Friday, January 23, 2015

NICKNAMES OF THE '70'S #20: "COBRA" DAVE PARKER

Next up in my "Nicknames of the 70's" thread is that monster of a player of the era: Dave Parker, aka "Cobra".
Check out my card design:


I used the 1978 format since he was at the prime of his career, winning two batting titles (1977 & 1978), an M.V.P. that very year, and a World Championship the following year.
He's often fond of saying (and I totally agree) that he and Dave Winfield changed the "face" of the athletic "big guy" outfielders when they both came up in the middle of the decade.
An all-around super-star, Parker hit for average, for power, had a cannon for an arm, and would even steal some bases if needed.
By the time he retired after the 1991 season, a nice 19-year career, he posted over 2700 hits, 1200 runs scored, 500 doubles, almost 1500 runs batted in, 339 home runs and over 150 stolen bases!
He was a seven-time all-star who also finished in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting six times, with three Gold Gloves thrown in for good measure.
The fact that Dave Parker never garnered more than 24.5% of the BBWA Hall of Fame vote (1998) before becoming ineligible in 2011 is just criminal in my eyes.
This man should be in the Hall of Fame. Plain and simple!