Bobby Parnell was born on September 9, 1984 in Salisbury, North Carolina. His father, also named Robert, and his grandfather were both firefighters. At East Rowan High School in Granite Quarry, North Carolina, Parnell was primarily a third baseman. Parnell converted from shortstop to pitcher as a freshman with the Charleston Southern University Buccaneers. Despite still struggling to control his pitches even after three years of pitching in college, the New York Mets took the advice of Parnell\'s former American Legion coach and selected Parnell in the 9th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft with the 269th overall pick.\n', '

Parnell worked as a starter for the minor league teams in the Mets organization, pitching for the Brooklyn Cyclones, St. Lucie Mets, Binghamton Mets, and New Orleans Zephyrs. In three different leagues, Parnell has been named a mid-season All-Star. He earned the honor in the New York–Penn League in 2005, the Florida State League in 2007, and the Eastern League in 2008.\n', '

Parnell earned Eastern League All-Star honors again in 2008. Despite having a poor record since being promoted to the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, Parnell was rewarded with a call-up to the New York Mets on September 1, 2008. He made his major league debut on September 15.\n', '

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