Dave Parker: Best, Worst, Outliers, and Oddities

Issue #208

The two latest Baseball Hall of Famers are Dick Allen (1963-1977) and Dave Parker (1973-1991). On Sunday it was announced that of the eight candidates on the ballot of the Classic Baseball Era Committee, Dave Parker had gotten 14 out of 16 votes and Allen received 13 out of 16 votes (12 or more votes were needed). This committee considers players whose biggest playing accomplishments came prior to 1980. The other candidates this time around were Tommy John, Ken Boyer, Luis Tiant, Steve Garvey, and old-timer Negro Leagues players John Donaldson and Vic Harris.

I intend to look at Dick Allen’s career in a forthcoming article, but here I’ll focus on Dave “The Cobra” Parker. I was a bit surprised that Parker made it, as he didn’t really come close the three other times his name was included in such committee ballots in 2014, 2018, and 2020 (when he received 43.8% of the vote). On the BBWAA ballot from 1997-2011 his vote tallies ranged from 10.3% to a high of 24.5%.

That said, I’m not upset or against his inclusion. I’m a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, and Parker had many of his best years for the Pirates—specifically when I was first a baseball fan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While Willie Stargell, and then Bill Madlock and Kent Tekulve were my favorite Pirates players during those years, I have some Dave Parker memorabilia on my shelf too (including a classic Pirates cap with both his and Madlock’s autograph from a sports card show I went to many years ago.)

And if he was going to become a Hall of Famer, I’m glad it has happened while he is still alive and can appreciate it. My understanding is that he is not in good health, as he is 73 and has had Parkinson’s Disease for over 10 years—but I hope he can make it to inauguration weekend next summer.

As with some other players, I’ve done a little digging into Parker’s career numbers. So this is the latest installment in my series of player profiles titled “Best, Worst, Outliers, and Oddities.”

Standard Numbers and Accolades

Before I get to that more unique analysis, here are some of the standard numbers and accolades that reviews of Dave Parker’s playing career usually include:

• Parker is best known for his slugging at the plate and strong arm in right field. Offensively, his career slash line was .290/.339/.471 and he had a 121 OPS+. His most impressive counting stats include 2,712 hits, 339 HR, 526 doubles, 1,493 RBI, and 1,272 Runs.

• Defensively, Parker won three Gold Glove Awards in 1977-79, and had good range as right-fielder early in his career (though he did lead his league in RF errors seven times). His biggest strength was his arm, as he had 79 OF assists from 1976-1980, including an impressive high of 26 in 1977. His cannon was also famously on display in the 1979 All-Star game , where he gunned down Jim Rice at third base and Brian Downing at first base.

• Parker was an All-Star seven times, though interestingly not in his 1978 NL MVP season. That year he slashed a solid .316/.377/.536 with 13 HR and 12 SB during the first three months. An injury at the end of June led to poor performance in July, but then he caught fire and was the NL Player of the Month in both August and September, such that his second-half slash line was .351/.410/.632 with 17 HR and 70 RBI in 77 games. He ended the year with 30 HR, 102 Runs, 117 RBI, 20 SB, and an NL-leading .334 average.

• He had previously come in third in the NL MVP vote in both 1975, when he hit 25 HR with 101 RBI and a .308 average, and in 1977, when he first led the NL in batting with a .338 average and also paced the league with 215 hits and 44 doubles.

• Parker signed with the Reds as a free agent after the 1983 season, and in 1985 was runner-up in the NL MVP vote after leading the league with 42 doubles and 125 RBI to go with 34 HR and a .312 average.

• Parker had some speed on the bases early in his career, with 17-20 SB each year from 1976-1979.

• While Parker’s post-season statistics are not strong overall (.234/.287/.360), he did well in the critical 1979 post-season helping the Pirates take home the championship (he went 4-12 in the 3-game NLCS and then 10-29 with 3 doubles in the World Series.)

Parker’s career bWAR of 40.1 isn’t very impressive by Hall of Fame standards, and his JAWS of 38.8 ranks him only 42nd amongst primary RF. But according to baseball-reference.com his career looks a bit better by some other systems, such as Black Ink where his 26 score is 90th overall (average HOFer is around 27); Gray Ink is 145 which is 125th overall (average HOFer is around 144); and his HOF Monitor batting score is 125 which is 122nd overall (likely HOFer is around 100).

Looking at the list of “Similar Batters” at baseball-reference.com, four are in the Hall of Fame (Tony Pérez, Billy Williams, Harold Baines, and Andre Dawson) and six are not (Luis Gonzalez, Torii Hunter, Garret Anderson, Al Oliver, Chili Davis, and Rusty Staub). Those are all interesting comps for Parker, though I was a little surprised to not see Jim Rice in the top 10 most similar batters. Growing up watching these two sluggers, I of course saw differences, e.g., Parker was the better fielder and stole more bases. But look at this comparison (powered by Stathead):

It never made much sense to me that Rice got so much more support for the Hall of Fame. It took him 15 years on the BBWAA ballot, but his vote totals ranged from a low of 29.4% (higher than any of Parker’s) to his eventual election with 76.4% in 2009.

Yes, Rice’s slash line was better and he had 43 more HR in almost 400 fewer games played. But they played in almost the same number of All-Star games and both won their respective MVP awards in 1978. And Parker was part of two championship teams (and was very important for one of them), won three Gold Glove Awards, had nearly 100 more stolen bases, and won two league batting titles (Rice admittedly won three AL HR crowns vs. zero for Parker.)

Rice wasn’t particular well-loved by the press, so its not like that was in his favor with voters. I sometimes think some voters favor players who stayed with one team their entire careers—and it didn’t hurt that Rice’s one team was the Red Sox given their nation-wide fan base. Parker played for six clubs, including as a DH for the A’s, Brewers, Angels, and Blue Jays late in his career. I sometimes wonder if that sort of end-of-career is sometimes what some voters remember as much as a player’s greatness earlier on? And of course the elephant in the proverbial room here is Parker’s cocaine use and involvement in the Pittsburgh drug scandal of the 1980s—surely that was a factor for some voters, because otherwise I just don’t get the disparity in voting record between Rice and Parker.

The 2700/300/.290 Club

OK, so that isn’t really a thing: a 2700/300/.290 club. I’m making it up to see what kind of elite company Dave Parker would be in amongst players who have a career .290 batting average, 300+ HR, and 2,700+ hits. Here is the list, in order by career hits:

1. Henry Aaron 3771, 755, .305

2. Stan Musial 3630, 475, .331

3. Albert Pujols 3384, 703, .296

4. Willie Mays 3293, 660, .301

5. Miguel Cabrera 3174, 511, .306

6. George Brett 3154, 317, .305

7. Álex Rodríguez 3115, 696, .295

8. Al Kaline 3007, 399, .297

9. Frank Robinson 2943, 586, .294

10. Barry Bonds 2935, 762, .298

11. Rogers Hornsby 2930, 301, .358

12. Al Simmons 2927, 307, .334

13. Mel Ott 2876, 511, .304

14. Babe Ruth 2873, 714, .342

15. Iván Rodríguez 2844, 311, .296

16. Chipper Jones 2726, 468 .303

17. Lou Gehrig 2721, 493, .340

18. Dave Parker 2712, 339, .290

19. Billy Williams 2711, 426, .290

If you add 150+ SB into the club definition, then the membership shrinks to only eight: Aaron, Mays, Brett, A-Rod, Robinson, Bonds, Chipper… and Parker.

Splits

Many of Dave Parker’s career splits were not surprising to see:

• As a left-handed batter, he was more effective against RHP (.295/.350/.478) than LHP (.280/.314/.456)

• He hit better at home (.303/.350/.497) than on the road (.278/.329/.447).

• He hit pretty consistently between night and day games, and in the first half vs. second half of seasons.

Parker most often hit 3rd in the lineup, but frequently batted cleanup or 5th as well.

Best and Worst Team Opponents

Parker hit pretty consistently against most teams, with only a few standouts:

• He hit well against his hometown Reds (who he also played for from 1984-87), slashing .358/.401/.597 with 15 HR in 93 games.

• In a larger number of games, he also hit well against the Cubs (.329/.388/.517 in 200 games) and Cardinals (.314/.362/.510 in 190 games).

• Leaving aside AL opponents late in his career, the only team that Parker noticeably struggled against was the Dodgers against whom he slashed only .245/.287/.421 in 156 games.

Best and Worst Stadiums

Part of why Parker did so poorly against the Dodgers is that he hit particularly badly at Dodger Stadium: .225/.285/.355 with 10 HR in 79 games.

During his prime, playing at home in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium, Parker slugged to the tune of .325/.370/.540.

Best and Worst Pitching Opponents

Over Parker’s long career, he batted the most often against Steve Rogers, Steve Carlton, Rick Reuschel, Bob Forsch, Bob Knepper, and Phil Niekro. He hit below .270 against Rogers, Carlton, Knepper, and Niekro, but hit .333 in 105 AB against Reuschel and .347 in 95 AB against Forsch.

Here are some pitchers that Parker did particularly well against (40 or more PA):

• Andy Hawkins: 55 PA, 6 HR, .314/.364/.745

• Ray Burris: 64 PA, 5 HR, .333/.406/.684

• Eric Show: 59 PA, 5 HR, .362/.492/.681

• Fred Norman: 53 PA, 3 HR, .392/.415/.765

• David Palmer: 49 PA, 3 HR, .370/.408/.587

• Dave LaPoint: 48 PA, 3 HR, .395/.417/.628

• John Curtis: 41 PA, 3 HR, .389/.463/.750

On the other hand, the pitchers who he rarely won the battle against include (40+ PA):

• Ed Whitson: 48 PA, 2 HR, .140/.208/.279

• Kevin Gross: 42 PA, 0 HR, .158/.238/.237

• Orel Hershiser: 49 PA, 0 HR, .171/.265/.195

• Danny Cox: 40 PA, 1 HR, .184/.200/.263

• Woodie Fryman: 46 PA, 0 HR, .186/.239/.256

• Burt Hooton: 62 PA, 0 HR, .186/.226/.254

• Jim Barr: 42 PA, 1 HR, .189/.286/.324

Oddities

• Parker was still going strong in his age-39 season, his second to last, when as a DH for the Brewers he was selected as an All-Star and ended the year with 21 HR, 92 RBI, and a 118 OPS+.

• Per Wikipedia, Parker was the second professional athlete to earn an average of $1 million per year, having signed a five-year, $5 million contract in January 1979.

• Although the event was not the televised, major spectacle it is today, Dave Parker won the first HR Derby in 1985.

• Although he grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dave Parker was actually born in Grenada, Mississippi. He was a big man (6’5”), and according to one bio he was big from the beginning, weighing 11 pounds 14 ounces when he was born on June 9, 1951.

• As I showed in my All-Time Mississippi Dream Team article, Parker is arguably the second-best player born in that state, behind only Negro Leagues superstar Cool Papa Bell. (If you instead create such teams based on where the players grew up, Parker would be the starting RF for an all-time Ohio team as well, edging out other candidates such as Elmer Flick, Tommy Henrich, and Paul O’Neil.)

• Similarly, I ranked Parker as the greatest RF born in the month of June, ahead of other solid candidates such as Ken Singleton and Babe Herman.

Quotations

Here are a couple of good quotes I found about Dave Parker:

• "Until I joined [the Pirates] I'd never realized how big Dave Parker was. I'd put him up against the French Army." - Phil Garner

• “If you feel down, sorry for yourself, he gets the spark going in you. Dave’s found that picking on someone makes guys rally round, laugh. Suddenly, they’re ready. It’s group therapy.” - Phil Garner

• “There isn’t a player alive who plays the game the way Dave Parker does. Every game is the seventh game of the World Series to him. There isn’t a player alive who can do the things on the field that Parker can do. None.” - Chuck Tanner in 1978

Then here are some interesting quotes attributed to Dave Parker himself:

• "When the leaves turn brown, I'll be wearing the batting crown." - Dave Parker in mid-season 1978

• “I'm just a guy that grew up in a total fun-loving environment. I try to create that everywhere I go. Basically what I'm doing is a reflection of me as an individual, me naturally. I'm not staging or putting on anything. I think my approach to the game is an all-out approach, whatever it takes to win. I've always been that way.”

• “September is pantyhose month. No nonsense.”

• “If you hear any noise, it’s just me and the boys boppin.”

• From the SABR BioProject write-up: Both of Parker’s parents were athletic. “My mother had a cannon for an arm,” Parker said. “My dad never got to play organized ball. But he’d crush that ball. And he could run like a scalded rabbit. He beat me in a footrace one day after work – in his workboots, carrying his lunch bucket.”

• Also from the SABR BioProject write-up: “Football was my first love,” Parker confessed. “I loved it because it’s a contact game. I liked to run over people.”

For many other interesting quotes by and about Dave Parker, see the write-up at the SABR BioProject.

For More Information

See also these pages, articles, and books:

• Dave Parker page at Wikipedia

• Dave Parker overview page at Baseball-Reference.com

• Dave Parker bio page at B-R Bullpen

• Dave Parker bio at the SABR Bio Project

• 2013 Article at FanGraphs: “Dave Parker Was, and Is, The Man”

• Some recent articles about Parker and Allen getting into the Hall of Fame:

  • Joe Posnanski at JoeBlogs: A Classic Case of Timing

  • SI.com: Though Long Overdue, Dick Allen and Dave Parker Fittingly Enter Hall of Fame Together

  • The Athletic: Dick Allen and Dave Parker, Hall of Famers at long last: What we learned from their election

All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.

Did you know? I wrote a book with the same title as this Substack newsletter / blog: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises. It was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports, the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook and other popular titles. You can learn more about it at www.NowTakingTheField.com, or buy directly at Amazon and other booksellers.