After graduating from Walnut High School in California, Lance Parrish intended to play football for UCLA. The Detroit Tigers changed his mind when they selected him with the 16th overall pick in the 1974 draft and offered him $67,000.

Parrish struggled in his first pro season, hitting just .213 with the Tigers Rookie League team in Bristol, Virginia. He improved in each of the next two years before his breakout minor-league campaign in 1977.  In 116 games at Triple-A Lakeland in ’77 Parrish slashed .279/.366/.516 with 25 homers and 90 RBI. The catcher’s performance earned a September call up. After that Lance Parrish was in the big leagues to stay.

The 1978 Topps baseball card set featured Parrish with three other “Rookie Catchers”. He is pictured on the bottom left along with Ernie Whitt, the late Bo Diaz, and two-time MVP Dale Murphy. All four men have signed the card.

Lance Parrish began his storied 19-year big league career with a 12-game September audition with the Tigers in 1977. The next season he caught 79 games for the Tigers then a career-high 142 in 1979.

During his stay in Detroit from ’79 through 1986 Parrish averaged 24 doubles, 24 homes, and 82 RBI per season. The catcher’s time in the Motor City included six of his eight All Star selections, four of his five Silver Sluggers, and all four of his Gold Gloves.

In March of 1987 free-agent Parrish signed with the Phillies. He spent two seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, earning his seventh All Star selection in 1988.

On October 3rd of ’88 the Phillies traded him to him to the California Angels. Parrish played his next 400 games for a team whose home stadium resides just 19 miles from the high school he attended. In 1990 Parrish made the last of his eight All Star teams, slugging 24 homers while earning his sixth Silver Slugger.

The Angels released Parrish in June of ’92. Five days later the Mariners inked him for the rest of the season. He closed out his career playing for the Indians, Pirates, and Blue Jays before retiring in 1995.

Shown here is a 1979 Topps baseball card signed by Parrish in his familiar Tigers uniform.

Lance Parrish was a part of baseball history when he caught Jack Morris’ no-hitter on April 7, 1984. Pitching before 24,616 fans at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, Morris was dominant early. The right-hander retired the first 9 batters he faced – four via the strikeout.

In the fourth inning Jack ran into trouble, walking the bases loaded without recording an out. White Sox cleanup hitter Greg Luzinski came up with a chance to change the complexion of the game.

Instead, he tapped an 0-1 pitch back to Morris who fired home to start a 1-2-3 double play. With regained momentum, Morris fanned reigning Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle to end the inning.

Over the next four frames, Morris sat down 12 of 14 Chicago batters, issuing a walk in both the 5th and 7th innings. In the bottom of the 9th Morris toed the rubber with a 4-0 lead, looking to complete his gem. To do so he’d have to face the heart of the White Sox order – Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk, Harold Baines and slugger Luzinski.

Fisk grounded Morris’ initial offering to first baseman Dave Bregman. Three pitches later Baines tapped a comebacker to Morris for the second out. Luzinski did not go as quietly. After working the count full, he took ball four to bring up Kittle.

Morris got ahead 1-ball-and-2-strikes. On his 120th pitch of the evening, the right-hander threw his trademark split-fingered fastball. Kittle waved at it to end the game and complete the no-hit effort.

After catching the final pitch Parrish rushed out from behind the plate and Morris jumped into his arms. This image above signed by the pitcher beautifully captures the joyous moment.

The 1984 Tigers won their first nine games and never looked back. Forty games into the season Detroit had 35 wins against 5 losses. That remains the the best start in MLB history.

The Bengals dominated the AL East wire-to-wire, outpacing the second-place Toronto Blue Jays by 15 games. Detroit continued its winning ways in the postseason, sweeping the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS. In the World Series, it took just five games for the Tigers to brush aside the NL champion Padres to earn the title.

Shown here is a questionnaire filled out and signed by the catcher for the 1984 Detroit club, Lance Parrish. At the bottom he’s asked about the most memorable moments of his career.

Parrish writes, “Nothing in my career compares to 1984. Starting the season 35-5, sweeping the Royals in the playoffs & beating the Padres in the World Series. There is nothing like winning.”

The 1986 Tiger infield slugged its way into baseball history. Catcher Lance Parrish, first baseman Darrell Evans, shortstop Alan Trammel, third baseman Darnell Coles, and shortstop Lou Whitaker each hit at least 20 home runs.

It remains the only time in baseball history an infield has accomplished the feat. Evans led the team with 29 home runs. Parrish had 22, Trammell 21 with both Coles and Trammell at exactly 20. Two years removed from their World Series title, the Tigers were still a formidable force.

Shown here is a ticket signed by Whitaker. The September 13, 1995 contest was a historic one for him and double play partner Trammell. They appeared in the same game for the 1,915th time to break the American League record held by Kansas City’s George Brett and Frank White.

Lance Parrish had a fine 19-year career at baseball’s highest level. By the time he retired, only three catchers in major league history had more home runs. His career total of 324 long balls ties him with Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter. The two backstops have very similar numbers per 162 games played.

Don Holmes’ work for VintageDetroit.com points out just how close the numbers are. Per 162 games played Carter averaged 148 hits, 26 doubles, 2 triples and 23 home runs over the course of his career. Parrish comes in at 145 hits, 25 doubles, 2 triples, and 26 homers. Lance averaged one more RBI than Carter over a full season’s worth of games. Cooperstown’s Carter has a lifetime average of .262 with a .439 slugging mark while Parrish hit .252 and slugged .440.

In this case, what separates Carter from Parrish? The Hall of Fame catcher has better counting numbers thanks to playing 308 more games than Parrish. Carter’s on-base percentage is also 22 points higher than Parrish’s thanks to 10 more walks per 162 games played.

Shown here is scouting report on Gary Carter turned in by an advance scout. Such men stay one step ahead of their teams and scout the team they’ll play next. This scouting report is less-than-flattering for the Hall of Famer.

Among the points written here are, “Not hitting real well”, and the rating of his throwing arm, “Avg – not throwing well”.

Those notes certainly do not reflect the entirety of his Hall of Fame career; they’re merely snapshot taken on May 21, 1987.

When asked to autograph the scouting report Carter seemed to take offense at the poor remarks as he wrote, “Don’t always believe the scouting report” just above where he penned his signature.

Lance Parrish finished his big league career with 305 doubles, 324 homers and 1,070 runs batted in. At the time of his retirement he had the fourth-most homers of any catcher in history. Parrish also ranked seventh in games played at the position.

With seven 20-homer campaigns and plenty of hardware to buoy his case, Parrish appeared on the Hall of Fame writers ballot in 2001. He received just 9 votes. By gaining just  1.7% of the vote, he fell far short of the 5% required to remain on the ballot.

On the 3×5 card shown here, Parrish lists his accolades – ’84 World Champs, 8 time All Star, 3 Gold Gloves, 6 Silver Sluggers.