The news of Dave Parker being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame was still fresh when Terry Collins came back to the Roanoke Valley in late January.
The two met when they were assigned to the Salem Pirates in 1972, the start of what would be long baseball careers for both. Collins, who spent 13 seasons as a manager in the major leagues, said it took just part of one practice to identify Parker’s potential.
“You could tell, he was going to be the best player that year in the Carolina League,” said Collins, who was in town to be inducted into the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame. “I’m so excited for him.”
Parker, whose induction into the Hall is scheduled for July 27, died Saturday at a care facility in Cincinnati. He was 74. According to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ website, his death was the result of complications related to Parkinson’s disease, which he had been diagnosed with in 2012.
“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Dave Parker,” Pirates owner Robert Nutting said in a statement posted on social media, in which he referred to Parker as “one of the most dominating and intimidating players to ever wear a Pirates uniform.”
Parker was the undisputed star of the 1979 Pirates, who won that year’s World Series in seven games over the Baltimore Orioles. He later was part of another world championship team in 1989, serving as a veteran reserve for the Oakland Athletics.
His first championship, however, came during his one year in Salem, where the Pirates defeated the Burlington Rangers in three games in the battle between the Carolina League’s top two regular-season finishers. Parker, who was voted the league’s MVP, led the league in hits, runs, doubles, RBIs and stolen bases.
Less than two years later, Parker was a permanent part of the Pirates’ big-league roster, something that did not surprise Collins.
“All our top players skipped Double-A baseball and went straight to Triple-A,” Collins said. “They thought the Carolina League was the one you had to succeed in — and he did.”
Parker’s arrival in Pittsburgh came about a quarter-century after the major leagues began adding Black athletes to their rosters. In 1975, when he hit .308 with 25 home runs and 101 RBIs, nearly 20% of the league’s rosters consisted of African American players.
As a result, Parker had more freedom than his predecessors to display his personality. His unique stance in the batter’s box earned him the nickname “The Cobra,” and he declared himself the sergeant at arms to the team’s de facto team leader, Willie Stargell.
Collins said that during their year in the Carolina League, that wasn’t always the case. Back in January, he recalled an incident in North Carolina when he and Parker were walking down a street with teammates Ed Ott and Ron Mitchell, who is also Black.
“We went downtown to get some lunch and a couple of guys came out of a store and right up to us,” Collins said. “They started yelling at Dave and Ron to get off of the street. So I went after them and told them they can’t treat another human being like that. I grew up in Michigan and something like that really shocked me.” 
Parker’s playing career had recently come to an end when the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame came into existence in late 1991. And while the primary objective of the new organization was to recognize people related to baseball within the Roanoke Valley and its surrounding counties, the inclusion of Parker also established that the hall’s committee would consider those who provided brief contributions to the local baseball scene before moving on to greater achievements.
“We felt it would be impossible to have that first class and not include Dave Parker, the best player to have ever come through here,” said Sam Lazzaro, an original member of the Salem-Roanoke Hall committee.
Due to other obligations, Parker was unable to attend the induction ceremony, but he did attend the annual Salem Old Timers Game a few months later.
In that game, Parker wore a uniform from the Toronto Blue Jays, the last of six teams he played for in his career. He had only recently retired, and Lazzaro said he was still a physical specimen.
“When he came for that, I had a chance to talk to Dave and saw how important playing in Salem was for his career,” Lazzaro said. “He said the success he had in that 1972 season made him realize what his baseball career could potentially be like. … And he was great when he was here.”
Over the years, short-time minor league players in the area — such as Charlie Maxwell, Art Howe, Kent Tekulve and Collins — were also inducted.
Landing a spot in Cooperstown proved to be more challenging for Parker, whose career statistics — 2,712 hits, 339 home runs, 1,493 RBIs and 11 seasons in which he batted at least .280 — were comparable to other Hall of Fame members, but he never came close to being voted into the hall during his 15 years of eligibility following retirement.
Collins said he stayed in touch with Parker following the 1972 season and made him a part of his staff when he was managing the Anaheim Angels in the late 1990s. When a push began to get Parker voted into Hall via the Veterans Committee, Collins said he wrote several letters endorsing the campaign.
“He deserved to be in there,” Collins said. “Fortunately, the veterans got it right.”
Lazzaro added that the Salem-Roanoke Hall was thrilled when Parker and another inductee, pitcher Billy Wagner, were both voted into Cooperstown. It was disheartening, he said when he heard of Parker’s passing this weekend.
“It’s a shame that he won’t be able to see the ceremony,” Lazzaro said. “I knew he was not doing well, but it’s still very sad.”
