To Absent Friends - Dave Parker

 

One of the Pittsburgh Pirates All-Time Greats, Dave Parker, died this past weekend at the age of 74.  In a sad twist, Parker's death came one month before he was to be officially inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  In poor health for many years, at least Parker knew that he had finally made it to the Hall, even if he never got the chance to see his plaque hang in that Gallery in Cooperstown.

Here are the numbers.  In a 19 year career, Parker was a league MVP, a three time Gold Glove winner, two time batting champion, two time World Series champion, and seven time All-Star.  He hit .290 lifetime, with 2,712 hits, 339 home runs, and 1,493 RBI (.290/22 HR/98 RBI per 162 games).   In his eleven seasons with the Pirates from 1973-83, this numbers were .305, 166 HR and 758 RBI (.305/22 HR/94 RBI per 162 games).  

Those are the numbers, but you would have had to have actually seen Dave Parker when he first arrived in the big leagues to truly understand his impact.  He was big, 6'5", 230 pounds when ballplayers just weren't that big.  He was "Aaron Judge" before Aaron Judge was even born.  He was strong and fast.  A true five tool player.  

He was also brash and colorful, said what was on his mind, and humility was not his strong suit, as exemplified by this famous picture.  Oh, and by the way, this t-shirt can still be purchased at select retailers in the Pittsburgh area.

No one will say it out loud today, but Parker's personality was such that he was not always popular among the Pittsburgh fan base, and said fan base did not take kindly to the fact that Bucco management rewarded Parker with a five year, $5 million contract, making him baseball's first Million Dollar A Year player  (times were different back than).  Undoubtedly, racism played a part in the negative backlash that resulted whenever it was perceived that Parker was slacking or not putting out his best efforts.  No one will admit to that today, but, trust me, that was real.

Dave Parker eventually went the free agent route and signed with his hometown Cincinnati Reds, where he stayed for four years, and then spent five more seasons splitting time among the A's, Angels, Brewers, and Blue Jays.  

Parker also was a central figure in the "Pittsburgh Baseball Drug Trials" of the mid-1980's, and that further eroded his popularity among the Pittsburgh fan base,  However, sometime in the early part of the 21st century, the Pirates welcomed Parker back into the family, and he became a frequent visitor to PNC Park and team reunions and other Pirate Alumni events.  This was also at a time when Parker was diagnosed as having Parkinson's Disease, and his demeanor in the face of the disease as well as his efforts to raise funds for research were seen as heroic.

Dave Parker was the best player in baseball for an extended period of time in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and, all due respect to Willie Stargell, he was the best player on the Pirates World Series Champion team of 1979.  In the two days since his death, I have pondered the question "Have the Pirates had a better player than Dave Parker since he left the team in 1983?"  I suppose that you might be able to make a strong case for Andrew McCutchen, but if you had a choice who would you take for your team: an In-His-Prime-Parker of an In-His-Prime-McCutchen?  I love Cutch, but I'll take Dave Parker.

Dave Parker becomes the twelfth member of the 1979 We Are Fam-a-lee Pirates to die.  Fourteen members of the 1979 World Series roster remain with us.

	1979
Pitchers	Jim Bibby
	Bert Blyleven
	John Candelaria
	Grant Jackson
	Bruce Kison
	Dave Roberts
	Don Robinson
	Enrique Romo
	Jim Rooker
	Kent Tekulve
Catchers	Steve Nicosia
	Ed Ott
	Manny Sanguillen
Infielders	Tim Foli
	Phil Garner
	Bill Madlock
	Willie Stargell
	Rennie Stennett
Outfielders	Matt Alexander
	Omar Moreno
	Mike Easler
	Lee Lacy
	John Milner
	Dave Parker
	Bill Robinson
Manager	Chuck Tanner
	Deceased	12
	Still With Us	14

RIP Dave Parker.