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David Schoenfield, SweetSpot bloggerDec 8, 2024, 07:53 PM ET
- Senior writer of SweetSpot baseball blog
- Former deputy editor of Page 2
- Been with ESPN.com since 1995
Dave Parker, the rifled-arm outfielder and 1978 National League MVP for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Dick Allen, the feared slugger for the Philadelphia Phillies and 1972 American League MVP for the Chicago White Sox, are the new members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Parker, 73, hit .290 with 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs from 1973 to 1991, making seven All-Star teams. Allen, who died in 2020, hit .292 with 351 homers and 1,119 RBIs from 1963 to 1977. He also was a seven-time All-Star.
The Classic Baseball Era Committee ballot considered players, managers, executives and umpires whose primary contributions came prior to 1980. A screening committee selected eight distinguished finalists for the final vote, with candidates needing to receive at least 12 votes from the 16-person committee that consisted of Hall of Famers Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Tony Perez, Lee Smith, Ozzie Smith and Joe Torres, plus five executives/owners and five media members/historians.
Parker was named on 14 of the 16 ballots, while Allen was on 13.
They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27 along with players voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose balloting will be announced on Jan. 21.
Other candidates on the ballot included: John Donaldson, a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues for more than 30 years; Negro Leagues player and manager Vic Harris; pitcher Tommy John, winner of 288 games and the pioneer patient in elbow ligament-replacement surgery; former Dodgers and Padres first baseman Steve Garvey; third baseman Ken Boyer, the 1964 NL MVP; and former Red Sox pitching legend Luis Tiant.
John received seven votes while the others each received less than five.
Dave Parker was a mainstay of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 70’s and early 80’s. George Gojkovich/Getty Images
Parker, nicknamed “The Cobra,” was one of the best all-around players in the majors from 1975 to 1979, winning back-to-back batting titles with the Pirates in 1977 and 1978 and capturing the 1978 MVP Award when he hit .334 with 30 home runs and 117 RBIs.
He won World Series titles with the Pirates in 1979 and the Oakland Athletics in 1989, and he was also known for his powerful throwing arm, immortalized in the 1979 All-Star Game when he threw out one runner at third base and another at home plate.
The middle of his career was affected by drug use, injuries and weight issues, but he returned to his hometown Cincinnati Reds in 1984 and revitalized his career with a second-place finish in the MVP vote in 1985, when he hit .312 with 34 home runs and a league-leading 125 RBIs.
Parker would later move on to Oakland, where he became the respected veteran designated hitter alongside Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco for the “Bash Brothers” teams in 1988 and 1989.
Parker peaked at just 24.5% on the BBWAA ballot and had appeared on three previous veterans ballots, never receiving enough votes to register. While modern analytics don’t rate him as a strong Hall of Fame candidate with 40.1 career WAR, he fares better in the traditional counting stats: 2,712 hits, 339 home runs and 1,493 RBIs. Throw in a .290 career average and the MVP Award and it was enough to finally get him in.
Parker, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012, has also remained a fan favorite, especially among those who remember his peak years in the late 1970s.
Dick Allen has attained a posthumous Hall of Fame induction. Diamond Images/Getty Images
Allen was one of the hardest-hitting sluggers of his era, leading his league four times in OPS, three times in slugging percentage and twice in home runs. The 1972 American League MVP with the White Sox, Allen had one of greatest rookie seasons of all time with the Phillies in 1964, when he hit .318 and led the NL in total bases and runs scored.
A controversial player during his career — Allen was traded five times — he was also a victim of the racial elements of his day, suffering abuse when he played for Arkansas in the minor leagues in 1963 and then during his years in Philadelphia.
Allen put up huge numbers in the low offensive context of the late 1960s and early 1970s and modern analytics helped make him a more viable Hall of Fame candidate. His adjusted OPS+ of 156 is tied for 16th among players since 1900 with at least 5,000 plate appearances. That’s the same as Frank Thomas and higher than Willie Mays (155) and Henry Aaron (155).
During his peak years from 1964 to 1974, Allen ranked fifth in home runs, seventh in RBIs and runs scored, second in slugging percentage, first in OPS+ and sixth in WAR among position players.
He topped out at just 18.9% during his 15 years on the BBWAA ballot, where his totals of 351 home runs and fewer than 2,000 career hits (1,848) were held against him. He had appeared on six previous veterans committee ballots, however, falling one vote short in 2015 and 2022.
