Wes Parker

Maurice Wesley Parker III (born November 13, 1939) is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to . He also played one season in Japan for the Nankai Hawks in .

Biography

Major League playing career Parker was part of the Dodgers' and World Series teams. Known as one of the slickest fielding first basemen of all time, he won the National League Gold Glove Award for first base every year from to 1972. In 1970, Parker posted a career high batting average of .319 and performed the unusual feat of driving in over 100 runs in a season while hitting no more than 10 home runs.

In a game against the New York Mets on May 7, 1970, Parker hit for the cycle. He was the last Los Angeles Dodger to accomplish that feat until Orlando Hudson did so against the San Francisco Giants on April 13, 2009.

On August 21, 2007, Parker was voted the best defensive first baseman in baseball since the inception of the Gold Glove award in 1957, and named to the Major League Baseball All-time Gold Glove Team. He is the only member of the team who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Parker is not eligible to enter the Hall of Fame as a player because he played in only nine seasons, one fewer than the minimum required for consideration).

Parker is the only Dodger to have received the All-Time Gold Glove Team award.

Career statistics In nine seasons and 1,288 games played, Parker compiled a .267 batting average (1110-4157), with 548 runs scored, 64 home runs, 470 RBI, 532 walks.351 on-base percentage and .375 slugging percentage. In 11 World Series games (1965 and '66) he hit .278 (10-36). At 1,108 games at first base, his primary position, his fielding percentage was .996. He also played at all three outfield positions.

Labor issues Major League Baseball had its first ever work stoppage with a strike at the beginning of the 1972 season, which lasted 13 days. The player representatives voted 47–0, with one abstention, in favor of the strike. The abstention was Parker, who felt a deep appreciation for everything the Dodgers had done for him.

Other endeavors Parker retired from Major League Baseball after the 1972 season. He worked as a television color analyst for the Cincinnati Reds in 1973.

He attended Claremont Men's College, transferred to USC, graduating from USC with a B.A. in history.

Beginning in 2001, Parker began as a volunteer teacher of a weekly sports class at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.