Dave Parker talks coaching, Hall of Fame

Former outfielder Dave Parker, who helped the Pittsburgh Pirates win their last World Series championship in 1979, made a formal appearance during an Eastern League game between the Erie SeaWolves and Akron Aeros at Jerry Uht Park Thursday.

Parker, now 61, was the National League's batting champion in 1977 and 1978. The latter year also saw him voted the league's most valuable player for hitting .334 with 30 home runs and 117 RBIs.

He also was voted the MVP of the 1979 All-Star Game at Seattle, when he drove in a run and threw out two American League base runners from right field in the National League's 7-6 victory.
Drafted by the Pirates in 1970, Parker broke in with the parent club during their 1973 season. He played in Pittsburgh for 11 seasons before signing as a free agent with his hometown Cincinnati Reds.

Parker concluded his 19-year major league career as a designated hitter in the American League with Oakland, where he received a second World Series ring in 1989, along with Milwaukee, California and Toronto. He recently sold the chain of Popeye's chicken restaurants he owned in the Cincinnati area.

Parker spoke to Erie media Thursday. Here are excerpts from the questions he was asked by the media in attendance and Parker's responses:


Q You've served on the coaching staff with Anaheim, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Was teaching major league players the experience you thought it would be?
A Yeah, it was fun. My first job was as (first-base coach) with the Angels when Terry Collins was the manager. I had a chance to work with guys like Jim Edmonds, Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson.

When you have talent like that, it makes you feel antsy to get back in, get involved and be around that camaraderie.


Q You'd like to get back into coaching?

A Yes. After being in the chicken business for 25 years, I finally retired from that.

I'd like to get back into baseball. I sent some feelers out there this year. I probably started too late because (teams) had already filled out their (staffs), but I will be trying to get back in next season.


Q Did you ever play in Erie in the minor leagues?

A No. But I was telling somebody earlier that if they had stadiums like this (Uht Park), I wouldn't have been in such a hurry to get to the big leagues.


Q You have the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds, the teams you played for the majority of your career, vying for first place in the National League Central Division. Do you have an allegiance to either franchise right now?

A You know I live in Cincinnati, so this is a loaded question.

I really just want to go out and see good baseball. Pittsburgh is where I started, so I always have an allegiance to them. Once a Buc, always a Buc.
But to play back home in Cincinnati (1984-87) was a big thrill for me.


Q You were the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998, when Mark McGwire and Chicago's Sammy Sosa were chasing Roger Maris' single-season home run record. How much did that help bring fans back to baseball in the wake of the 1994-95 players strike?

A That little competition between Mark and Sammy, baseball needed it because of the labor disputes they had. We needed something big to get people back.

The home-run competition between them was that.


Q Because of the lingering controversy over steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, do players like McGwire and Barry Bonds belong in the Hall of Fame?

A It's hard to say. It's hard to take away from what a guy does on the field if he was on steroids or not.

I think (we should) consider what the guys did on the field, and try to get away from off-the-field (issues).

And frankly, I think I should be in the Hall of Fame. But nobody's forgiven me yet (for admitted cocaine use in the mid-1980s), so I don't think (the voters) will be very forgiving to them.


Q Given your confession, as well as some of the fans' conduct toward you during your latter years with the Pirates, what's been their current reaction to you?

A They're always good. When I go to Pittsburgh now, I can't pay for a meal or buy a drink because the fans recall the way I played there and the numbers I put up there.

They love me and I loved them. I think we both did a lot of maturing. I had to grow up, and I think they had to grow up themselves.


Q What kind of influence did the late Willie Stargell have on you during your 11 seasons in Pittsburgh?

A Stargell took me under his wing and (pitcher) Doc Ellis, as well. They were like a father and a big brother to me.


Q Talk about playing on the "We Are Family" Pirates that won the World Series in 1979?

A It feels like it was last week to me, especially being in this atmosphere.


Q What's your lasting memory from the earthquake that struck San Francisco's Candlestick Park before Game Three of the 1989 World Series?

A The fans were yelling, "What a way to kick off a World Series (game)!" before anybody knew of the tragedy that had happened throughout the (San Francisco Bay) area.

It was a tragedy, but after a period of time, I think people there wanted baseball back.

When we returned, I think it was a relief to the area. Baseball did a lot of healing for them.


Q What do you think of baseball's current state?

A Baseball is as strong as it's ever been. When you look at salaries like $200 million going out to three or four guys, baseball has got to be healthy.

I really have nothing but positive things to say about those guys receiving that type of money because it's whatever the market can bear.


Q You've had both knees replaced, in part because of playing so many games on artificial turf. Because most parks have reverted to natural grass or field turf, would you have been able to play longer or been more productive on today's fields?

A I had six knee surgeries and the knee replacements, so AstroTurf definitely hurt my physical well-being.

But I still played a long career with as many years as I played, regardless of natural turf or AstroTurf.


Q Who first dubbed you "Cobra?"

A (Pirates announcer) Bob Prince made it famous, but (former team trainer) Tony Bartirome gave me the nickname.


Q Do younger fans who didn't see you play realize who you are and the impact you had on the Pirates?

A I often say that when parents try to tell their kids (in front of me), "This guy was a great player," I tell them he's too young. But then I'll go somewhere else and there's an 11-year-old quoting my numbers.
I'm just glad to see some (No. 39 jerseys) still around. It means that I did something right.

It's been 30 years since I played (for Pittsburgh), but they still identify with the number. I'm happy with that.


MIKE COPPER can be reached at 870-1614 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at . Read the Extra Innings blog at GoErie.com/blogs/extrainnings and post comments.

By Mike Copper
The Erie Times-News
http://www.goerie.com/
July 8, 2012