Casey Parsons knew importance of situational hitting; Made bigs as player, managed in minors

Originally published March 21, 2015
Casey Parsons' Tacoma Tigers were going through a rough stretch May 1994 and Parsons zeroed in on his club's hitting, according to The Deseret News.

"We're not executing in key situations," Parsons told The News. "Our situational hitting and our clutch hitting has just not been there."

Parsons was managing in his sixth season in the minors, his first at AAA. He undertook that career after a career as a player that took him all the way to situations in the majors over four separate seasons.

Parsons' career in baseball in 1976, signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of Gonzaga University in Washington state.

He started between rookie Great Falls and single-A Fresno. He made AA Waterbury in 1977 and then AAA Phoenix in 1978. Parsons then stayed at AAA for three seasons.

He moved to the Mariners and AAA Spokane in June 1980. After the move, Parsons told The Spokane Spokesman-Review he was hoping for a new start.

"I'm just now getting over the shock," Parsons told The Spokesman-Review. "I'm really super happy to be playing for Spokane."

The next year, Parsons was playing for Seattle. He debuted May 31. He got into seven games before the strike. He got one hit in seven at bats.

"It was even more than I thought it would be," Parsons told The Spokesman-Review that June. "The way you're treated is beyond comparison. I've heard guys say that it's the only place to play and it's true."

Parsons finished out the year with a total of 36 games played for the Mariners. He went 5 for 22 overall, hitting a home run.

He returned to the majors for eight games with the White Sox in 1983, then another game in 1984. He rounded out his major league career in 1987, with 18 games played with the Indians.

Parsons then started his minor league managerial career in 1989, in the rookie Arizona League. He moved to single-A Madison for 1990, then spent three seasons as manager at AA Huntsville. His final recorded season in the minors came in 1994, as manager at AAA Tacoma. He never made the majors as a coach or manager.

• Spokane Spokesman-Review, June 19, 1980: Casey: Pleasant shock
• Spokane Spokesman-Review, June 17, 1981: Even idle, Casey prefers the bigs, Part 2 
• Deseret News, May 4, 1994: S.L. whips Tacoma, Part 2