There's a short article out of nowhere in today's sports section in the local fishwrap promoting Dave Parker for the Hall of Fame. A couple of paragraphs gives the flavor of this highly subjective PR piece, which reads like it was written by Parker himself:
"Nearly a quarter century after being a prime figure in baseball's first major drug scandal, Dave Parker hopes baseball is ready to forgive his sins and enshrine him in the Hall of Fame.. . A skilled player blessed with power, a line-drive batting stroke that allowed him to hit for average and the game's best throwing arm, Parker appeared to be on the fast track to Cooperstown until his acknowledged cocaine use derailed him in his prime. Parker revived his career in his mid to late 30s, but the taint of the drug scandal has clearly influenced Hall of Fame voters to shun him for 13 consecutive years. During a time when baseball is fixated on performance-enhancing drugs, Parker finds himself being penalized for performance-deflating drug use. . ."
Where to begin. . .this is obviously an attempt to create a bandwagon effect for Parker similar to the one created for Jim Rice and the ongoing campaign to get Andre Dawson in the Hall. I'm still waiting for a segment of the media to get behind the more deserving Dale Murphy, and I'm sure I'll wait many more years on that one.
The standard story line above concerning Parker is revisionism, revisionism that began late in his career. Here's the main reason Dave Parker screwed himself out of HOF consideration -- after the 1979 season, in which the Pirates won the World Series and Parker was widely considered the best player in the sport, he became a free agent. That winter he signed the largest contract up till that time in MLB history, all ofthe moneyguaranteed, just as baseball contracts remain guaranteed to this day.
After getting his riches, Parker reported to training camp in February 1980 some 50 pounds overweight. He remained fat and happy for years. Compare his numbers from his peak years of 1977 through '79, when he won two batting crowns and was a very talented five-tool player, with his numbers from 1980-'84: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parkeda01.shtml. Those should have been his prime years, when he was in his late 20s and early 30s.
When he wasn't injured because of all the extra weight he was carrying, his numbers declined drastically. It was only when he cleaned up his act in the food department (and presumably in the coke department as well) that he put up some good numbers again starting in 1985 when he was on the Reds.
Parker was a prime example of a pro athlete who got the big $ and promptly let himself go, the kind of thing we discuss regularly when it comes to NFL players. One of the reasons so many first round draft picks are busts in the NFL is that a not inconsiderable number of them get their guaranteed bonus money up front and lose whatever motivation they had to become great.
Add to that Parker's admitted drug use (on a far greater scale that what is getting Matt Jones persecuted) and questionable character issues (I recall him making the papers once for throwing his girlfriend out his house naked in the middle of winter), along with very borderline at best career stats, and there's no way in hell he belongs in the Hall. But it won't surprise me in the least if he does get in.
"Nearly a quarter century after being a prime figure in baseball's first major drug scandal, Dave Parker hopes baseball is ready to forgive his sins and enshrine him in the Hall of Fame.. . A skilled player blessed with power, a line-drive batting stroke that allowed him to hit for average and the game's best throwing arm, Parker appeared to be on the fast track to Cooperstown until his acknowledged cocaine use derailed him in his prime. Parker revived his career in his mid to late 30s, but the taint of the drug scandal has clearly influenced Hall of Fame voters to shun him for 13 consecutive years. During a time when baseball is fixated on performance-enhancing drugs, Parker finds himself being penalized for performance-deflating drug use. . ."
Where to begin. . .this is obviously an attempt to create a bandwagon effect for Parker similar to the one created for Jim Rice and the ongoing campaign to get Andre Dawson in the Hall. I'm still waiting for a segment of the media to get behind the more deserving Dale Murphy, and I'm sure I'll wait many more years on that one.
The standard story line above concerning Parker is revisionism, revisionism that began late in his career. Here's the main reason Dave Parker screwed himself out of HOF consideration -- after the 1979 season, in which the Pirates won the World Series and Parker was widely considered the best player in the sport, he became a free agent. That winter he signed the largest contract up till that time in MLB history, all ofthe moneyguaranteed, just as baseball contracts remain guaranteed to this day.
After getting his riches, Parker reported to training camp in February 1980 some 50 pounds overweight. He remained fat and happy for years. Compare his numbers from his peak years of 1977 through '79, when he won two batting crowns and was a very talented five-tool player, with his numbers from 1980-'84: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parkeda01.shtml. Those should have been his prime years, when he was in his late 20s and early 30s.
When he wasn't injured because of all the extra weight he was carrying, his numbers declined drastically. It was only when he cleaned up his act in the food department (and presumably in the coke department as well) that he put up some good numbers again starting in 1985 when he was on the Reds.
Parker was a prime example of a pro athlete who got the big $ and promptly let himself go, the kind of thing we discuss regularly when it comes to NFL players. One of the reasons so many first round draft picks are busts in the NFL is that a not inconsiderable number of them get their guaranteed bonus money up front and lose whatever motivation they had to become great.
Add to that Parker's admitted drug use (on a far greater scale that what is getting Matt Jones persecuted) and questionable character issues (I recall him making the papers once for throwing his girlfriend out his house naked in the middle of winter), along with very borderline at best career stats, and there's no way in hell he belongs in the Hall. But it won't surprise me in the least if he does get in.
