The Pirate of Expanse
“Cobra” Dave Parker is the next entrant into the v26 Club. His ledger journey is prototypical in the the less exciting way – most of his ledgers, especially the early ones, came at a time that didn’t overlap with his most famous (or infamous) escapades.
A Rollicking Band of Pirates We
Parker debuted with the Pirates in 1973 at the tender age of 22 after a rapid rise through the minor leagues. He was used rather sparingly, mostly against right-handed pitchers. Over the course of 54 games he hit four home runs, three being ledgers.
LEDGER ONE: July 22, 1973 (Game 1) vs San Diego Padres
LEDGER TWO: August 4, 1973 (Game 2) at Philadelphia Phillies
LEDGER THREE: September 4, 1973 vs St. Louis Cardinals
The third ledger was belted off Mike Nagy, a pitcher in the twilight of his rather short career. He would only allow five more home runs in his career after this one. Including…
LEDGER FOUR: May 8, 1974 at Houston Astros
This would make the first instance of a v-Club member hitting consecutive ledgers off the same pitcher, and I have a hunch it will be the only one1. Back to Parker, his 1974 season was a slightly expanded version of 1973, a few more games, a few more hits, but still four home runs, including the aforementioned ledger plus two more.
LEDGER FIVE: August 4, 1974 (Game 2) vs Chicago Cubs
LEDGER SIX: September 8, 1974 vs Montreal Expos
For the 1975 season Parker was moved out of his platoon role and he instantly expanded his stats to the tune of an MVP-caliber season which featured 25 home runs and 101 RBI. He collected his final needed National League ledgers before the All-Star break.
LEDGER SEVEN: May 9, 1975 vs Los Angeles Dodgers
LEDGER EIGHT: May 19, 1975 at San Francisco Giants
LEDGER NINE: June 3, 1975 vs Cincinnati Reds
LEDGER TEN: June 15, 1975 at Atlanta Braves
LEDGER ELEVEN: June 21, 1975 at New York Mets
At this point of his career, with the ledgers maxed out, Parker’s career peaks and valleys started to roll in. Like previous v-Club inductees, Parker had the markings of a trouble-maker, instigator, and certainly displayed an out-sized personality. But his antics were confined to the clubhouse and viewed by his teammates as more as motivation than altercation.
For the five seasons between 1975-1979, Parker was a top player in the National League. In different seasons he led the league in hits, doubles, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS+, total bases, sacrifice flies, and even intentional walks. Over the period he hit .321 and averaged 23 home runs and just under 100 RBI per season. He was winning Gold Gloves for his defense. He garnered MVP votes every year, including a win in 1978.2 The Cobra commanded the Pirates to a 1979 World Series championship.3
After his MVP win Parker sought to expand his wallet. Early on it was rumored Parker was seeking a cool million per year, which today sounds quaint, but at the time would have been the largest contract ever in baseball. He ended up getting that contract with most of the money to be deferred for nearly ten seasons. His 1979 season was by all accounts, really, really good – more MVP votes, another Gold Glove, a .310/.380/.526 slash line. However, as we saw with Rusty Staub, a nearly immediate sense of buyer’s remorse set in. Fans in Pittsburgh took the opinion that a man being payed a million dollars to play baseball shouldn’t just hit .310 and hit 25 home runs. Their expectations required more performance for the money. The expanding expectations wore on Parker.
The rest of his time in Pittsburgh was strained to say the least. Parker found himself injured often. Fans were ruthless to the point where they chucked batteries at him. He had legal troubles. He had drug troubles. He had weight troubles (perhaps because of and contributing to many of the other maladies).4
Parker was a free agent after the 1983 season and was selected by a familiar team in the re-entry draft.
When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold
Parker was born in Grenada, Mississippi but had grown up in Cincinnati. As we’ve seen a few times before, a change of scenery, especially if it takes you home, often injects life into a player. Parker’s return to Cincinnati with the Reds provided new life. His career surged with more MVP-caliber seasons and big home run and RBI totals. For our purposes, we only care about one of those home runs.
LEDGER TWELVE: May 17, 1985 at Pittsburgh Pirates
His twelfth ledger came 3,618 days after his eleventh which up to this point is the longest elapsed time between any two ledgers from the same player. By the time Parker’s time in the National League ended in 1987, he had hit at least eight home runs against every NL team and especially picked on the Padres to the tune of 37 home runs against them.
I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General Designated Hitter
The combination of Parker’s production, health, and age were all pointing to a path well-traveled by v-Club members – the designated hitter route. Before the 1988 season the Reds dealt Parker to Oakland where he had another rebirth.
While he only hit fourteen home runs in his first season in Oakland, they were played very well in terms of ledgers.
LEDGER THIRTEEN: April 17, 1988 vs Chicago White Sox
LEDGER FOURTEEN: April 28, 1988 at Toronto Blue Jays
LEDGER FIFTEEN: May 14, 1988 at Baltimore Orioles
LEDGER SIXTEEN: May 16, 1988 at Boston Red Sox
LEDGER SEVENTEEN: May 20, 1988 at New York Yankees
He was hitting home runs in his first handful of games against each opponent. Then in June he knocked ledgers on back-to-back days in what is becoming an interesting phenomenon of hitting consecutive ledgers many miles apart.
LEDGER EIGHTEEN: June 19, 1988 vs Texas Rangers
LEDGER NINETEEN: June 20, 1988 at Milwaukee Brewers
He concluded 1988 with one more ledger and added four more in 1989 on his way to another World Series championship. All told, he he had another MVP caliber season in 1989.
LEDGER TWENTY: September 19, 1988 vs Minnesota Twins
LEDGER TWENTY-ONE: April 5, 1989 vs Seattle Mariners
LEDGER TWENTY-TWO: June 21, 1989 vs Detroit Tigers
LEDGER TWENTY-THREE: July 2, 1989 at Cleveland Indians
LEDGER TWENTY-FOUR: August 13, 1989 at California Angels
But he still hadn’t maxed out as he was still needing the Kansas City Royals. Another transaction would need to be in the works.
Poor Wandering Ones!
Coming off his good-for-his-age 1989 season, Parker signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers. We’re creeping towards the time where I should remind everyone that the Brewers played in the American League until 1998. Within a half-season he dashed off his two remaining ledgers to join the v26 Club.
LEDGER TWENTY-FIVE: April 24, 1990 vs Kansas City Royals
LEDGER TWENTY-SIX: July 4, 1990 vs Oakland Athletics
Parker spent a single season in Milwaukee and he once again put together a season worthy of MVP votes, an All-Star selection, and a Silver Slugger award. The Brewers leveraged his production in a trade with the Angels that sent young slugger Dante Bichette to Milwaukee. Parker split 1991 with the Angels and the Blue Jays. In his 119 games with the Angels he managed one final v-Club feat. He became the second inductee to hit at least two home runs against every team when he homered off Mike Magnante of the Royals on July 2, 1991. This would be the fifth-to-last home run of his career.5
Thus far we’ve not inducted a Hall of Fame player into the Club. Arguably Parker comes the closest, but he never garnered any significant amount of votes. But he still stands as an outstanding player whose career had some up and had some downs who just so happened to have a home run (or two) against every opponent he faced.
SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
The only home runs Mike Nagy gave up between Parker’s were a pair to the Cubs’ Rick Monday in a September 9, 1973 game.
1978 was a rare occasion when the MVP was not selected to the All-Star team. Parker had been shelved due his facial injury and was not selected and joined the company of Hank Greenberg, Marty Marion, and Ken Boyer as players with MVP-but-not-All-Star seasons (and later adding Kirk Gibson).
The first drafts for this tried to shoehorn in G.I. Joe references, but it didn’t work. I’m not saying the Pirates of Penzance theme works either.
Parker’s SABR bio sites some primary sources that Parker’s weight may have expanded to 260 pounds with Parker claiming it never topped 240. Parker’s baseball cards started him off at 220 in 1974, 225 through most of the 1980s, up to 230 in the 1990s. However, the Score card company put him down at 245 in 1990 while Topps put him at 230.
As a final, interesting note, Parket hit three home runs off of Oakland in his time with the Brewers and the Angels. All three home runs were hit off Dave Stewart.