By Donald Laible
Dave Parker not being able to accept his Hall of Fame plaque in person on July 27 in Cooperstown is tragic.
When David Gene Parker, 74, died on Saturday after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease, a generation of baseball fans lost a hero; a symbol of innocence of their youth, beginning in the 1970s. By the end of the 1991 MLB season, his last being split with the Toronto Blue Jays and California Angels, Parker called it quits. Known as “the Cobra” much of his playing career, Parker gave to the game like few had—in 2,466 games over 19 seasons with six clubs.
Cooperstown was calling. Five years after retirement, many believed that Parker would be voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America), if not a first-ballot candidate, then shortly after. Things didn’t work out as planned. All along Parker’s career numbers never changed. They are the same statistics that ultimately welcomed the Cincinnati, Ohio, native to 25 Main Street in Cooperstown this past December. When the Classic Baseball Era Committee took their vote, Parker received 87.5 percent of the vote; 14 of 16 members of the Committee gave a “thumbs up.”
Several of those voting for the Classic Baseball Era Committee were contemporaries of Parker. They shared the same fields. Some pitched against him. They knew how dominant a player the Cobra was during his prime.
Hall of Famers Lee Smith, Paul Molitor, Ozzie Smith, and Tony Perez, all members of the committee, had their votes counted. Thankfully, and finally, not only was Parker able to know that he finally reached the pinnacle of his MLB playing career, but that come this summer his family would be beside him on Induction Sunday on the grounds of Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.
With Parker’s passing away just weeks before the Hall of Fame’s biggest weekend of the year, there are many wondering what took his membership to MLB’s most exclusive club so long.
In 1997, five years after his retirement, Parker’s first opportunity to be eligible for Hall of Fame voting, he received 83 votes; 17.5 percent. Seventy-five percent is the threshold for enshrinement. In his 10th year of eligibility with BBWAA voting members, Parker scored 76 votes, 14.6 percent. In year 15, Parker’s final on the ballot, he received 89 votes in 2011, 15.3 percent.
Fast-forward to December 2024. Parker was welcomed in. What took so long for Parker to achieve permanent status in Cooperstown? Certainly, Parker’s being long overlooked by the writers and committees isn’t unique. He’s not the only player having to take a long wait to get the Hall of Fame nod (see Fred McGriff).
Parker’s numbers: 2,712 hits, 339 home runs, 1,493 RBIs are well above average of a big leaguer during his playing days. Add on being a seven-time all-star, two-time World Series champion, National League MVP, and twice National League batting champion, and Parker was among “the best of the best.”
Parker’s throwing arm was as strong and accurate in right field as any in the game during his career. When the Pittsburgh Pirates tragically lost their superstar outfielder Roberto Clemente in December 1972 in a plane crash, Parker stepped into right field and didn’t disappoint.
“You could count on him to be prepared to play everyday, even if Dave was hurt,” says Kent Tekulve, a 10-season teammate of Parker with the Pirates. “Dave never dodged hard pitchers, either. When Tom Seaver or Steve Carlton were going to be pitching against us, Dave knew that he was in for a tough day at the plate.”
The Pirates, a team that Parker played for 11 seasons, included him in their inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2022. In 2014, Parker entered the Cincinnati Reds’ Hall of Fame. The Reds were Parker’s hometown team that he suited up for four seasons.
A major contributor to the “We Are Family” championship Pirates of 1979, Parker played hard every game. He could run, hit with power, throw runners out with seemingly ease from the outfield, and Parker was never shy about “telling it like it is.”
To some, Parker was the Muhammad Ali of baseball. He walked and played to his own tune.
“Dave was the only guy in the lineup everyday that played at a high level,” Tekulve said.
It took much longer than most anticipated, but in the end, Parker secured his place in Cooperstown, New York.