Will Cobra Boost El Comedulce?

Now, if we can just get Dan Driessen some love

1984 Topps Traded Dave Parker (#90) - Card of the Day

Bobby Abreu was an underrated star when he was playing, and that designation has carried over to the Hall of Famer ballot. To wit…

In 18 years in the big leagues, Abreu hit .291 with 2470 hits, 288 home runs, 1363 RBI, an even 400 stolen bases, and 574 doubles. He also made two All-Star teams and even won the Home Run Derby in 2005.

Those are some heady accomplishments that amounted to more than 60 WAR and a ranking as 22nd best rightfielder ever by measure of JAWS. I know, I know — those aren’t “real” stats to a lot of folks, but they’re still useful (and fun) for making comparisons across eras.

So are Hall of Fame votes, and as with Abreu’s scant All-Star resume, his ballot performance has been underwhelming. In five years on the ticket, he’s topped 15% just once and actually slid backwards a skosh in 2024.

Those numbers are reminiscent of another all-timer in right. In 15 tries at the writers’ ballot, Dave Parker topped 20% of the vote just twice and settled in pretty snugly in the 15% neighborhood for most of his run

Parker also fell short on three Veterans’ Committee ballots until he struck (Pirates Black and) Gold in December of 2024. As a Reds fan — and a Parker fan — it’s almost hard to believe he finally made it.

And it’s even harder for me to be objective about Cobra.

In some ways, a guy like Abreu has as good or better a Cooperstown case than Parker’s. Toss Lou Whitaker, Bobby Grich, Bobby Bonds, and a few other names on the ballot, and I’m not sure even I would have voted for Parker.

After all, Parker is the fifth-best comp for Abreu according to Baseball Reference’s Similarity Score and ranks just 42nd among rightfielders by measure of JAWS.

But from the moment I saw the headline from the 1983 winter meetings in my local newspaper that December — REDS SIGN DAVE PARKER — Cobra has been among my favorite players of all-time.

He was easily my favorite Red in 1984…and 1985…and 1986…and 1987. Yes, even when Pete Rose came back to town and when Eric Davis broke out and when Tom Browning won 20 as a rookie.

Dave Parker instantly turned around the vibe and fortunes of the moribund team that had still managed to suck me into baseball fandom in 1983. Even with Parker in the fold, I knew the Reds probably wouldn’t win the World Series in 1984.

But they might.

And they definitely had star power. And just power power. And a reason to watch every time they played.

That summer turned out to be magical for many reasons, including Rose’s homecoming and my first visit to Riverfront Stadium. The biggest wave of the magic wand, though, came from Dave Parker himself, who hit .285 with 16 home runs and 94 RBI, and who waved and tipped his hat to my parents and me, in our rightfield seats, every time he took the field that steamy June night.

And the magic continued right into November, when Topps Traded was released…and to Christmas, when the little rectangular box showed up under the tree.

I knew there was no watch waiting inside. Instead, the tiny treasure chest held the first Reds card of my new baseball hero.

(I waxed poetic about that card at length right here.)

In that moment — in all those moments — Dave Parker was the greatest. He sure felt like a Hall of Famer to young me. And now, it turns out I was right, despite what statistical analyses might try and contradict that notion.

I can live with that. And celebrate it.

Today on our YouTube channel…