Call to the pen
Fansided

The Hall of Fame case for Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds legend Dave Parker

By Noah Yingling

PITTSBURGH - 1982: Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on from the field before a Major League Baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium circa 1982 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH - 1982: Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on from the field before a Major League Baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium circa 1982 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /
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Dave Parker, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Baseball Hall of Fame
PITTSBURGH, PA – 1987: Dave Parker of the Cincinnati Reds bats against the Pittsburgh Pirates during a Major League Baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium in 1987 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /

Dave Parker was great at the beginning of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Dave Parker received MVP votes in eight more seasons, including five seasons in the top 10 in MVP voting and three seasons in the top three (1975, 1977, 1985).

Parker’s best seasons were from 1975 through 1980. He was injured and slumped a bit in the early 1980s and was a key figure in the Pittsburgh drug trials, which saw Parker and others admit to cocaine use in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Parker even arranged drug deals, according to The Washington Post at the time of the trials in 1985.

But Parker saw a second wind as from 1985 through 1990, Parker was an All-Star three times and received MVP votes four times which included two top five finishes (both with the Reds).

Parker had four seasons of 100+ RBI and six more seasons with 90+ RBI. He also had six seasons with 25+ homers and six seasons with a batting average of .300 or better.

By all of these metrics, he seems to be a sure-fire Hall of Famer but when you look at some of the sabermetrics and conduct some comparative analysis with other Hall of Fame right fielders, Parker is not a sure-fire Hall of Famer.

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