Bill Parsons, Early Brewers Pitching Star

Bill Parsons was one of the top hurlers for the Milwaukee Brewers in the early 1970s. He won 13 games in each of his first two seasons in Brewtown, but injuries and inconsistency derailed his promising career.

Parsons—born in 1948—attended Riverside (California) Polytechnic High School and was a star in both basketball and baseball. The 6-foot-6 center was named the All-Ivy League Player of the Year his senior year and had a game where he scored 24 points and grabbed 33 rebounds. After graduation, he attended Riverside City College and played both sports there.

In June 1968, Parsons was chosen in the seventh round by the Seattle Pilots. He was assigned to Lower-A Newark (New York) in the New York-Penn League. Parsons struggled with his control, walking batters at nearly an 18% rate while losing six of eight decisions and posting an ERA of 4.69.

In 1969, Parsons was moved down to Billings (Montana) in the rookie Pioneer League. The big right-hander pitched once for Billings, striking out 11 in seven innings, before he was promoted to Class-A Clinton (Iowa) of the Midwest League. In 11 appearances (10 starts) for the Pilots, Parsons compiled a 5-4 mark with an ERA of 1.57 and a WHIP of 0.986. He also pitched in the Arizona Instructional League that fall/winter and performed well there. He won four games (against two losses) and fashioned a nifty 1.80 ERA and a WHIP of 1.109.

Parsons moved up to Triple-A Portland in the Pacific Coast League in 1970. He pitched four games with a record of 3-0 when his National Guard unit at Fort Ord, California, called him to active duty for four months. After his discharge in the fall, he pitched for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League. His manager was Cal Ermer, who sent glowing reports back to Milwaukee. Parsons won four straight games, including a two-hitter over Ponce.

The 1971 Milwaukee starting rotation included Parsons, and he quickly proved his worth. In his first major league game, he went the distance, allowing only six hits and two earned runs in a 2-0 loss to Oakland. In his first nine starts, he had five complete games and two shutouts. His record was 5-4, and his ERA was 1.80. If the Brewers could have scored a couple of runs here and there, he could have easily been 8-1.

He finished the year with a 13-17 record, ERA of 3.20, WHIP of 1.275, and ERA+ of 107. He finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting to Cleveland’s Chris Chambliss. Parsons also earned The Sporting News AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year and was named to the Topps Rookie All-Star Team.

His 244 2/3 innings pitched rank 15^th in Brewer history. His 12 complete games are tied for 12th, and his four shutouts rank in a tie for third.

The following year, Parsons struggled early, completing only two games in his first 16 starts while owning an inflated ERA of 5.05. In his final 14 starts, he did much better. Parsons had eight complete games, two shutouts, and held opposing hitters to a .204 batting average. He finished 13-13 for the year with an ERA of 3.91 and tossed a pair of shutouts among his ten complete games. It was not as good as his rookie season, but it was a solid year nonetheless.

Parsons hurt his shoulder during 1973 spring training and only pitched 13 innings in Arizona. He was tabbed to work the home opener against Baltimore and came away with a 2-0 win, allowing only one hit in 7 1/3 innings. The bad news? He walked six and struck out nobody. Things went downhill after that.

He missed three weeks in late July through early August, and then his season ended after his outing on September 3rd. In 17 starts and three relief appearances, Parsons pitched 59 and 2/3 innings, allowed 59 hits, and struck out 30. His walk total was an incredible 67. His three wins increased his career total to 29, and those would be his last major league victories. His ERA was a career-worst 6.79.

After the season, Parsons’ name was mentioned in trade talks with San Francisco for Willie McCovey. But the trade never happened, as ‘Big Mac’ was traded with another player to San Diego for future Brewer Mike Caldwell.

During spring training in 1974, manager Del Crandall had mentioned that some advice in 1973 given to Parsons by then-pitching coach Bob Shaw “wrecked his motion and arm.” In late March, Parsons was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento. He had the misfortune of pitching at Hughes Stadium, which featured a left field fence only 233 feet from home plate but had a tall 40-foot screen. Parsons led the league in gopher balls and had a record of 5-8 in 14 games before he was traded in late June, along with cash, to Oakland for Deron Johnson.

Parsons pitched in a dozen games at Triple-A Tucson, losing eight of 12 games before getting called to Oakland in September. He made four appearances totaling two innings. In his final big-league game on September 28, he faced four batters, walking two and allowing a double in one-third of an inning.

In December, Parsons was sold to St. Louis. In 1975, he pitched in 14 games at Triple-A Tulsa before being traded to the White Sox in July for Buddy Bradford. Parsons pitched in 15 games at Triple-A Denver.

By 1976, Parsons was out of baseball. He attempted a comeback in 1978 and spent some time with Seattle in spring training. "I just listened to too many people," Parsons told the Milwaukee Journal. "I was thinking about too many mechanical things, and I didn't think about getting people out. In the state of mind I was in, I couldn't get my mother out."

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