish said. "I pay attention to what Ron does in certain situations."

Parrish knows his strengths lie in communications, with dealing with players. He looks at himself as someone they can relate to, someone close to their age and experience. And the players appreciate it.

"Lance is a very, very easy coach to go to for something - for anything," Missions utility man J.P. Roberge said. "He's almost like a player-coach; he's a guy who knows what it's like to be out there.

"He's also a guy who has helped a lot of guys build up their confidence."

Through his years of experience, Parrish learned that a lot of success in baseball comes with confidence. So he spends a lot of time building up players, encouraging them, working with them.

He also tries to get players to help themselves. If a player in a slump asks for help, he'll offer it. But he's not going to try and remake a hitter from the ground up.

"A lot of time, a simple word can make all the difference; it can open the door to everything," Roberge said. "Lance keeps it simple."

Parrish has a reason for that approach.

"I know when I was coming up, I didn't appreciate guys trying to make major changes in the way I hit the ball," he said. "I don't want to have to reinvent the wheel with these guys.

"These guys are great athletes and they're smart. They know what to do."

Parrish also knows that things have to be loose. He'll occasionally engage in some playful clubhouse wrestling with players - and at a solid 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, he's got pretty good leverage - and he's known as a pretty good guy with a one-liner.

"He keeps everyone relaxed, even during games," Johnson said.

His relaxed approach makes it easier for the young players to deal with the fact that he is a 19-year major-league veteran, a guy who has excelled at the top levels of the game.

"He didn't come here with an attitude like a guy who played 19 years in the big leagues," Roberge said. "He works just as hard as anybody around here."

Parrish shrugs at the thought that his experience is something to hold over the players' heads.

"I don't have anything over these guys. I think we're all in the same boat, here to learn, to get better.

"That was then," he said with his usual economy of words, "and this is now."

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