Dave Parker, the longtime Pittsburgh Pirates proper fielder who stepped into the daunting function of changing baseball legend Roberto Clemente after his tragic loss of life in 1972, died on June 28 on the age of 74 following an extended battle with Parkinson’s illness.
Parker, who will enter the Corridor of Fame in July after being chosen to enter in December 2024, completed his profession simply shy of reaching 3,000 hits, typically the benchmark for a participant to enter Baseball’s Corridor of Fame, however his different bullet factors on the resume, like a Nationwide League MVP Award, two batting titles, and three gold gloves are spectacular. As a footnote, Parker was the inaugural winner of the Residence Run Derby in 1985, the Derby has since develop into a centerpiece of baseball’s All Star Sport festivities.
Based on a press launch from Main League Baseball, Parker’s profession numbers are strong; he compiled 2,712 hits throughout his profession, batting .290 whereas hitting 339 house runs and producing 1,493 runs throughout 19 seasons from 1973-1991. He additionally received two World Collection, a decade aside, and was a key a part of the Willie “Pops” Stargell led “We Are Household” model of the Pittsburgh Pirates, arguably their most profitable incarnation.
“Dave Parker was a gifted all-around participant whose quite a few accomplishments led to his upcoming induction in Cooperstown this summer season,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned within the press launch. “He was a World Collection Champion with the 1979 Pirates and the 1989 Athletics, a beloved All-Star Pink in his hometown of Cincinnati, and an All-Star in Milwaukee. Dave was additionally a three-time Gold Glover on the power of his well-known arm, a two-time batting champion, and the winner of the inaugural Residence Run Derby in 1985. All of us all through the sport are deeply saddened by this loss. We’ll keep in mind the Cobra ceaselessly, particularly as his identify quickly formally joins the legends of our Nationwide Pastime. On behalf of Main League Baseball, I prolong my sympathy to Dave’s household and his followers throughout the sport.”
Though Parker was given the unenviable job of changing Clemente, a person whose legend is close to that of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson when it comes to his impression off the sector, he did an admirable job, and as Omar Moreno, a teammate of Parker’s in Pittsburgh, instructed The Athletic, he was not less than similar to the play of Clemente, no simple feat.
“He jogged my memory of Clemente,” Moreno instructed the outlet.
Parker, a brash, assured participant, was typically in comparison with Muhammad Ali for his quotes typically given in couplet kind, like “When the leaves flip brown, I’ll be sporting the batting crown,” Parker additionally carries the excellence of being the primary participant to earn a $1 million wage, and was one of many first skilled athletes to put on an earring in his ear, now a typical sight.
Based on The Athletic, Parker additionally acknowledged the 1985 drug trial alleging that he was a part of a cocaine ring that was lively within the clubhouse at Three Rivers Stadium, the previous house of the Pirates franchise. Within the trial, Parker was mentioned to be a “common person” of the drug, and he and different gamers caught up within the scandal obtained a one-year suspension from the MLB that was later transformed into fines.
“I’m fairly glad with my profession,” Parker mentioned in 2019. “I made one mistake, which was the 1985 (drug) trial. That’s the one mark towards me. However even with all that occurring, I performed exhausting and at a excessive stage below all that stress.”
That was thought of to be a slight towards Parker, with many within the baseball world believing that it was what had saved him from getting the decision to Cooperstown from the Baseball Writers Affiliation of America, whose poll he spent the utmost of 15 years on, earlier than being moved to the Fashionable Baseball Period poll the place alongside Dick Allen, he obtained the required votes to get in.
“We be part of the baseball household in remembering Dave Parker,” Corridor of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark mentioned in a press launch. “His legacy might be one in every of braveness and management, matched solely by his excellent accomplishments on the sector. His election to the Corridor of Fame in December introduced nice pleasure to him, his household and all of the followers who marveled at his outstanding skills. We’ll honor his unimaginable life and profession at subsequent month’s Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, the place his legacy might be remembered ceaselessly.”
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