Farewell to the Cobra

Every once in a while I’ll switch gears and write about baseball, my favorite sport growing up. This is one of those times.

I was deeply saddened to learn Dave Parker, aka “the Cobra,” passed away last Saturday following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 74.

Along with my boyhood idol, Willie Stargell, Parker was a symbol of Pirates’ might during the team’s heyday in the 1970s. At 6’5” and 230 pounds, he was a veritable blacksmith on the ball field. In fact, for a time he warmed up by swinging a sledgehammer in the batter’s box.

Talk about intimidating. His bat, which generally weighed 34 to 36 ounces, looked like a toothpick in his hands.

After failed attempts to replace Bucco legend Roberto Clemente with converted catcher Manny Sanguillen and heavy-footed slugger Richie Zisk, Parker took over full-time in right field in 1975 after two seasons as a reserve. He promptly slammed 35 doubles, 10 triples and 25 home runs while driving in 101 runs and batting .308, huge numbers in the pre-steroid era. For good measure, he led the National League in slugging.

From ’75 through ’80, Parker averaged 22 homers and 95 RBIs a year to go with a sizzling .317 batting average, including back-to-back National League batting titles in ’77 and ‘78.

Blessed with a cannon for an arm, he famously gunned down two runners during the ’79 All-Star game. Run, hit, field, throw, there was nothing Parker couldn’t do.

Man, how I loved those Lumber Company teams of the mid-70s. Talk about a murder’s row! Sanguillen, Rennie Stennett, Richie Hebner, Al Oliver, Zisk, Stargell and Parker, and with sluggers Bob Robertson, Bill Robinson and later John “the Hammer” Milner coming off the bench.

Batting third in the order in front of his good friend, Stargell, Parker was a larger than life character in the clubhouse as well as on the field. After Phil Garner was acquired from Oakland, he and the Baptist preacher’s son engaged in a good-natured, running feud that kept the team loose.

At his peak in 1978, Parker was a sight to behold. Then, on his way to an MVP season, he barreled into Mets catcher John “Bad Dude” Stearns on a play at the plate and suffered a fractured jaw and cheekbone.

Returning to action, first with a hockey goalie mask and later a football face guard attached to his helmet for protection, the Cobra barely missed a beat. He hammered 30 homers, drove in 117 runs, and batted a league-best .334. For good measure he topped the circuit in slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases. A Herculean achievement considering the severity of his injuries. 

Fully healed in 1979, he slammed another 25 homers, batted .310 and was a driving force behind the Buccos’ “We Are Fam-a-lee” World Series title.

Then came a record million-dollar contract, injuries, weight gain, drug use and an inglorious fall from grace. Begetting a mid-career slide that no doubt prevented him from reaching 3000 career hits (he finished with 2712) and making him a lightning rod of discontent among Pirates fans.

Returning to Cincinnati in 1984 where he was a high school phenom, the Cobra resurrected his career and reputation with several big seasons, including a monster ’85 campaign (42 doubles, 34 homers, 125 RBIs and a .312 average).

Parker went on to win a second World Series as a member of the Oakland As in 1989. The following season, at the ripe old age of 39, he was still potent enough to blast 21 homers, drive in 92 runs and bat .289 for the Brewers while once again earning All-Star honors.

Thankfully, Dave lived long enough to learn he’d been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as well as the Pirates Hall of Fame.

I’ll close with a quote that stuck with me all these years. Forgive me ahead of time if it’s in somewhat poor taste, but I think it does the Cobra honor.

During Dave’s peak years in the ‘70s, a rival player was asked who he considered the best player in baseball, Parker or Reds slugger George Foster.

After giving the question some thought, the player replied, “Parker, because he hits like a (rhymes with brother trucker).”

Rest in peace, Cobra. And thanks for the memories.