Charles LeClaire-Imagn Photos
Final December, 33 years after he final performed, Dave Parker was lastly elected to the Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame. The lefty-swinging, righty-throwing “Cobra” had as soon as been considered the sport’s greatest all-around participant, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound slugger who might hit for energy and common, had loads of pace in addition to a robust and correct throwing arm, and exuded as a lot charisma and swagger as any participant of his period. However accidents, cocaine use, and poor conditioning curtailed his prime, and whereas he rebounded to finish a prolonged and profitable profession, in 15 years on the writers’ ballots, he’d by no means drawn even one-third of the help wanted for election. He hadn’t come shut in three tries on Period Committee ballots, both, however buoyed by the optimistic consideration he had generated whereas waging a really public battle with Parkinson’s Illness, and backed by a good mixture of acquainted faces on the Up to date Baseball Period Committee, he lastly gained entry to the Corridor, alongside the late Dick Allen.
Sadly, Parker didn’t stay to ship the speech he mentioned he’d been holding for 15 years. Simply shy of 1 month from the day he was to be inducted into the Corridor of Fame, he handed away at age 74 because of issues from Parkinson’s Illness, which he was recognized with in 2012.
Parker is the third Corridor of Famer to die between election and induction. Eppa Rixey, a lefty who pitched within the Nationwide League from 1912 to ’33, was elected by the Veterans Committee on January 27, 1963. He died one month and sooner or later later, on the age of 71. Leon Day, a righty who starred within the Negro Leagues from 1934 to ’46, and later performed in Mexico and within the affiliated minor leagues, was elected by the Veterans Committee on March 7, 1995. He died six days later, on the age of 78.
In a 19-year profession spent with the Pirates (1973–83), Reds (1984–87), A’s (1987–89), Brewers (1990), Angels and Blue Jays (each 1991), Parker hit .290/.339/.471 (121 OPS+) and amassed hefty profession totals: 2,712 hits, 339 homers, and 154 steals. The height of his profession was throughout his first 5 full seasons (1975-79) with Pittsburgh, throughout which he collected a World Sequence ring, common season and All-Star MVP awards, two batting titles, two league leads in slugging proportion, and three Gold Gloves. Amid that rise to superstardom, he emerged as brash and fast with a quip, generally in rhyme — a mixture that drew comparisons to boxer Muhammad Ali. “When the leaves flip brown, I’ll be sporting the batting crown,” he predicted in mid-1978 (he gained with a .334 mark).
“Take Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente and match their first 5 years up in opposition to mine, they usually don’t evaluate with me,” he instructed Roy Blount Jr. in a 1979 Sports activities Illustrated cowl story. Inside that very same piece, he added, “There’s just one factor larger than me, and that’s my ego.”
Mentored by the likes of Willie Stargell and Dock Ellis, and adorned within the newest fashions from Black boutiques, replete with leather-based hats and platform sneakers, Parker thrived on the Seventies Pirates, the period’s most heavily-integrated crew when it comes to Black and Latino gamers. In an iconic picture from 1976, taken in entrance of his locker within the Pirates clubhouse, he wore a Panama hat and a black t-shirt that referenced “Mothership Connection,” an anthem by the funk group Parliament: “In case you hear any noise, it’s simply me and the boys boppin.”
It is the story I’ve wished to know for years: The place did the “In case you hear any noise, it is simply me and the boys boppin” tee come from? I talked to Dave Parker, Kent Tekulve, and Al Oliver to get to the underside: https://t.co/hZsEdRooB6
— Michael Clair (@michaelsclair) March 17, 2021
“I assumed that if my teammates noticed me strut into the clubhouse, cool and assured, sporting a badass message, that there could be nothing to fret about,” Parker instructed writer Dave Jordan, with whom he would collaborate for the acclaimed 2021 ebook, Cobra: A Lifetime of Baseball and Brotherhood. “As a result of that’s the mindset you want to succeed at this degree. In order that’s the place the T-shirt got here from.”
On the tail finish of that 1975–79 stretch, Parker grew to become baseball’s first million-dollar-a-year participant, however even with the Pirates’ success, his contract made him a goal for followers’ hostility. Continued issues along with his left knee, and a style for the nightlife, compromised his play, and it wasn’t till he signed a free agent cope with his hometown Reds in December 1983 that his manufacturing started to get well. Quickly enjoying alongside and below participant/supervisor Pete Rose — considered one of his boyhood heroes — he made two extra All-Star groups in Cincinnati earlier than happening to assist the A’s win the 1989 World Sequence, after which bouncing across the league as a sought-after designated hitter and mentor. As Stargell had finished for him, Parker endorsed youthful gamers resembling Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, and Gary Sheffield on the do’s and don’ts of stardom. “He in all probability had extra impression on younger gamers than any participant I’ve ever been round,” mentioned Davis, his teammate on the Reds.
David Gene Parker was born in Grenada, Mississippi on June 9, 1951, considered one of six kids of Richard and Dannie Mae Parker. In 1956, the household moved to Cincinnati, the place Richard labored as a transport clerk in a foundry, whereas Dannie Mae labored as a maid; each mother and father had some uncooked athleticism. “My mom had a cannon for an arm, threw all form of issues at us – sneakers, books, no matter – and often related,” Parker mentioned in 2014. “My dad by no means received to play organized ball. However he’d crush that ball. He might have been one thing, if he’d gotten the possibility. He hit cross-handed. And he might run like a scalded rabbit. He beat me in a footrace sooner or later after work – in his work boots, carrying his lunch bucket.”
In Cincinnati, Parker grew up lower than a block from Crosley Discipline, residence of the Reds. He and his pals would sneak into video games and cheer for stars resembling Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, and Rose. In a single memorable scene recounted in Cobra, Robinson and Pinson occurred upon Parker and pals, then in grade college, throwing rocks at one another for sport. “I don’t see a bat, and I don’t see a ball,” mentioned Robinson when the children claimed to be enjoying baseball. Opening the trunk of Robinson’s crimson Cadillac, the 2 Reds then bestowed a few bats and a number of other gloves upon the children.
At age 15, Parker started working as a vendor at Crosley Discipline, promoting scorching canine and popcorn, and, circa 1968–69, dreamed of turning into the subsequent Johnny Bench, as he was the beginning catcher (and occasional pitcher) for Courier Tech Excessive Faculty’s crew. He additionally starred in basketball and soccer, and was closely recruited as a operating again till he injured his left knee within the first sport of his senior season. He tried to play by means of the damage however ended up present process a number of surgical procedures, and missed his senior season of baseball. Per Blount, it wasn’t his knee damage however considerations about his skill to hit the ball within the air and a historical past of clashing with coaches that allow to his being chosen within the 14th spherical by the Pirates in 1970, as a substitute of the primary or second. It was a dreadful draft for the Pirates, in that simply simply considered one of their different 58 picks (catcher Ed Ott) ultimately reached the majors. Even so, the crew lowballed Parker into accepting a mere $6,000 for a bonus.
Between Parker’s knee issues and his measurement, the Pirates determined he had no future behind the plate and as a substitute moved him to the outfield. Starting in spring coaching 1971, the daybreak of the fabled Pittsburgh Lumber Firm, Parker picked up the finer factors of the sport from Clemente, Stargell, and coach (and later supervisor) Invoice Virdon. In keeping with Jordan, throughout spring coaching in 1972, Clemente watched Parker make throws to the catcher from middle area, then turned to teammate Manny Sanguillen and mentioned, “I’m taking a look at my alternative… I do know a proper fielder once I see one.”
Except for a tough 30-game stint at Double-A Waterbury, the place he began the 1971 season at age 19, Parker hit at each minor league cease, incomes MVP honors each within the Gulf Coast League in ’70 and the Carolina League in ’72. He hit 22 homers and stole 38 bases within the latter yr whereas batting .310/.350/.516.
Parker was lighting up the Worldwide League by means of the primary half of the 1973 season when he received known as as much as exchange outfielder Gene Clines, who had torn ligaments in his proper ankle. Parker debuted within the majors on July 12, 1973, barely a month previous his twenty second birthday, going 0-for-4 out of the leadoff spot in opposition to the Padres’ Clay Kirby. He spent the rest of that season and the entire subsequent one (throughout which he misplaced greater than two months to a hamstring damage) in a platoon function, making simply three begins in opposition to lefties. Deep in younger outfielders, the Pirates moved Stargell to full-time first base responsibility in 1975, with incumbent proper fielder Richie Zisk shifting to left, opening up the full-time proper area job for Parker.
The outcomes had been revelatory. The 24-year-old Parker hit .308/.357/.541 with 25 homers and 101 RBI; his slugging proportion led the league, his 149 OPS+ ranked third, his 6.3 bWAR (together with protection that was a league-best 15 runs above common in response to Whole Zone) fifth. The Pirates gained the NL East for the second straight season, however bowed to the Reds within the NLCS as Parker went 0-for-10. After the season, he edged out each Bench and Rose to position third within the NL MVP voting behind Joe Morgan and Greg Luzinski.
Although he slipped to 13 homers and a .475 slugging proportion in 1976, Parker’s efficiency was nonetheless greater than stable (133 OPS+, 3.7 WAR). He began 1977 so scorching that he was hitting above .400 as late as Might 14 (.408), and as excessive as .349 in early September; he completed at .338/.397/.531, beating out teammate Rennie Stennett for the NL batting title, rating first in each hits (215) and doubles (44), third in WAR (7.4), fifth in OPS+ (145) and on-base proportion, and sixth in slugging proportion. He made his first All-Star crew, gained his first Gold Glove, and once more completed third within the MVP voting, this time behind George Foster and Luzinski.
“The Cobra” — a nickname given to him by Pirates coach Tony Bartirome — developed into such an intimidating hitter that opposing pitchers deliberately walked him a league-high 23 instances in 1978. He had extra assist from Bartirome that season. In a house plate collision with Mets catcher (and former school soccer participant) John Stearns on June 30, Parker was not solely thrown out to finish the sport however suffered a fractured jaw and cheekbone, in addition to a concussion, although he solely realized the latter years later. “That was just like the Pennsylvania Railroad colliding with the B&O,” mentioned Pirates supervisor Chuck Tanner. When Parker returned to motion on July 16, he was sporting a two-toned hockey goalie’s masks that Bartirome had custom-made, then with the assistance of the Steelers’ gear supervisor — the 2 groups shared Three Rivers Stadium — switched to a soccer face masks, which he wore whereas operating the bases. It set off a development amongst equally injured gamers, and scared the dwelling hell out of Morgan, who threatened to sue if he sustained damage within the occasion of the 2 gamers colliding at second base.
Regardless of the damage, Parker hit .334/.394/.585 en route to a different batting title and slugging proportion crown. He reached 30 homers for the primary time, a complete that ranked third within the league, and each his 166 OPS+ and seven.0 WAR led the circuit as properly. In January 1979, simply earlier than he started what in any other case would have been his stroll yr, he signed a five-year contract that was broadly reported to be price at the very least $5 million, making him the sport’s first million-dollar-a-year participant, although the deal included one thing nearer to $2.1 million in present wage and $5.3 million in deferred compensation, the fee of which the Pirates would later problem.
Although his numbers fell off barely in 1979 (.310/.380/.526, 141 OPS+, 25 homers), Parker loved one other distinctive season, rating fourth within the NL with 6.7 WAR. He gained All-Star Sport MVP honors due to a game-tying sacrifice fly and two spectacular outfield assists within the late innings of the NL’s 7-6 win. Within the seventh, with the AL main 6-5, Parker misplaced monitor of a Jim Rice fly ball in opposition to the Kingdome roof, however recovered to throw an ideal one-hopper to Ron Cey at third base, reducing down Rice making an attempt to stretch a double right into a triple:
Then, with the rating tied within the backside of the eighth, Parker threw out Brian Downing making an attempt to attain from second on a Graig Nettles single, positioning his throw such that catcher Gary Carter simply dropped his tag on Downing’s head like an anvil:
With Parker and Stargell (who would share MVP honors with Keith Hernandez) main the way in which, the “We Are Household” Pirates gained 98 video games, then swept Morgan, Foster, and the Reds within the NLCS; Parker singled within the successful run within the tenth inning of Sport 2. Although hampered by a late-season left knee damage that restricted his skill to tug the ball, he went 10-for-29 within the World Sequence because the Pirates got here again from a three-games-to-one deficit to beat the Orioles in seven video games. Parker made an important catch of an Eddie Murray fly ball with the bases loaded within the eighth inning of Sport 7. “He hit a line drive to me, a carrying line drive,” mentioned Parker in 2014. “I broke to my glove aspect, slipped, and nearly fell. I recovered and managed to catch it. If I don’t catch that ball, I’d have saved operating proper by means of the fence and on out into Baltimore someplace.”
Up to now, Parker was rightly regarded among the many sport’s elite. His 31.1 WAR from 1975-79 ranked fourth within the majors, trailing solely Mike Schmidt (38.7), George Brett (35.0), and Rod Carew (31.9), whereas his 21.1 WAR from ’77-79 trailed solely Schmidt (23.0) and Brett (21.6). However even with the batting title and the championship, Parker’s million-dollar standing made him the goal of criticism and even racist hate mail. Embittered, he skipped the World Sequence parade. “On the time I felt the followers weren’t there for me, so why ought to I’ve been there for them,” Parker instructed The Undefeated’s Branson Wright in 2018. “I didn’t really feel I needed to apologize for being profitable, but it surely appeared that’s what some followers wished me to do.”
Continued bother along with his left knee in 1980 precipitated Parker’s manufacturing to plummet to 17 homers, 79 RBI, a 115 OPS+, and simply 1.6 WAR in 138 video games. In September, the New York Instances‘ Jane Gross wrote that he “seemed like a lame horse on the bottom paths.” Followers at Three Rivers Stadium actually focused him, throwing 9-volt batteries and different objects in his route in proper area. After a battery whizzed by his head throughout a July 20 contest, he eliminated himself from the sport. “There have been 5 incidents in Pittsburgh the place I might have been significantly damage. If I’m going to get damage, I’ll get damage enjoying the sport, not by somebody who has a grudge,” he instructed reporters. He requested for a commerce, although he later cooled down. In the meantime, his common-law spouse sued him for divorce.
After the 1980 season, Parker had surgical procedure to take away torn cartilage in his left knee, however the damage bug saved biting. Achilles and thumb accidents in addition to the gamers’ strike restricted him to only 140 video games, 15 homers, and 0.7 WAR in 1981–82, and his weight ballooned; some estimated it as excessive as 260 kilos, although Parker disputed that determine. He managed simply 12 homers, a 97 OPS+ and 0.2 WAR in his 144 video games in 1983, even with a .305/.331/.458 exhibiting within the second half. In September, after he dodged one other battery at Three Rivers, a UPI article reported that among the many projectiles hurled at him since signing his contract had been “a bat, a metal valve and a five-pound sack of nuts and bolts.”
A free agent after the season, Parker longed to go residence. He shaved his trademark mustache and beard in a particular effort to attraction to the Reds, who had a coverage in opposition to facial hair. The clean-cut picture paid off, touchdown him a two-year deal at $800,000 per yr — a pay reduce, going by the notion of his million-dollar standing. Remarkably, the crew that had let Rose, Morgan, and Tony Perez depart when their contracts expired had by no means signed a significant free agent earlier than. Whereas he solely improved barely in 1984, (104 OPS+, 1.0 WAR), his 94 RBI (up from 69 the yr earlier than) fed the notion of a stronger rebound, and the Reds inked him to a three-year, $3.325 million extension:
On the sphere, Parker’s 1985 was his greatest season after ’79 (34 homers, a league-high 125 RBI, .312/.365/.551 line, and 4.7 WAR); he made his fifth All-Star crew (and first since ’81), gained the primary All-Star Sport House Run Derby, and completed second behind Willie McGee within the NL MVP voting. Off the sphere was a nightmare, nonetheless. Known as to testify in the 1985 Pittsburgh drug trials, he admitted to having used cocaine as early as 1976 and “with consistency” from ’79 till late ’82, when he realized it had eroded his play. “I used to be going downhill,” he testified. Although he had been granted immunity from prosecution, he obtained a one-year suspension from commissioner Peter Ueberroth, waived on the situation that he undergo drug testing for the rest of his profession, carry out 200 hours of neighborhood service, and contribute 10% of his wage to applications to fight drug abuse. The Pirates filed swimsuit in an try and keep away from paying him his deferred wage as a result of his cocaine use “negatively affected his skill to carry out.” In 1988, the 2 sides reached settlement for “a considerable lump sum” as a substitute of deferred funds.
On reflection, Parker mentioned that his contract — which occurred in opposition to a backdrop of metal mill closures that had hit the Pittsburgh space onerous — was a burden. As he instructed The Undefeated, “Being the primary (to make 1,000,000 per yr) and being a black man didn’t make it that a lot simpler, and a few followers turning in opposition to me didn’t make me really feel too good. And making that sort of cash wasn’t a great match for no one concerned. The followers weren’t having it, and I wasn’t having it from my finish as properly.”
Fortunately, by the point he was in Cincinnati, Parker had put his troubles behind him and was capable of take pleasure in his elder statesman function whereas persevering with his profession. Although he hit 31 homers and drove in 116 runs whereas making one other All-Star crew in 1986, he declined from a 149 OPS+ to a 117, and went from +5 runs (by way of Whole Zone) to -17; his WAR plummeted to 0.3. Whereas he would attain 20 homers three extra instances and 90 RBI twice over his age 36-40 seasons — even making his seventh and last All-Star crew in 1990 with a 21-homer, 92-RBI season because the Brewers’ full-time DH — the really productive part of his profession was over. He did play for 2 pennant winners and one championship crew whereas serving because the A’s DH in 1988–89, homering 3 times within the latter postseason, and was valued as a clubhouse chief and mentor. Even so, his 92 homers and 400 RBI for the Reds (1987), A’s, Brewers, Angels and Blue Jays (each ’91) throughout this stretch amounted to a mixed OPS+ of 101 and a internet of -0.7 WAR, with a excessive of 1.1 for Milwaukee. He totaled 40.7 WAR for his profession, and ranks simply forty second in JAWS amongst proper fielders, forward of simply three of the 30 enshrined: Ross Youngs, Tommy McCarthy, and Harold Baines.
Upon retiring, Parker opened Popeye’s fried rooster franchises in Cincinnati along with his spouse Kellye and performed in an area 35-and-over baseball league (speak about a ringer!). He briefly went into teaching, serving as the primary base coach for the 1997 Angels below Terry Collins and the ’98 Cardinals below Tony La Russa, in addition to a particular hitting teacher for the Pirates.
Whereas the knee accidents that dated again to his highschool days shouldn’t be discounted, it’s not onerous to think about that had Parker steered away from cocaine and brought higher care of himself, he may properly have reached 3,000 hits and probably 400 homers, numbers that might have made him a straightforward alternative for the Corridor of Fame. As a substitute, even with the elevated visibility that got here along with his teaching jobs, BBWAA voters gave him a frosty reception. The idea that he’d squandered an excessive amount of of his appreciable expertise, or that his drug utilization was disqualifying, or that his persona was too outsized, could have factored for some writers, but it surely’s additionally true that the voters of the day had been exceptionally stingy. The 1997 BBWAA poll on which Parker debuted featured 10 future Corridor of Fame gamers, together with 300-game winners Phil Niekro and Don Sutton, Allen, Minnie Miñoso, and Ron Santo. Nonetheless, voters averaged simply 5.32 candidates per poll, the bottom mark in Corridor historical past to that time, with Parker receiving simply 17.5%; Niekro was elected on his fifth strive, longer than it had taken for any 300-game winner from the live-ball period to that time. The following yr, once more on a poll with 10 future Corridor of Famers (together with first-year candidates Carter and Bert Blyleven), Parker peaked at 24.5% whereas Sutton was elected on his fifth strive. After that, Parker topped 20% simply as soon as, and barely stayed in double digits in some years throughout his 15-year run; in the meantime, Rice, a recent with extra homers (382) however fewer hits and a much less well-rounded sport, was elected in 2009, his fifteenth yr on the poll.
Previous to 2025, Parker had struggled to make headway on a trio of Period Committee ballots that befell in opposition to the backdrop of his battle with Parkinson’s. On the 2014 Growth Period and 2018 Trendy Baseball ballots, he didn’t obtain sufficient help to have his precise vote complete introduced; usually, the Corridor lumps collectively the entire candidates beneath a sure (various) threshold as “receiving fewer than x” votes to keep away from embarrassing them (or their descendants) with the information of a shutout. He gained a little bit of momentum by way of the 2020 Trendy Baseball poll, receiving 43.8% of the vote, greater than Steve Garvey (37.5%) however lower than Dwight Evans (50%). With MLB Community’s sympathetic documentary The Cobra at Twilight, Jordan’s ebook, and annual fundraising for the Dave Parker 39 Basis serving to to lift Parker’s visibility and soften his picture, the celebs aligned final December. On a panel that included a pair of Corridor of Famers who had been former teammates (Perez from the Reds, Paul Molitor from the Brewers), in addition to the overall supervisor who acquired him for the A’s (Sandy Alderson), Parker obtained 14 out of 16 votes, with Allen, who had beforehand missed by a single vote twice, getting 13; each had been elected, however for the latter, who handed away in December 2021, the respect was posthumous.
Notably given the stark distinction to Allen’s destiny, it was a reduction to see Parker stay lengthy sufficient to be elected, and to see the expressions of pleasure each from him and from the followers who appreciated his iconic fashion and hard-won knowledge alongside along with his appreciable résumé. A committee could have elected Parker, however in the long run, he felt just like the folks’s alternative.
