Remembering 2025’s Losses: Dave Parker

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You’ve had enough of a reprieve from baseball, so it’s back to the grand old game! These, of course, are not the only baseball players who died last year, just the ones that meant something to me. Hang on, there’s more baseball later! Meanwhile, here’s another one to remember. Dave Parker They called him “the Cobra,” because he was always ready to strike. Dave Parker went into Cooperstown as a Pirate, and that’s where his biggest success was; however, it was hardly the ONLY success Parker had. Parker was a two-time World Series champion, ten years apart. He was part of the “We Are Family” Pirates championship team in 1979; then, ten years later, he was a member of the Oakland A’s during the infamous “earthquake” series (where game 3’s coverage on ABC ended up carrying the Loma Prieta earthquake live). He was only a Cincinnati Red for four seasons, but he was still knocking ‘em out of the park. Parker’s career home run record of 339 sounds a little wimpy in this era of 500-home run people, but there were two things about his homers: they were honest, not steroid-assisted; and, they often came at the right time to help a team win. Defense is rarely mentioned because, as that commercial once said, “chicks dig the long ball;” however, Parker had three Gold Glove awards for his play in right field. Parker was crippled with Parkinson’s disease when the phone call came from Cooperstown last January, informing him that he was part of the Class of 2025. Sadly, the disease took Parker’s life a month before the official induction ceremony. Anyone who saw Dave Parker play remembers what a great offense and defense player he was. Dave Parker Born David Gene Parker, June 9, 1951, Grenada, Mississippi Died June 28, 2025, Cincinnati, Ohio (Parkinson’s disease) (age 74) HALLS OF FAME: National Baseball, 2025; Cincinnati Reds, 2014 A Cincinnati TV station story about Parker being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: