He joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 1970, and was assigned to Portland of the Pacific Coast League, going 3–0 with a 2.25 ERA. Parsons played his first game in the major leagues on April 13, 1971.[1] He was in the starting rotation for the last-place Brewers in his rookie season, going 13–17 with a 3.20 ERA, while 7th in the league with 4 shutouts and 8th in the AL with 93 walks.[3] Parsons was second in the 1971 BBWAARookie of the Year voting, losing out to Chris Chambliss, and was named The Sporting News AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year.[3]