Big spree for Parker: 3 homers for 7 RBIs
Bruce Bochy played in the big leagues for nine years. He has managed for 21. He wore the same uniform as Tony Gwynn and Barry Bonds. He saw Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs in a World Series game.
Then along came Jarrett Parker.
“Best offensive game I’ve ever seen,” Bochy said.
The stunning reaction to Parker’s stunning performance came Saturday after the Giants’ 14-10 victory over the A’s at the Coliseum. Parker homered, homered and homered again, his finale a grand slam, and drove in seven runs. It was downright Maysian. The last Giant with at least three homers and seven RBIs in a game was Willie Mays, coming the day the Say Hey Kid collected four homers (and eight RBIs) in 1961.
“It’s an effortless swing, a different sound to it,” Bochy said. “I’m not comparing him to Bonds, but hitters like that, when they get it in the air, you assume it’s gone.
“He looks like ‘The Natural’ the way he’s swinging the bat,” added Bochy, who didn’t say “a natural” but “The Natural,” referencing the fictitious guy in that movie. It was downright Hobbsian. Parker is a 26-year-old rookie whose first big-league stint was forgettable — 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in June — so he returned to Triple-A Sacramento and vowed things would be different next time. He promised to be more aggressive and “let it hang out on the line.”
Included in a later round of September call-ups, Parker arrived Sept. 11 and has gone 9-for-18 with six homers and 12 RBIs. He has homered in three straight games, five times in nine at-bats.
His three-homer game was the first for a rookie in Giants history, which dates to 1883.
“The fact he said that, that’s unbelievable,” Parker said of Bochy’s best-I’ve-seen claim. “That’s crazy. I don’t know how to respond to that. Pretty proud, though.”
Bochy calculated in Parker’s RBI count, tie-breaking grand slam in the eighth inning and single-handedly preventing a loss that seemed destined for Tim Hudson on a day the 40year-old opposed his friend and ex-teammate Barry Zito in the most hyped Giants-A’s pitching matchup in recent memory. Barry who? Tim who? “Unbelievable job. Fun to watch,” Hudson said. “It wasn’t looking good for us throughout this game. Parker came up and took the same guy deep he took deep last night. I think he sees him pretty well — 2-for-2 with two of the longest homers I’ve seen in a while.”
Ryan Dull had eight straight scoreless outings for the A’s until Parker’s monstrous 454foot homer into the second deck in center field Friday, which Bochy called the longest he had seen since Bonds homered off the Qualcomm Stadium scoreboard in San Diego. Back when Bochy managed the Padres.
Parker’s other homers Saturday were off lefties, Zito and Drew Pomeranz.
Bochy said Parker is in the mix for a roster spot next season, but in the glow of Saturday’s historical performance, it could be speculated he’d be in the mix for an everyday spot in the outfield, where only Hunter Pence is guaranteed a job.
“All I’m going to worry about is the here and now,” Parker said. “I’m not going to worry about next season.”