Former Arkansas baseball player Blake Parker made most of professional career

Blake Parker wasn’t ready to hang up his baseball spikes, even if it meant he had to live in a recreational vehicle to continue his big league career.

Parker, the former Fayetteville High School and Arkansas Razorbacks standout, spent 17 years in professional baseball, and he relished every inning. Parker was the guest speaker at Wednesday’s Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club luncheon in Springdale.

“People would ask me all the time, ‘When are you going to quit,’” Parker said. “I’d kind of bristle and grit my teeth and say, ‘When I’ve had enough.’

“I loved baseball, I loved being on the field, I loved practice … just everything about it. I played football and basketball in high school and I liked those sports, but I always loved baseball and my dream was to play at the highest level. Not many people get to say that.”

Parker’s story is unique on many levels. His career path to the major leagues took a lot of twists and turns, including a position change.

He was drafted out of Arkansas in 2006 by the Chicago Cubs as a catcher, but Parker found success in front of the plate rather than behind it. After hitting a big home run in a minor league game, he was called into the manager’s office. He and some teammates had planned to go out after the game to celebrate his walk-off home run, and they were waiting on him in the parking lot.

“I was pumped the manager wanted to see me,” Parker told the audience. “I thought maybe I was getting a promotion. I was catching well and I’d just hit a game-winning homer. Instead of promoting me, they said I was changing positions and would be with the pitchers.”

Parker never threw a pitch as a Razorback, but played almost every other position. He did have experience on the mound from high school where he won a state championship in 2003 under legendary Fayetteville coach Vance Arnold. Parker said he leaned on that experience when he made the position switch.

Parker spent time with multiple teams over his 17-year career including the Los Angeles Angels, where he was picked up on waivers and lived in an RV. 

“Yep, true story,” he said. “I did. How cool is that? Living in an RV and playing ball, just living the dream.”

Parker has since retired and moved back to his hometown, where he is building a baseball academy with the Arkansas Aviators. He still spends his days on the diamond, but now he is devoted to helping young players develop the same passion for baseball that he had.

“I had great coaches who pushed me and taught me that hard work was the way to make it,” he said. “Coach Arnold, Coach [Dave] Van Horn, Wes Johnson and a lot of other coaches always just told me that I had the talent, I just needed to work harder. So that’s what I did, just worked as hard as I could. That’s what I want the kids that I coach to follow.”

Also at Wednesday’s luncheon, two prep awards were presented. Ava Goetz, a track star at Fayetteville, was the Prep Rally Player of the Week after winning the Arkansas state heptathlon championship for the second year in a row. Goetz is headed to the University of Colorado to continue her career in the heptathlon.

The Founders Classical Academy in Rogers was presented the Prep Rally Program of the Week award. The Spartans narrowly edged two other schools by just two points to win the Class 1A state boys championship.

The next Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club luncheon will be held in August. Tickets for the luncheons can be purchased at tickets.nwaonline.com. A complete schedule of speakers for this fall will be announced in the coming weeks.