Lance Parrish

Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1977-1995)

Lance Parrish was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1995 for 7 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 19 seasons. In 1,988 career games, he hit .252 with 1,782 hits, 324 home runs, and 1,070 RBI. Lance Parrish was a 8-time All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove, and a 6-time Silver Slugger. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 6,792.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .252
HR 324
RBI 1,070
H 1,782
OPS .753
PIV 6,792
Position
Catcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'3" / 210 lb
Born
6/15/1956 in Clairton, PA, USA
MLB Debut
1977-09-05
Last Game
1995-09-23
Awards
8× All-Star · 3× Gold Glove · 6× Silver Slugger

Full name: Lance Michael Parrish

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Career Batting Statistics

Lance Parrish — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,988 7,067 856 1,782 305 27 324 1,070 28 612 1,527 .252 .313 .440 .753 6,792

Career AVG .252 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .313 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .440 vs. league average .392 across their career seasons — +12.4% above league average.

Career OPS .753 vs. league average .718 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Lance Parrish Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1977 DET AL 12 46 10 9 2 0 3 7 0 5 12 .196 — — — — -29.9
1978 DET AL 85 288 37 63 11 3 14 41 0 11 71 .219 .257 (-15%) .323 (-21%) .378 (+12%) .702 (-3%) -276.3
1979 DET AL 143 493 65 136 26 3 19 65 6 49 105 .276 .265 (+4%) .329 (+4%) .397 (+15%) .727 (+10%) 989.0
1980 DET AL 144 553 79 158 34 6 24 82 6 31 109 .286 .264 (+8%) .326 (avg) .387 (+29%) .714 (+15%) 1459.4
1981 DET AL 96 348 39 85 18 2 10 46 2 34 52 .244 .255 (-4%) .320 (-3%) .368 (+7%) .688 (+2%) 113.4
1982 DET AL 133 486 75 138 19 2 32 87 3 40 99 .284 .261 (+9%) .324 (+4%) .388 (+36%) .712 (+22%) 1937.6
1983 DET AL 155 605 80 163 42 3 27 114 1 44 106 .269 .260 (+3%) .324 (-3%) .389 (+24%) .714 (+12%) 1063.7
1984 DET AL 147 578 75 137 16 2 33 98 2 41 120 .237 .259 (-9%) .322 (-11%) .384 (+15%) .707 (+3%) 152.6
1985 DET AL 140 549 64 150 27 1 28 98 2 41 90 .273 .257 (+6%) .323 (avg) .390 (+23%) .714 (+12%) 1184.2
1986 DET AL 91 327 53 84 6 1 22 62 0 38 83 .257 .257 (avg) .325 (+4%) .395 (+22%) .720 (+14%) 881.4
1987 PHI NL 130 466 42 114 21 0 17 67 0 47 104 .245 .262 (-7%) .331 (-5%) .415 (-4%) .746 (-5%) -353.1
1988 PHI NL 123 424 44 91 17 2 15 60 0 47 93 .215 .254 (-16%) .317 (-8%) .377 (-2%) .695 (-5%) -331.9
1989 CAL AL 124 433 48 103 12 1 17 50 1 42 104 .238 .254 (-6%) .319 (-4%) .375 (+3%) .694 (avg) -27.5
1990 CAL AL 133 470 54 126 14 0 24 70 2 46 107 .268 .257 (+4%) .324 (+4%) .385 (+17%) .710 (+11%) 1058.8
1991 CAL AL 119 402 38 87 12 0 19 51 0 35 117 .216 .255 (-15%) .323 (-12%) .384 (+1%) .708 (-5%) -347.8
1992 CAL AL 24 83 7 19 2 0 4 11 0 5 22 .229 .255 (-10%) .322 (-16%) .377 (+5%) .699 (-5%) -85.0
1992 SEA AL 69 192 19 45 11 1 8 21 1 19 48 .234 .255 (-8%) .322 (-6%) .377 (+13%) .699 (+4%) -85.0
1993 CLE AL 10 20 2 4 1 0 1 2 1 4 5 .200 — — — — 0.0
1994 PIT NL 40 126 10 34 5 0 3 16 1 18 28 .270 .269 (avg) .338 (+7%) .424 (-10%) .763 (-2%) -4.5
1995 TOR AL 70 178 15 36 9 0 4 22 0 15 52 .202 .266 (-24%) .337 (-21%) .417 (-23%) .755 (-22%) -693.7
Career · 20 seasons 1,988 7,067 856 1,782 305 27 324 1,070 28 612 1,527 .252 — — — — 6,605

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Lance Parrish — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
8 30 4 8 2 0 2 5 3 5 .267

Playoff Batting by Year

Lance Parrish — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1984 ALCS DET 3 12 1 3 1 0 1 3 0 3 .250
1984 WS DET 5 18 3 5 1 0 1 2 3 2 .278

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1988 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Lance Parrish — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home10013489422889160546.255
Away9873578434893164524.250

Last 10 Games — Batting

Lance Parrish — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1995-09-23 TORBOSL 100000001
1995-09-19 TORNYYL 301000100
1995-09-17 TORMILW 401100101
1995-09-16 TORMILW 512100100
1995-09-15 TORMILL 200000001
1995-09-13 TORTEXL 100000000
1995-09-11 TORDETL 000000000
1995-09-10 TORDETL 101000000
1995-09-08 TORDETW 110000120
1995-09-06 TORKCRW 000000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Lance Parrish — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 30 24 185 6 4 23
C 1818 1715 9647 980 94 133
OF 6 4 8 0 0 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Lance Parrish — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1977 DET C 12 12 76 6 0 0
1978 DET C 79 73 353 39 5 5
1979 DET C 142 135 707 79 9 10
1980 DET 1B 5 5 42 1 1 7
1980 DET C 121 114 557 66 6 8
1980 DET OF 5 4 8 0 0 0
1981 DET C 90 88 407 40 3 6
1982 DET C 132 127 627 76 8 8
1982 DET OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1983 DET C 131 126 695 73 4 8
1984 DET C 127 123 720 67 7 11
1985 DET C 120 117 695 53 5 9
1986 DET C 85 82 483 48 6 5
1987 PHI C 127 124 724 66 9 1
1988 PHI 1B 1 0 1 0 0 1
1988 PHI C 117 114 639 73 9 11
1989 CAL C 122 118 638 63 5 7
1990 CAL 1B 4 3 34 2 0 6
1990 CAL C 131 125 760 88 6 15
1991 CAL 1B 3 1 12 0 0 0
1991 CAL C 111 102 658 57 2 11
1992 CAL C 22 21 107 8 3 2
1992 SEA 1B 16 14 93 3 2 9
1992 SEA C 34 23 183 12 1 4
1993 CLE C 10 7 47 10 3 1
1994 PIT 1B 1 1 3 0 1 0
1994 PIT C 38 35 225 15 3 4
1995 TOR C 67 49 346 41 0 7

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Lance Parrish Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Catcher 1820
First Base 30
Left Field 2
Right Field 4
Designated Hitter 121

Awards & Honors

Lance Parrish — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1990 Silver Slugger C
1986 Silver Slugger C
1985 Gold Glove C
1984 Gold Glove C
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-06-22
1984 Silver Slugger C
1984 TSN All-Star C
1983 Gold Glove C
1983 Silver Slugger C
1982 Silver Slugger C
1982 TSN All-Star C
1980 Silver Slugger C
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-06-01

Salary History

Lance Parrish — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1995 TOR AL $290,000
1993 CLE AL $125,000
1993 PIT NL $209,000
1992 CAL AL $2,416,667
1991 CAL AL $2,416,667
1990 CAL AL $1,916,667
1989 CAL AL $1,000,000
1988 PHI NL $1,000,000
1987 PHI NL $1,000,000
1986 DET AL $850,000
1985 DET AL $766,667
Total Career Earnings $11,990,668

Award Voting History

Lance Parrish — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1984 Most Valuable Player AL 16th 8.0 392 0
1983 Most Valuable Player AL 9th 66.0 392 0
1982 Most Valuable Player AL 13th 26.0 392 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Lance Parrish (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Salvador Perez
    .261 avg, 324 HR
  2. 95
    Brian McCann
    .262 avg, 282 HR
  3. 92
    Gary Carter HOF
    .262 avg, 324 HR
  4. 84
    Benito Santiago
    .263 avg, 217 HR
  5. 78
    Johnny Bench HOF
    .267 avg, 389 HR
  6. 72
    Jason Varitek
    .256 avg, 193 HR

Compare Lance Parrish

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Parrish's closest peers by position and era.

vs Barry Bonds
vs Manny Ramirez
vs Frank Thomas
vs Alex Rodriguez
vs Carl Yastrzemski
vs Jim Thome

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Lance Parrish: the record in brief

The profile opens with Lance Parrish's first major league game on September 5, 1977; the last one listed came on September 23, 1995. The season rows list, in order, the Detroit Tigers (1977 to 1986), the Philadelphia Phillies (1987 through 1988), the California Angels (1989 to 1992), the Seattle Mariners (1992), the Cleveland Indians (1993), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1994), and the Toronto Blue Jays (1995). Parrish, born on June 15, 1956, in Clairton, PA, USA, is listed as a catcher and threw and hit right-handed. Parrish's listed size is 210 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame. The bio lists the given name Lance Michael.

In 1,988 games and 7,067 at bats, Parrish batted .252 with 1,782 hits, plus 324 home runs, 1,070 RBI, and 28 stolen bases. Parrish's career OPS of .753 combines a .313 on-base mark with .440 slugging. The .252 career average is close to the .260 the league hit across the same seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about Lance Parrish

What years did Lance Parrish play?
Lance Parrish played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1995.
Was Lance Parrish a pitcher?
No. Lance Parrish was a position player (Catcher).
How many home runs did Lance Parrish hit?
Lance Parrish hit 324 career home runs with 1782 hits.
What was Lance Parrish's career batting average?
Lance Parrish batted .252 over his career, with 1,782 hits in 7,067 at bats.
How many RBI did Lance Parrish have?
Lance Parrish drove in 1,070 runs in his career.
Is Lance Parrish in the Hall of Fame?
No. Lance Parrish has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.