Dave Parker- Hall of Fame Worthy?

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first when discussing former Pittsburgh Pirates baseball star Dave Parker, who played from 1973 through 1991. Dave Parker had a cocaine problem, one so bad that it is probably keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. He is one of a handful of players that in the mid-Eighties came under the scrutiny of the commissioner’s office during the trial of a drug dealer, when prosecution witnesses told of widespread use of cocaine by Major League Baseball players. Dave Parker, along with the likes of the Mets’ Keith Hernandez and the Astros’ Enos Cabell, were fined ten percent of their annual salary by baseball and given career long drug tests. Vilified in Pittsburgh, where Dave Parker had emerged as a star, he began a journey that would take him to several other teams before he was done playing. The cloud that hung over his head, by his own doing for sure, still should not cost Dave Parker a chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, because he was a great player.

Dave Parker was born in Calhoun, Mississippi in 1951. He came to the Pirates in 1973, having been a 14th round pick by Pittsburgh in the amateur draft of 1970. At the age of 22, Dave Parker hit .282 in 1973 in limited action, and .288 the next year in 220 at bats. By 1975, Dave Parker was the starting right fielder for the Pirates, the next Roberto Clemente, at least that is what the Pirates were hoping for. Of course Clemente’s shoes could never be filled, but Dave Parker did a heck of an impression of the Hall of Famer for close to five full seasons in the Steel City.

In 1975, Dave Parker had his first big year, hitting .308 with 25 homers and 108 RBI. He followed that up with a .313 season in 1976, gaining a reputation as a line drive hitter. Batting from an exaggerated crouch, Dave Parker soon was given the nickname of “the Cobra”, because of how he sprang from his stance and attacked the pitch. Possessing an arm almost the equal of the great Clemente, Dave Parker racked up outfield assists; during one five year span he collected 79 of them. He won three consecutive Gold Gloves in the late Seventies as an outfielder, and in 1977, Dave Parker took the first of a pair of batting titles with his .338 average. His teammate, Rennie Stennet, was leading the batting chase, but an August 21st slide into second produced a broken leg for Stennet, and he fell 12 plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting championship when he missed the remainder of the season.

Midway through the 1978 season, Dave Parker responded to questions of if his batting title could be repeated with this quote. “When the leaves turn brown, Parker will wear the batting crown.” Dave Parker knew what he was talking about, as he responded with a league leading .334 average. He added 30 homers and 117 runs batted in, and was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player after the season ended.

The Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series in 1979, with Dave Parker having a big hand in things. He hit .310 during the year along with 94 RBI, and then batted .333 in a three game sweep of the Reds in the National League Championship Series. The Pirates came back from a three games to one deficit to defeat the Orioles in the Series, with Dave Parker collecting 10 hits in 29 at bats. But it was what happened at the All-Star game in July that brought Dave Parker some well deserved recognition. Playing in the Kingdome in Seattle, Dave Parker picked up a ball that he and Joe Morgan had lost against the Kingdome’s tiled ceiling and gunned out Boston slugger Jim Rice trying to turn it into a triple. An inning later, in the bottom of the eighth, Dave Parker charged a single by the Yankees’ Graig Nettles and threw a strike to the plate to nail California’s Brian Downing trying to score to preserve a 6-6- tie. Philadelphia shortstop Larry Bowa marveled, “I never saw a throw like that. It was unbelievable. The ball was waist-high the whole way.” When the National League won the game, Dave Parker was named the game’s MVP on the strength of his two throws.

1980 would be Dave Parker’s last good year in Pittsburgh as the combination of his drug problems, increased weight, and injuries limited his playing time and effectiveness. Now a target of irate Pirates’ fans, Dave Parker was often booed and jeered, and he was finally left as an unsigned free agent after 1983. Dave Parker signed with Cincinnati in 1984 and immediately returned to his old form at the plate. During his four year stay with the Red Legs, Dave Parker knocked in 94, 125, 116, and 97 runs. He was traded to the A’s in December of 1987, where he helped Oakland to the World Series both years. He had his best season as an Athletic in 1989, when Dave Parker batted .264, with 22 homers and 94 men batted in. The A’s then sent him to the Brewers, where Dave Parker would have his last solid season at the age of 39, knocking in 92 runs. He played one more year, splitting time between the Angels and Blue Jays. Dave Parker retired at the age of 40 in 1991.

Is Dave Parker Hall of Fame worthy? Let’s look at his numbers and you can be the judge. Dave Parker played 19 seasons and accumulated 2,712 hits. He hit .290 lifetime, and Dave Parker belted 339 home runs and collected 1,493 runs batted in. Early in his career, Dave Parker was a stolen base threat; over his career he stole over 150 bases. Dave Parker had a slugging percentage of .471, and struck out over 1,500 times, compared to 683 walks. Dave Parker won an MVP Award, 2 batting titles, 3 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers, and led his league in slugging percentage twice, doubles twice, total bases three times, RBI once, and extra base hits on two occasions.

For several seasons, Dave Parker was probably the best player in baseball. His dependency on drugs robbed him of much of his ability for a span of years, but he was able to rebound from that with some of his strongest seasons. Who knows how many more hits Dave parker could have produced during the time that cocaine had its hold on him? Dave Parker had 90 or more RBI in a season ten times, and hit over .300 six times. There are several players in the Hall of Fame with lesser stats than Dave Parker, and if it is his drug problem that is keeping him out, then that would be a shame. My guess is that if those who voted for induction were given Dave Parker’s stats and not told who they belonged to, he would be on his way to Cooperstown.