Dave Parker, the two-time World Series winner and two-time batting champion whose dangerous exploits at the plate earned him the nickname Cobra, died Saturday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, just one month before he was to be inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Parker, 74, was an imposing left-handed hitting threat on two power-packed championship teams, the 1979 “We Are Family” Pirates and the 1989 “Bash Brothers” Oakland Athletics. He hit 339 home runs and won National League batting titles in 1977 (.338) and 1978 (.334) for the Pirates.
Parker never earned more than 24.5% support in 15 years of Hall of Fame voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, well short of the 75% required. But he was named on 14 of 16 ballots in December voting by the Classic Baseball Era Committee and will be elected alongside fellow Pennsylvania legend Dick Allen next month.
But neither will be around to see it. Parker was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013 and his prominence in the public eye diminished in the decade-plus since.
“I’m a battler,” Parker said in 2018.
That was evidenced in his climb to the Hall of Fame, and while he won’t be there for the induction, he was able to celebrate last December, when his election was announced.
“I’ve been holding this speech in for 15 years,” Parker told MLB Network that night.
Parker left such an impact that he’s a member of both the Pirates’ and Cincinnati Reds’ halls of fame. He was the 1978 NL MVP, when he led the majors in both batting average (.334) and OPS (.979), slammed 30 homers and earned an NL-best 7.0 WAR.
One year later, Parker banged out 193 hits and 20 home runs and, alongside Willie “Pops” Stargell, helped lead the Pirates to their first World Series title since 1960. Parker had a dominant postseason performance, getting four hits in 12 at-bats in an NL Championship Series sweep of the Reds, and was 10-for-29 (.345) and drove in four runs in the Pirates epic seven-game triumph over the Baltimore Orioles.
Parker left Pittsburgh for Cincinnati after the 1983 season but was still in his prime. He led the NL with 42 doubles and 125 RBIs in 1985 and earned All-Star nods in two of his four seasons with Cincinnati.
In 1989, he was the oldest player on a brash, power-hitting Oakland A’s team that featured beefed-up sluggers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire and Hall of Fame leadoff man Rickey Henderson. Parker hit 22 homers as the A’s primary DH as he added a second championship to his portfolio. He made his seventh and final All-Star team one year later with Milwaukee.
‘Dave Parker was a gifted all-around player whose numerous accomplishments led to his upcoming induction in Cooperstown this summer,’ MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. ‘He was a World Series Champion with the 1979 Pirates and the 1989 Athletics, a beloved All-Star Red in his hometown of Cincinnati, and an All-Star in Milwaukee. Dave was also a three-time Gold Glover on the strength of his famous arm, a two-time batting champion, and the winner of the inaugural Home Run Derby in 1985.’All of us throughout the game are deeply saddened by this loss. We will remember the Cobra forever, especially as his name soon officially joins the legends of our national pastime.’
In 2019, Parker was the subject of a 90-minute documentary produced by MLB Network, “The Cobra at Twilight,” which did not glaze over any of his career.
In 1985, Parker was called to testify before a grand jury in a trial that resulted in the conviction of six Pittsburgh men and a Philadelphia Phillies clubhouse worker on 11 counts of distributing cocaine.
Parker acknowledged he battled addiction from 1979 to 1982 and used that experience to mentor young players to avoid mistakes he made earlier in his career.
“The thing that resonated with me more than anything was that he did not want me to drift into some of the things off the field that he did,” Eric Davis, the Reds’ All-Star outfielder and Parker teammate, recalled in the documentary.
Yet Parker was a trailblazer in so many other ways. He was just the second ballplayer to earn at least $1 million a season when he signed a five-year, $5 million contract with the Pirates, with a sartorial style that arguably captured the late ’70s ethos better than anyone.
He returned to his native Cincinnati after that contract expired and became a beloved Red, even as the franchise failed to recapture the glory of the Big Red Machine years featuring another native son, Pete Rose.
Eventually, Parker’s body of work was recognized by the Hall of Fame, setting the stage for an emotional celebration of life and career next month in Cooperstown.
“We join the baseball family in remembering Dave Parker. His legacy will be one of courage and leadership, matched only by his outstanding accomplishments on the field,” says Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the Baseball Hall of Fame. “His election to the Hall of Fame in December brought great joy to him, his family and all the fans who marveled at his remarkable abilities.
“We will honor his incredible life and career at next month’s induction ceremony in Cooperstown, where his legacy will be remembered forever.”
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