There were few who could match Dave Parker the player or the personality in the 1970s and 80s. A larger-than-life athlete with the talent and determination to back it up, Parker became one of the greatest Pirates and right fielders of all-time.
He was the rare player who knew he could back up whatever he said. When asked why he was wearing a Star of David necklace, he responded, “well, I’m a David, and I’m a star.” Another favorite from the clubhouses: “Three things are gonna happen today. Sun’s gonna shine, wind’s gonna blow and big Dave is going 4-for-4.”
That confidence -- and his skills -- led to 2,712 hits, 339 home runs, 1,493 RBIs and a spot in Cooperstown.
Here are 10 of the top moments and achievements of Parker’s 19-year Hall of Fame career.
1) The Cobra’s Cannon
July 17, 1979
Parker was an MVP, a two-time World Series Champion, and had multiple batting crowns, Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers on his mantle. Yet, if you ask what moments best encapsulate who he is as a player, you have to look to an exhibition game. Parker had one of the best arms in the game, and that was most evident in the 1979 All-Star Game.
In the seventh inning, he recovered from losing a pop fly in the Kingdome roof and threw out Jim Rice from foul territory when the future Hall of Famer tried to advance to third base. In the eighth, he uncorked a strike at home to nab Brian Downing and keep it a tie game.
Parker went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
2) MVP and Fam-A-Lee
1978-1979
“Everybody was talking about me being the next Roberto Clemente. That wasn’t what I was trying to achieve,” Parker once told MLB Network. “I was trying to make my mark as the first Dave Parker.”
He certainly did, and as an added bonus, Parker became one of the greatest players in franchise history. There are two clear highlights here: winning the 1978 National League Most Valuable Player Award and being the best player of the 1979 World Series winning team. If Willie Stargell was “Pops,” Parker was the family’s older brother, and the Pirates would not have that championship without him.
3) Jason Voorhees
July 16, 1978
If there is anything that rivals how iconic Parker was as a player, it’s Parker as a photo subject. The “If You Hear Any Noise, It’s Just Me And The Boys Boppin’” shirt. The shot of him smoking in the dugout. And, of course, when he wore a hockey mask to the plate.
Recovering from a fracture to his jaw and cheekbone, Parker returned to action after just 16 days and used the mask as protection. It was a striking site and the Padres wanted no part of him, intentionally walking him in his pinch-hit appearance in the 10th. Parker would start in the second half of the doubleheader – again with the mask – and had two RBIs and a triple in another Pirates win.
4) To the Classic
Oct. 3, 1979
Stargell may have been the National League’s co-MVP for the Pirates’ most recent World Series team, but Parker was their best player, and he delivered one of the biggest hits of the season.
Tied at 2 with the Reds in the top of the 10th inning at Riverfront Stadium in Game 2 of the NLCS, Parker lined a Doug Bair offering through the left side of the infield to plate Omar Moreno and give the Pirates the lead. The Pirates would go on to win the game, sweep the Reds and eventually win the World Series over the Orioles.
5) Hometown Heroics
May 26,1987
Parker is a member of two team’s Hall of Fame: the Pirates and his hometown Cincinnati Reds. Parker spent four years in the Queen City, earning a pair of All-Star nods and Silver Sluggers. While the Reds never reached the postseason with him on their roster, he did deliver some memorable walk-off hits.
One of the biggest was in May 1987. Facing future Hall of Famer Lee Smith, Parker jumped on a 2-2 offering and blasted it to deep center for the walk-off home run. Parker had four walk-off hits in his Reds career, but this was the only round-tripper.
6) No. 300
Aug. 5, 1989
From his first full season in 1975 to his retirement in '91, only George Brett and Mike Schmidt had more extra-base hits than Parker. Pitchers knew he was a perennial power threat, and it was inevitable he was going to join some prestigious clubs.
On Aug. 5, 1989, he lined his 300th career home run just over the right-field wall in the Kingdome. It was one of 22 home runs he hit in his age-38 season, and the Cobra would receive some MVP votes for his contributions to a World Series winner.
When Parker retired after the 1991 season, he was one of just 20 players all-time with at least 300 home runs and 2,500 hits.
7) Helping the A’s win the Bay
Oct. 15, 1989
Fast forward a couple months to our next moment, and Parker is once again in the World Series. Tied at 1 in the bottom of the fourth of Game Two, Parker lined a double off the Giants’ Rick Reuschel to plate José Canseco and give the Athletics the lead for good.
The Athletics led after every inning of the Series following Parker’s go-ahead double and swept the Giants, clinching the Cobra’s second championship.
8) Derby King
July 15, 1985
The Home Run Derby has been a staple of All-Star Week for four decades, and Parker will always have the distinction of being the first derby champion.
In a 10-player field with six future Hall of Famers – Parker, Rice, Eddie Murray, Carlton Fisk, Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryne Sandberg – the Cobra emerged victorious, launching six home runs at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. He would finish runner-up the next year, and the Reds wouldn’t have another Derby champion until Todd Frazier in 2015.
9) One more for the road
Oct. 2, 1991
Parker joined the Blue Jays late in the 1991 season to help them get over the hump and into the postseason, and he hit .333 in his 13-game cameo. The most memorable of those hits was his final swing, a gap-shot double.
It was more than fitting that his last hit was a two-bagger. It was the 526th double of his career, which at the time passed Willie Mays and Ted Williams for 20th all-time.
10) The Poem
July 27, 2025
It took Parker 19 tries to be inducted into Cooperstown, eventually being elected through the Classic Baseball Era Veterans Committee. He knew he was a Hall of Famer, but he passed away less than a month before the ceremony after a long battle with Parkinson’s.
Parker’s son, David Parker II, delivered his father’s acceptance speech instead, closing with a poem. We all knew he could rhyme (“when the leaves turn brown, I’ll be wearing the batting crown,” for example), and Parker delivered one last time. It was funny, confident and genuine, all traits that made Parker beloved by his teammates, and a perfect way to remember the Cobra.