[z28jd]

Parker is such a tough case for me as a Pirates fan, who didn't really catch his career with the team due to my age, but I saw him later in his career and knew about his impact with the Pirates back then, so I liked him. He had a Hall of Fame run in his peak 1974-80, but he has a lot of flaws that were hidden by highlights.

For a high average guy, his OBP is low. He ranks 970th all-time among guys with 3,000 plate appearances in OBP. Yet he's 404th in average.

He gets credit for being a toolsy player due to his power, running and arm, yet he had a very poor success rate for stolen bases for someone who ran a lot and he committed a lot of errors. His defensive metrics are awful. He won three Gold Gloves, and one of those was a great choice, but the other two do not belong. He should have been a one-time Gold Glove winner (1977). He's not Derek Jeter bad, getting handed four of his five Gold Gloves as the worst player at his position, but it's close.

His 40.1 WAR really shows his flaws hidden by the highlights. No one is pushing for Albert Belle to be in the Hall, yet he put up the exact same WAR in 60% of the time, which clearly makes him a much more valuable player than Parker. They aren't even comparable. Belle got hurt by his attitude with the media (and everyone else), but Parker wasn't squeaky clean obviously, anyone who knows about the 1985 Pirates knows about his side story.

I voted no on him, but that's mostly because there are about 100 better candidates who are eligible right now, but I'm not against a large Hall of Fame. Someone like Parker should never be forgotten.