Jimmy “Red” Parker bobbled a ball at second base - he rarely did such a thing - and W.T. Watson of Southern Arkansas was safe at first base. Then Watson bunted. Carter Tarkington lined a long single to left field, scoring the run that made the difference between the Southern State Muleriders and the Monticello Boll Weevils.
Then the Weevils and Riders sauntered off into the day, May 13, 1953 (60 years ago), but several lingered.
“Are you sure you are going to get the job at Fordyce?” one asked of Parker.
“I don’t know,” Parker said. “That’s up to somebody else.”
About that time, someone shook hands with Parker and said it wasa “done deal” that he would coach Fordyce.
Jim Benton and Convoy Leslie had suddenly lifted Fordyce from the bottom. It had been several years since Fordyce had been any good.
Parker said, “See, I’ll be 82 years old this fall. I was 21 years old at that time. I was sick for a couple of years. What did I know then ?”
In eight years, Parker went soaring to a 75-15-4 record. Then he went to work at Arkansas A&M, The Citadel, Clemson, Southern State, Delta State, Rison, Ouachita Baptist, back to Fordyce, until somebody said, “Are you sure this will be your last place?”
“This will be my last place,” Parker said. “Benton Harmony Grove, in Haskell.”
“Mickey O’Quinn?” Parker said the other day. “He was a very good coach we were lucky to have. Warren High School could never figure why they didn’t beat us [Fordyce] a few times. It always seemed one point or two in those games.”
At Arkansas A&M, there were some memorable games against Southern State.
“We got lucky against Southern State, 7-0. Wildest game I ever saw. We ran all over the place for seven points.”
Red Parker would occasionally “lay out” for a year or two, or he would install shops for a year or two.
His best win? “When I left Clemson. They offered me four more years, and I won one of them.”
How many years has he coached? “I’d say 57 years, or something like that.”
“The Citadel and Delta State were probably the toughest,” Parker said. “When we had a chance to go back to Fordyce, we certainly didn’t waste it. We had a series of tough games at The Citadel, early on. I never did like to look back on that.”
Sports, Pages 18 on 08/06/2013