I want to take you back in time. No, I don't have a Delorian or a friend by the name of Doc Brown. But I do have the power of research. The date is July 14, 1871. The place is East Portland, Oregon (which was its own city back then). Thomas H. Parrott and the former Eliza Ann Rhodes just gave birth to a son, Walter Edward "Jiggs" Parrott. The Parrott family, who were originally from England, were big players in the early formation of Portland's east-side.
Thomas H. Parrott owned a music shop and trained all of his seven children, including Jiggs, to play musical instruments. Jiggs Parrott spent most of his youth playing baseball with classmates and on the local sandlots. He and his brothers, Tom and Dode, signed with the East Portland Willamettes, a popular amateur club. In 1890, Jiggs Parrott signed with one of the first professional baseball circuits to make it Oregon, the Pacific Northwest League.
Parrott, along with his brother Tom, were assigned to the Portland Webfeet . Jiggs played third base for the team. He batted .268 in 94 games played. He finished second in the league in home runs (5) and fourth in doubles (24). In 1891, Parrott re-signed with the Portland club, who were now re-named the Gladiators. During his tenure with Portland, he was said to have "excite[d] the admiration of all the bleachers".
Before the start of the 1892 season, Parrot bulked-up and signed with Minneapolis Minnies of the Class-A Western League (which would later become the American League). On the season, he batted .317 in 41 games played. He was tied for second in the league in home runs (6).
Cap Anson, the manager of the Chicago Colts at the time, was impressed by Parrott and signed him to a contract. Anson believed that Parrott could be transformed into one of the best players in Major League Baseball. He made his MLB debut on July 11, 1892. At the time of his debut, he was the first player from the State of Oregon to make an appearance in an MLB game (his brother, Tom, would be second). For the majority of the season, Jiggs batted in the second hole in the Colts line-up. He finished the season with a not-so respectable .201 in 78 games played. Parrott finished the season third amongst National League third baseman in fielding percentage ( .891).
In 1893, The Sporting Life wrote a scathing report of Parrott, calling him an "erratic player" and questioning Anson's decision to hold onto him. However, the same publication called Parrott "a little less than brilliant" during the June stretch of the MLB season. Despite the on-again-off-again criticism of Parrott, Anson called him a "well behaved young man". However, Anson still made a change and moved Parrott to the seventh hole in the batting order. He hit .244 in 110 games played. He finished the season with the fifth highest fielding percentage amongst third basemen (.904).
Anson converted Parrott to a second baseman in 1894 to make room for a new prospect, Charlie Irwin, at third base. Anson received heavy criticism from Chicago papers for continuing to play Parrott. It was reported that fans held a disdain for Parrott, beyond the conventional heckling. His batting average that season made a four-point improvement to a .248 clip in 126 games played.
Parrott received another conversion in 1895, this time to the utility role as Anson signed second baseman Ace Stewart (whose MLB career would only last that season). Anson conceded to the angry Colts fans, and promised he would only put him in the line-up during away games. Parrott appeared in just three games that season, getting one hit in four at-bats.
After being released by Chicago, Parrott signed with the Rockford Forest Cities of the Class-B Western Association. His batting average took a dramatic up-tick from his days in the majors as he batted .351 in 26 games played. He started the '86 season with the Grand Rapid Rippers of the Western League as their starting third sacker. He was released on June 22. Soon after that, he was picked-up by the Columbus Senators, who were also members of the Western League. Combined between the two clubs, he batted .306 in 86 games played.
Parrott's health began to deteriorate at the start of the 1987 season. He re-signed with the Senators, but was soon released. He then signed with the Dubuque, Iowa Western Association club, with whom he batted .213 in 15 games.
After the '87 season, Parrott was forced out of professional baseball due to his failing health. Initially, he returned to his family home in Portland. However, he soon found he health getting much worse, so he traveled to New Mexico to help ail his tuberculosis. While in New Mexico, he wrote his family back in Oregon and alerted them that he was moving to Arizona, where the weather was better for his condition.
Parrott told his parents that the Arizona climate was making his feel much better. However, he succumbed to a long battle with tuberculosis on April 19, 1898 and died at the age of 26. His brother, Archie, was en-route to Arizona when he was telegraphed of Jiggs' death. Archie continued to retrieve his brother's remains and bring them back to Portland. On April 23, Archie returned to Portland with his brother's body. The family held his funeral on April 25, at the family home. The Oregonian reported that 500 people witnessed his burial at Lone Fir Cemetery.
References:
Armour, Mark. "Jiggs Parrott". The Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project. The Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
"1890 Portland". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
"1890 Pacific Northwest League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
"1891 Portland Gladiators". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
"The Base Ball World". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Spokane, Washington): p. 2. 7 April 1891.
"1892 Minneapolis Minnies". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
"1892 Western League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
"Players by birthplace: Oregon Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
"1892 National League Fielding Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
"Baseball Notes". The Milwaukee Journal (Milwaukee, Wisconsin): p. 8. 29 August 1894
"1893 National League Fielding Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
"Untitled". The Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois): p. 8. 11 May 1896. Retrieved 1 June 2011. (subscription required)
"Untitled". The Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois): p. 7. 23 June 1896. Retrieved 1 June 2011. (subscription required)
"Diamond Dust". The Milwaukee Journal (Milwaukee, Wisconsin): p. 15. 9 September 1896.
"Jiggs Parrott Heard From". The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon). 28 December 1897.
"Death of Jiggs Parrott". The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon). 16 April 1898.
"Great Third Baseman: Remains of 'Jiggs' Parrott Brought Home For Burial". The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon). 23 April 1898.
"Funeral of Jiggs Parrott". The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon). 25 April 1898.
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