The Cobra!
Don Mattingly is the one and only Major League Baseball player who picked up more runs batted in from 1984 through 1987 than Dave Parker, the latter of whom doing so entirely as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. Parker, previously an MVP with the Pittsburgh Pirates in a mostly remarkable 11-year stint with the black and yellow, came to the Reds after his career along the three rivers had mostly fizzled, an over-30 former superstar who was looking to resurrect his career.
RBI is obviously a stat we now consider team-oriented rather than player-produced, but that certainly wasn’t the case in The Cobra’s prime - and in his prime, when said attribute was considered a vital cog to any individual’s offensive profile, he produced like few others.
Parker’s 1985 season with the Reds featured him leading the National League in ribbies (125) as well as doubles (42), total bases (350), and intentional walks (24), an indication that his previous prowess as a bat to avoid in the middle of any lineup had returned in full at age 34. He eventually finished 2nd in the NL MVP voting - he’d finish 5th the following year in yet another hundred-plus ribbie season - and lengthened his career accomplishments in a second volume that led many to assume he’d end up in Cooperstown eventually.
Despite 339 career homers, 1493 ribbies, an MVP and a runner up finish, and over 2700 hits, that day failed to materialize after his retirement following the 1991 season. Abysmal defensive ratings helped suppress his overall Wins Above Replacement tallies by both Baseball Reference (40.1) and FanGraphs (41.1), and after falling off the Hall of Fame ballot in 2011 after garnering votes on just 15.3% of the ballots it looked more and more like he’d not ever see his name enshrined.
The Veterans Committee even seemed to deem that inevitable, thrice having the option to enshrine him (in 2014, 2018, and 2020) and failing to do so.
However...
The Classic Era Baseball Committee got their chance to consider Parker’s resume this time around, and finally opted to put The Cobra in Cooperstown for good. As Mark Sheldon of MLB.com relayed on Bluesky, Parker - along with the incredibly deserving Dick Allen - are now officially Hall of Famers.
The Classic Baseball Era committee vote is in. Cincinnati’s Dave Parker is finally a Hall of Famer. Parker, a former Reds and Pirates star, was elected along with Dick Allen. Induction is on July 27 in Cooperstown.
— Mark Sheldon (@msheldon.bsky.social) 2024-12-09T00:35:53.102Z
It’s a crying shame that Allen did not live long enough to see himself enshrined, as he was clearly deserving for decades after being one of the most feared hitters in the history of the game for over a decade. Thankfully Parker - who has been battling Parkinson’s disease for years and is now 73 - gets the nod while he’s still around to finally feel appreciated for his career accomplishments.
Congratulations to the Parker, who not only excelled in his tenure with Cincinnati but also begat Jose Rijo to the club, as the two were traded for one another (along with Tim Birtsas) in a December 1987 deal that transformed both franchises forever.
