Dallas Finney Parks (born April 8, 1942) is an American former baseball umpire. Parks was one of the eight minor league replacement umpires who was promoted to the major leagues during the 1979 Major League Umpires Strike, and worked from 1979 until 1982. Parks wore number 30 when the American League adopted uniform numbers for its umpires in 1980.

Minor league career

Parks turned to umpiring after his career as a player was ended by a torn Achilles tendon he suffered during a pick-up basketball game in college. After attending the Bill Kinnamon umpiring school in Florida (in the same class as future American League umpires

Durwood Merrill Edwin Durwood Merrill (March 12, 1938 – January 11, 2003) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League for 23 seasons (1977–1999). Merrill was born in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma. In 1998 he wrote a col ...

and

Steve Palermo Stephen Michael Palermo (October 9, 1949 – May 14, 2017) was an umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1977 to 1991. His field career ended when he was shot in the back following his decision to intervene and ap ...

and future National League umpire Ed Montague), Parks started his career in the Florida State League in 1972, then was assigned to the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

the next season but resigned. He returned to the Southern League in 1974 before being promoted to the International League in 1975, where he remained for nearly four years and became one of the top-rated AAA umpires. In 1979, he (along with Fred Spenn,

Derryl Cousins Derryl Cousins (August 18, 1946October 19, 2020) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB), who worked in the American League (AL) from 1979 to 1999, and umpired throughout both leagues from 2000 until his retirement following the 20 ...

and

John Shulock John Richard Shulock (born April 29, 1947) is a former professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1979 to 1999 and throughout Major League Baseball between 2000 and 2002. Shulock wore number 29 when the AL adopted them fo ...

) were brought up to the American League as replacement umpires during the strike that season.

Major league baseball

Parks worked as an American League umpire until 1982, when Parks resigned (becoming the third replacement umpire to leave the game; Fred Spenn was fired in 1980 and National League umpire Steve Fields was fired in 1981) rather than continue to be subject to the harsh treatment accorded him and the other replacements (referred to as "scabs" by the regular umpires because of crossing the picket lines) and a scathing rebuke of his abilities by

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

owner

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

after a series in August 1982 against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

when Parks ejected

Oscar Gamble Oscar Charles Gamble (December 20, 1949 – January 31, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 17 seasons, from to , for seven teams: the Chicago White Sox and ...

and Roy Smalley on consecutive days. Steinbrenner said of Parks: "Judging from his last two days performance, my people tell me he is not a capable umpire. For umpire Parks to throw two of our players out of ballgames in two days on plays he misjudges is ludicrous". Steinbrenner went on to refer to Parks as a "scab" and that he "had it in" for the Yankees since he used that term towards the umpire. Parks filed a defamation of character lawsuit against Steinbrenner and the Yankees, Parks won in a lower court but the New York Supreme Court overruled the lower court in 1987, indicating that the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

gave Steinbrenner the right to "razz the umpire", as have generations of fans before and since. He returned to work games during the umpire labor actions in 1991 and 1995 in addition to running two different minor league teams in North Carolina.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Dallas 1942 births Living people Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Maryland

Minor league career

Major league baseball

See also

References