Larry Parrish fired as Braves hitting coach on Friday
mcadams
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Taken from MLB.com
"When Gonzalez was asked about the future of his coaching staff Thursday morning, the Braves were fewer than 12 hours removed from a crushing season-ending loss that completed their historic collapse. They did not earn a playoff spot after entering the season's final 23 games with an 8 1/2-game lead in the National League Wild Card standings.
After he and Gonzalez met with Parrish at Turner Field Thursday afternoon, Wren moved closer to making the decision after he spent a few more hours evaluating what he saw from his offense and certain hitters this past year.
"My concerns going in, based on what I saw all season long, were amplified in that meeting," Wren said. "I came away from that meeting at 3 or 3:30 yesterday afternoon pretty sure we needed to make a change. The more I pondered it and thought about it, the more I knew the right thing was to make the change."
Less than a year after hiring Parrish to replace current first-base coach Terry Pendleton as the hitting coach, Wren called Parrish on Friday afternoon to inform him that he was being relieved of his duties.
During his one season in Atlanta, Parrish showed why he is so widely respected around the baseball world. But after spending most of the previous two decades as a Minor League manager in the Tigers organization, the former All-Star outfielder seemed to have a tough time getting comfortable with his new role in a new organization.
Three weeks into the season, one veteran Braves player said many of the players gained the sense during Spring Training that there might be some communication issues.
"I just think the overall philosophy and the message did not get through to the players," Wren said. "The players have to take responsibility as well, because we've got guys who have played for a number of years and they know what they're doing. So it's not all on the hitting coach by any means.
"But we did feel like we were not on the same page philosophically from a hitting perspective going forward."
The Braves went from being one of the game's most disciplined lineups to a free-swinging one during Parrish's tenure. Atlanta led the National League with a .339 on-base percentage in 2010, but was 14th this past season with a .308 mark."
"When Gonzalez was asked about the future of his coaching staff Thursday morning, the Braves were fewer than 12 hours removed from a crushing season-ending loss that completed their historic collapse. They did not earn a playoff spot after entering the season's final 23 games with an 8 1/2-game lead in the National League Wild Card standings.
After he and Gonzalez met with Parrish at Turner Field Thursday afternoon, Wren moved closer to making the decision after he spent a few more hours evaluating what he saw from his offense and certain hitters this past year.
"My concerns going in, based on what I saw all season long, were amplified in that meeting," Wren said. "I came away from that meeting at 3 or 3:30 yesterday afternoon pretty sure we needed to make a change. The more I pondered it and thought about it, the more I knew the right thing was to make the change."
Less than a year after hiring Parrish to replace current first-base coach Terry Pendleton as the hitting coach, Wren called Parrish on Friday afternoon to inform him that he was being relieved of his duties.
During his one season in Atlanta, Parrish showed why he is so widely respected around the baseball world. But after spending most of the previous two decades as a Minor League manager in the Tigers organization, the former All-Star outfielder seemed to have a tough time getting comfortable with his new role in a new organization.
Three weeks into the season, one veteran Braves player said many of the players gained the sense during Spring Training that there might be some communication issues.
"I just think the overall philosophy and the message did not get through to the players," Wren said. "The players have to take responsibility as well, because we've got guys who have played for a number of years and they know what they're doing. So it's not all on the hitting coach by any means.
"But we did feel like we were not on the same page philosophically from a hitting perspective going forward."
The Braves went from being one of the game's most disciplined lineups to a free-swinging one during Parrish's tenure. Atlanta led the National League with a .339 on-base percentage in 2010, but was 14th this past season with a .308 mark."
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