Later Years
After his playing days, Parker became the head baseball coach (1953-1966) and assistant football coach (1947-1965) at Duke University. He was manager of the Durham Bulls from 1949–52, serving as player-manager for the first three seasons and finishing with a record of 303-266 (.533). He was Piedmont League manager of the year in 1949 and 1951. He was also a founding member of the Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club in Portsmouth, Virginia.
On August 13, 2008, Parker was part of the inaugural class inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, honoring athletes, coaches and administrators who made contributions to sports in Southeastern Virginia.
As of 2011, Parker is the oldest living member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As of October 2011, Parker is the oldest living former professional football player. As of May 8, 2012, he is the last living person to play on the same major league baseball field as Baseball Hall of Fame member Rogers Hornsby. On May 7, 1937, Parker appeared for the Philadelphia Athletics while Hornsby played one of his last games for the St. Louis Browns. Parker and Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr are the last men to play on the same field as baseball immortal Lou Gehrig.
Ace Parker turned 100 on May 17, 2012.
Read more about this topic: Ace Parker
Famous quotes containing the word years:
“He took control of me for forty-five minutes. This time I’ll have control over him for the rest of his life. If he gets out fifteen years from now, I’ll know. I’ll check on him every three months through police computers. If he makes one mistake he’s going down again. I’ll make sure. I’m his worst enemy now.”
—Elizabeth Wilson, U.S. crime victim. As quoted in People magazine, p. 88 (May 31, 1993)
“When any man expresses doubt to me as to the use that I or any other woman might make of the ballot if we had it, my answer is, What is that to you? If you have for years defrauded me of my rightful inheritance, and then, as a stroke of policy, of from late conviction, concluded to restore to me my own domain, must I ask you whether I may make of it a garden of flowers, or a field of wheat, or a pasture for kine?”
—Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826–1898)