Dave Parker, hard-hitting outfielder nicknamed 'the Cobra,' dies at 74
Article content
Nicknamed 'the Cobra,' the 6-foot-5 Parker made his major league debut in 1973 and played 19 seasons, 11 for the Pirates. He was the NL MVP in 1978, won a World Series with Pittsburgh a year later and then won another championship in 1989 with the Oakland Athletics.
Parker won back-to-back batting titles in 1977 and '78. He finished his career as a .290 hitter with 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs. He also played for Cincinnati, Milwaukee, the California Angels and Toronto.
Parker was elected to the Hall of Fame by a special committee in December. The induction ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, is set for July 27.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Simmons Says: Masai Ujiri joins Toronto's sporting Mount Rushmore
Get the latest from Steve Simmons straight to your inbox The Mount Rushmore of Toronto sports executives (clockwise from top right): Masai Ujiri, Pat Gillick, Michael Clemons and Paul Beeston. If there were a Mount Rushmore of Toronto sports executives, the sculptures would begin with Pat Gillick and Paul Beeston, move to Pinball Clemons, and the final spot would be taken by Masai Ujiri. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account All of them changed the city, the culture of their respective teams and, on their own, deeply affected the country. The run Gillick had with the Blue Jays may never be equalled. For an 11-year-period, the teams that he and Beeston built — Gillick the baseball man, Beeston the business man — averaged 91 wins, were among the best in their game and did almost the impossible in winning two straight World Series titles. The Blue Jays became part of our lives back then, our daily conversation, our radio listening, our television watching, our newspaper reading. We were consumed by Blue Jays baseball in the Gillick years. And one thing about Gillick, Beeston, Clemons and Ujiri: When you met with them, when you had a conversation, when you shook their hands, you felt better about that day. You felt better just knowing them. You felt they understood something you didn't. About the sport, about teams, about champions, about what matters and what doesn't. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Pinball's Argonauts were slaughtered in a public attendance way by the Blue Jays of the mid-1980s and have never recovered from that. But in a city so championship-starved, he played for three Grey Cup-winners, coached one, and has been involved in various management roles for four other championship teams in Toronto. Ujiri won just once in the NBA, and once will never be forgotten. Once may be all it ever is for the Raptors. This is how crazy it got across Canada in 2019: There were outdoor viewing parties in non-basketball places such as Red Deer and Moose Jaw and the NBA Finals became itinerant viewing for almost all Canadians. Masai made that possible. He started that in the kind of way the Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets dream of that being possible. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Masai, like Gillick, was in charge, had vision, had character beyond his own sport, had a Pinball-Beeston way about him, to not just say things, but do the right thing. You can't replace the kind of person Ujiri is, now that he's been fired as president of the Raptors just as the Blue Jays never really replaced Gillick after he chose to leave. In his 12 seasons with the Raptors, Ujiri's teams won nine playoff rounds. He was let go. In 11 seasons with the Leafs, the teams of president Brendan Shanahan made the playoffs nine straight years, but won just two playoff rounds. He was let go. In nine seasons with the Blue Jays, president Mark Shapiro's teams, the ones he's put together, have yet to win even a post-season game. He's still employed. It's hard to understand just what, if anything, major domo Edward Rogers is thinking here … Keith Pelley has been CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for just more than a year: In that time, he's bounced Bill Manning, who ran Toronto FC, he's fired Ujiri and parted ways with Shanahan. The pressure now with the wayward franchises bounces to Pelley … Ujiri was due a 2% raise for the coming NBA season and his contact was up after that. Rogers was never happy about how much he was being paid to run the team. Paying him even more for the future was out of the question … There is also $1 million owing to Ujiri's Giants Of Africa charity that is due in the coming days. There is no indication of whether some of that money, all of it or none of it, will be paid now or in the future … Ujiri truly believed that a team with Pascal Siakam, OG Anuoby, Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl could contend in the NBA. A similar team did this season — the Indiana Pacers. But somehow, that Group of Five, never connected properly in Toronto, never really got along, never found a way to succeed. Ujiri waited too long on them and paid for it. Now Ujiri leaves behind a lineup of Barnes, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, Poeltl, Immanuel Quickley, Ochai Agbaji, Jamison Battle, Gradey Dick and their past two first round picks in Ja'Kobe Walter and Collin Murray-Boyles. If that group can play defence, it can have some success … The firing of Ujiri is a clear indication of the changing of the guard at MLSE. Larry Tanenbaum is no longer in charge. He would never have fired Masai. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. You can actually go online and bet on where Mitch Marner will be playing next season. At least you could have Saturday morning. Vegas is the favourite but now that there are reports the Leafs are talking to the Golden Knights about a sign-and-trade of some kind, the odds are the bets will be taken down … Here is why Vegas makes the most sense to Marner: Jack Eichel is an Auston Matthews-calibre centre on the Knights. Not many teams have those. Marner had 53 assists the past two seasons on Matthews goals. The numbers should be somewhat similar if he's feeding Eichel … Bill Zito did not win the GM of the year award in the NHL. He just wins Stanley Cups in Florida after trading for Brad Marchand and Seth Jones and signing Nate Schmidt as a free agent among other things. In Dallas, Jim Nill did trade for Mikko Rantanen and has been GM of the year now three years in a row. Which is nice, but wrong … It's amazing how trapped hockey insiders get by their relationships with player agents — insisting until the last minute how much money John Tavares would be paid to stay with the Leafs. The price became less important than the number of years involved. The Leafs still need a third line/second line centre depending on where they want to deploy Tavares … Last year, Marner and Tavares took up $22 million of the Leafs payroll. Right now, it's $4.3 million for Tavares, and almost $18 million in cap space. There is some value in that for the Leafs … The unnecessary move to decentralize the NHL draft was voted on by the current general managers. Now it's time to vote again — and turn the draft back into what it used to be. The NHL is at its best when it sticks to nuance and history and convenience. When it tries to be what it's not, as it did on Friday night, it winds up tripping all over itself … There was nothing more awkward watching from home than having newly drafted players talking to their general managers on video screens. The whole thing made me uncomfortable as someone who previously was a big fan of the all-teams-on-the-floor NHL draft … If it didn't cost much for the Red Wings to pick up goaltender John Gibson from Anaheim, it got me thinking: Why didn't Edmonton make a deal for Gibson? … The Wings have missed the playoffs nine years in a row. They need to be aggressive this off-season. Buffalo has missed 14 in a row. The Sabres need to be aggressive. Columbus wants to be aggressive. So all of that said, who misses the playoffs next year in the Eastern Conference? Florida, Tampa Bay, Toronto? I don't think so. Washington, Carolina, New Jersey? Probably not. Ottawa and Montreal? Maybe. And what about the Rangers and Bruins, who missed the playoffs this season? The East is suddenly crazy tough. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. What we'll never know: How many times Alexander Mogilny was nominated for the Hockey Hall of Fame before finally being elected on Monday? Was he passed over most years or just ignored? Because of the secrecy of the process — only the winners are announced and votes are never made public — there is no way to understand how or why Mogilny finally got elected. The good thing is, he's now a Hall of Famer. Albeit years overdue, but still, he's there for the rest of his life … Mogilny played on a line in Buffalo with Pat LaFontaine and Dave Andreychuk, all three of them now in the Hall. Had Andreychuk not been traded to Toronto for another Hall of Famer, Grant Fuhr, in 1993, that line would have become the first in hockey history with all three players on the line scoring 50 goals in a season … Some other all- Hall of Fame lines: Bryan Trottier with Mike Bossy and Clark Gillies; Jacques Lemaire with Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt; before that, Dave Keon with Frank Mahovlich and George Armstrong in the six-team NHL … Carey Price was waiting for the call from the Hall on Tuesday but it never came. But without question it will come next year along with fellow slam-dunk choice Patrice Bergeron. That's without a doubt. That leaves spots available for those right on the border such as Patrik Elias, Rod Brind'Amour, Keith Tkachuk, Sergei Gonchar and Curtis Joseph, Ryan Getzlaf and Henrik Zetterberg. It doesn't guarantee that anyone will get in, but there's more of a chance when there are only two sure-thing candidates on the docket … Mogilny aside, the Class of 2025, Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara and Joe Thornton were all first-time eligible players sure-things who couldn't be passed over …. And now we're wondering, unrelated: What, if anything, will Hall of Fame voters do in the future with Mike Babcock and Joel Quenneville? Both have credentials. Both have blemishes on their resumes … The best radio guest in hockey these days: Chris Pronger. He speaks like he played, with no fear, with edge, with a sense of intimidation, saying what few others will say. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Blue Jays look to be on their way to an 85- to 90-win season. What could be challenging in a wild-card race: Seven of their final 13 games of the season are against the longtime rival Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays look to be the best team in the American League. They're playing .666 baseball over the past 42 games … For a minute, Max Scherzer looked like an almost young Max Scherzer on the mound the other night. For a minute or so … If you take run differential seriously, and most bosses in baseball do, the Jays are the seventh best team in the AL. They do look better than that of late. But the Yankees were +113, the Rays are +67, Detroit is +91. The Jays are +8 heading into Saturday afternoon …. Nice to hear the former Argos executive, the Canadian Vince Magri just signed a two-year deal to stay as a pro scout with the Buffalo Bills … If I'm Brad Treliving, I'm signing Matthew Knies for five years and around $7.5 million a season. The better Knies plays for the Leafs, the less they will miss Marner in the future … The Canadian, Victoria Mboko, had a terrific French Open, but did not qualify for Wimbledon. Neither did the still trying to find herself, Bianca Andreescu … With Canada Day coming up and so much national angst, didn't you feel better, at least for the moment, watching NBA champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander surrounded himself with a large Canadian flag during the championship celebration of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nice to see someone who appreciates home … Women wrestlers I enjoy more than Bayley: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Iyo Sky, Becky Lynch, Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Trish Stratus, Natty Neidhart and, if she were still alive, The Fabulous Moolah … I don't know, but I hate to see a hockey player as solid, professional and committed as Marc Edouard Vlasic get bought out by the San Jose Sharks after 19 seasons. I understand the economics. I understand his game has slipped. But if this is the end, what an exceptional non-Hall of Fame career this man has had … Could Claude Giroux help the Leafs in free agency? Could he play right wing on a line with Matthews and Knies if Brad Marchand or Patrick Kane aren't available? … Happy birthday to Kawhi Leonard (34), John Elway (65), Brian Lawton (60), Gunnar Henderson (24), John Boccabella (84), Dan Dierdorf (76), Cody Rhodes (40), Corey Koskie (52), Matt Rempe (23), Craig Hartsburg (56) and Theo Fleury (57) … And, hey, whatever became of Terrence Ross?
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipegger to meet his heroes after being drafted by Penguins
Peyon Kettles remembers the Evgeni Malkin jersey he rocked as a youngster. So you can imagine his delight when the Winnipegger pulled on a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey on Saturday after being chosen in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft with the 39th overall pick. 'It was definitely a huge relief and I'm definitely happy to hear my name called by the Penguins. To have their history, with me growing up around that time, is really cool and really special,' Kettles said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he attended the event at Peacock Theater with his parents and his brother. 'I owned a Malkin jersey and all of the stuff like that. It's a full circle moment for me.' DAMIAN DOVARGANES / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Carter Bear, left, stands with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after being drafted by Detroit Red Wings during the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. Kettles, listed at 6-5 and 194 pounds, is a hard-hitting defenceman who had five goals and 14 points in 53 games in the Western Hockey League with the Swift Current Broncos. 'I'm a big defensive guy who likes to play physical,' said Kettles. 'I'm a really good skater. A guy that is not afraid or is going to back down from anyone. 'I thought I had a pretty good season. I was out with some injuries, but that happens. Overall, I thought I had a really good season and I proved myself to Pittsburgh and a lot of other teams. I'm really happy to be part of their organization.' Kettles spoke with 21 different teams at the NHL Combine in Buffalo earlier this month and he's looking forward to heading to development camp in Pittsburgh during the coming days. 'I thought I had a really good interview with everyone, but my interview with Pittsburgh was really good. I thought they really liked me. It's cool to see them trade up and pick me,' said Kettles, noting he enjoyed watching the Penguins win multiple Stanley Cups while he was growing up. 'I've dreamed of this moment my whole life, so it's cool to see it come true. For me to meet my heroes and my idols is going to be really cool in this next week or two.' Kettles was in attendance on Friday night, since some mock drafts had him going late in the first round. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Hayden Paupanekis, then a Winnipeg Wild forward poses outside his home in 2022. That was a stressful situation to navigate, but Kettles made the most of it and didn't need to wait long on Day 2. 'I went (Friday) night and saw a lot of buddies go,' said Kettles. 'To hear my name called this morning was a big relief and I'm excited to get going.' It was a solid day for the Keystone province as seven Manitobans had their names called on Friday and Saturday. The seven selections is one short of the record, set three times (2017, 2018, 2022). That it comes one year after Brandon product Clarke Caswell was the only local kid drafted (in the fifth round, by the Seattle Kraken) represents a strong rebound for Manitoba. Carter Bear of West St. Paul went 13th overall to the Detroit Red Wings and the high-scoring winger from the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League was the only Manitoban to go in the first round. Burke Hood Later in the second round, Winnipegger Matthew Gard of the Red Deer Rebels went 57th overall to the Philadelphia Flyers. The left-handed shooting centre had 19 goals, 36 points in 66 WHL games this season. Gard also suited up for Canada at the U18 championship in Texas this year, collecting a goal and four points in seven games, capturing a gold medal. In the third round, Winnipegger Hayden Paupanekis was chosen 69th overall by the Monteal Canadiens. Paupanekis split last season between the Kelowna Rockets and Chiefs of the WHL, collecting 22 goals and 43 points in 71 games. Later in the third round, the Winnipeg Jets used the 93rd overall pick on Oakbank product Owen Martin, who had a strong season with the Spokane Chiefs. ROB WILTON/VANCOUVER GIANTS FILES Vancouver Giants goalie Burke Hood, shown staring down Wenatchee Wild forward Maddix McCagherty. Martin dealt with a foot injury that limited him to 39 games, but he produced at nearly a point-per-game rate (13 goals, 34 points). Seeing a bunch of fellow Manitobans hear their names called was special for Martin. 'I've been texting them, congratulating them. And then, once I got taken, they all congratulated me,' Martin said during a Zoom call on Saturday. 'It's a good group of Manitobans. We all know each other pretty well so yeah, it's been super cool seeing that success for all of us.' The sixth Manitoba chosen came in the sixth round when goalie Burke Hood went 170th overall to the New York Islanders. Hood, who hails from Brandon, is coming off a solid season in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants, posting three shutouts a .910 save percentage and 3.10 goals-against average in 42 appearances. The final Manitoba chosen on Day 2 was McCreary product Brady Turko, a right-winger with the Brandon Wheat Kings who had seven goals and 26 points in 68 games this season. TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES Brady Turko of the Brandon Wheat Kings tries to keep the puck out of reach of Brayden Klimpke of the Saskatoon Blades during WHL action. Turko's teammate and fellow forward Roger McQueen was chosen 10th overall by the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld Ken WiebeReporter Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken. Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nick Kurtz of A's hits 11th home run in 22-game span, 2 months after big league debut
NEW YORK (AP) — Nick Kurtz tried not to make too much of his latest home run, his 11th in 22 games. However, this one was special. 'I am playing at Yankee Stadium. I grew up a Phillies fan,' the 22-year-old Athletics rookie said. 'It's just a surreal moment.' Kurtz broke open the game with a three-run, sixth-inning drive off Clarke Schmidt into the right field short porch, sparking former Yankee JP Sears and the A's to a 7-0 win Saturday. 'When he hits the baseball, he impacts,' A's manager Mark Kotsay said. A group of about 20 of Kurtz's family and friends were on hand, including his mom, Marie, and his dad, Jeff. 'Just the easiest. We don't play in Philly this year,' Kurtz said. He grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, went to Wake Forest and was selected fourth overall in last year's amateur draft, gaining a $7 million signing bonus. He started at Class A Stockton last Aug. 10 and was promoted to Double-A Midland nine days later. Kurtz began this season at Triple-A Las Vegas and hit .400 with six homers and 17 RBIs in his first eight games as part of an opening 13-game hitting streak. That gave him thoughts of a big league callup, but Kurtz went into a 5-for-27 slump with 12 strikeouts. He got a surprising call on April 21, an off day, from Aviators manager Fran Riordan. 'I was in bed sleeping and I wake up to a phone call from him telling me I'm going up,' Kurtz said. 'So that was pretty cool.' Kurtz hit an RBI single against Kumar Rocker in his first plate appearance. helping the A's to a 4-0 win over Texas in his debut on April 23. He hit his first home run at Dodger Stadium on May 13, had a tiebreaking, ninth-inning drive at Kansas City on June 15, then a 447-foot, two-run walk-off drive at home against Houston the following night. Three days later, he added a 10th-inning walk-off homer off the Astros' Josh Hader. Kurtz is hitting .256 with 12 homers. 31 RBIs and and .843 OPS in 45 games. 'There's just a calming presence about him,' said Sears, who has an adjacent locker at West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park. 'At times when guys get here and they've done really well before, they try and do too much or try and swing too much or get too mad when they get out. I think there was a week or two where he was hitting the ball pretty hard but just hitting the ball at guys and I think as a young player you get pretty frustrated. But it seemed like he just never did.' Growing up in Pennsylvania, Kurtz attended games at Citizens Bank Park, sitting in the left-field bleachers near Ashburn Alley. 'I always wanted to catch a home run,' he said. But Kurtz never did. 'I wasn't that lucky,' he quickly added. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Kurtz rooted for Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay. His father attended one of the 2009 World Series games against the Yankees, a matchup New York won in six games for its most recent title. That memory still stings. 'I don't like talking about it,' Kurtz said. ___ AP MLB:
