Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates and other teams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Sadly, after waiting as long as he did, he died less than a month before the ceremony.
The Hall of Fame piece notes: “Parker played for the Pirates, Reds, Athletics, Brewers, Angels, and Blue Jays during 19 big league seasons. Born June 9, 1951, in Calhoun, Miss., Parker grew up in Cincinnati and was a youth sports star until a knee injury sidelined him during his senior year of high school. As a result, the 6-foot-5 Parker fell to the 14th round of the big league draft.
“The Pittsburgh Pirates took a chance on Parker there, and soon Parker was tearing up Pittsburgh’s minor league system. By 1975, Parker found his way into the Pirates’ starting outfield.”
The MLB obituary reads, in part: “His skill was as supreme as his style and swagger…. Few players have ever been as talented or entertaining as Dave Parker, the Hall of Fame outfielder nicknamed ‘The Cobra.’ Parker passed away on Saturday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 74.
“Parker’s decorated career included the 1978 National League MVP Award, two World Series championships a decade apart [the 1979 We Are Family Pirates and the 1989 Athletics], back-to-back NL batting titles, three Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, seven All-Star nods, the ’79 All-Star Game MVP Award, and MLB’s first Home Run Derby title in ‘85. The intimidating outfielder racked up 2,712 career hits with a .290 batting average, launched 339 homers, and drove in 1,493 runs from 1973-91.”
The mask
He had to overcome injury during his 1978 MVP season, which you can read about here.
“Parker was a trailblazer for his peers who drew the ire — as well as the frequent insults, assaults, and threats — of some fans. Before the 1979 season, he signed a five-year contract worth more than $5 million that made him the first professional baseball player to average $1 million per season… He was one of the first pro athletes to wear an earring. His poetic, bombastic quotes led teammates to call him the Muhammad Ali of baseball.”
“He was finally elected in late 2024, joining late slugger Dick Allen in the Class of 2025 through a vote from the Classic Baseball Era Committee. Parker needed at least 12 of 16 votes and got 14. When word came down, he told MLB Network, ‘I’ve been holding this speech in for 15 years.'”
He was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 27, in Cooperstown, N.Y.
This is Talk Like A Pirate Day. I wish Dave Parker could have spoken for himself, but his son, David Parker II, acquitted himself well.