Ex-Blue Jay Elected to Hall of Fame
Dave Parker, the slugging outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s and 1980s has become latest member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
The seven-time All-Star, who was nicknamed Cobra, spent the last 13 games of his career with the Blue Jays. Parker, who never received more than 24% of the vote on the Baseball Writer's Association of America Ballot, is going to Cooperstown via the Classic Era Baseball Committee Ballot, made of executives, historians and Hall of Fame players. One member on this committee was former Blue Jay Paul Molitor.
Parker, who received 14 out of a possible 16 votes, goes in with long-time Major League third baseman Dick Allen.
Although his case had been picking up steam in recent years, Parker's career 40.1 WAR is low compared to some other Hall of Fame players, but his other accolades and counting stats make up for his lack of analytics
He finished his career with a .290. average, .339 home runs and 2712 career hits. While those numbers may seem low to some, they are higher than others.
Hall of Famers with similarity scores to Parker include Hall of Famers Tony Perez, Andre Dawson, Billy Williams, Harold Baines, and current Hall of Fame hopeful Bobby Abreu.
He also comes with three gold gloves, three silver sluggers, and two batting titles. He is a member of the Pirates and Reds Hall of Fame.
He led the league in total bases three times, extra base hits twice, and RBIs once, when he had 125 RBIs in 1985. He is 58th career all-time in Runs Batted In.
After being released by the Angels during the 1991 season, he was signed by the Blue Jays as insurance for their playoff race.
Other players on Classic Era Ballot include Ken Boyer, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Lius Tiant, and Negro League figures John Donaldson and Vic Harris.
The results of the BBWAA ballot will be announced in January.
With both Ichiro and CC Sabathia on the ballot, Parker and Allen will likely have good company as part of one the strongest and largest classes in recent memory.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 8 | 160 ANSWERS Ex-Blue Jay Elected to Hall of Fame Does Dave Parker deserve to be a Hall of Famer? | ||
| Yes | 123 | 76.9 % |
| No | 37 | 23.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
