Thought it'd be fun to revisit my "Nicknames of the 1970's" post from January 23rd, 2015, celebrating "Cobra", Dave Parker, who I feel belongs in the Hall of fame.
Let's dive right in!
Here's the post as written some seven years ago:
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!