RIP - Cobra

 I just heard that Dave Parker died today at the age of 74, a month short of his Cooperstown induction.  His death came a bit over 13 years after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.

Parker was a giant to me. He was at the top of his game at the time I was closely following the baseball season as a teenager.  He was MVP in the magical (to me) 1978 season that saw an early glimpse of the "We are Family" Pirates. In 1978, the Pirates didn't hit my radar. I was engrossed in the AL East, that saw transcendent seasons from Boston's Jim Rice and my Yankees Ron Guidry.  A race that culminated on the first Monday in October as Bucky "Fucking" Dent and my Yankees dispatched the Bosox in a one game playoff.  The Pirates didn't really occupy any space in my brain until the following year, with the Pirates seven game World Series victory over the Orioles.

This passing has given me a pause since my father had Parkinson's Disease. It is a cruel disease, slowly robbing the person of their coordination and, in the later stages, of their memories.  My family has never been particularly warm and close.  And living half a continent away, I didn't get to experience my father's slow decline. Since I didn't get back to visit but a couple times a year, the progression of the disease was more jarring to me. And, in the end, robbed us of a proper goodbye as he knew he had a son that lived in Oklahoma but he didn't recognize me for being that son.

I don't offer this looking for sympathy. What is done is done and I have made my peace.  I offer it only to say I am pleased that Parker was lucid enough to see his election into Cooperstown, even if he didn't make it to the induction ceremony. Certainly, not being able to attend the ceremony is a loss for him and the world. But, when I think of deserving inductees (specifically but not exclusively Ron Santo) that never even got to experience the joy of knowing they were elected, I take solace in knowing Parker was able to hear and understand the honor bestowed to him.

What I am listening to: Temporary Nature (of any Precious Thing) by Lucinda Williams

1961 Fleer Autograph Project - Part 48

Has it really been two months since I posted?  Yes, it has. Does it seem like I always start a post that way? Yes, it does.   I haven't done anything hobby-wise in over three months and probably won't for at least as long going forward.  Do you ever have one of those years where it seems like you have one problem after another?  That has been 2025 for me. A lot has gone wrong in 2025. Nothing existential, but expensive. But all y'all have your own lives and struggles and aren't here to listen to me whine. So, let's get on with it.

This is the 48th signed 1961 Fleer card in my collection. I have a total of 72 and of the 24 I haven't yet posted, 18 are in the Hall of Fame, including today's subject, Redlegs great Ernie Lombardi.  

So, what random, interesting things did I learn about him:

1. Lombardi had a 17-year career - 10 with Cincinnati, 5 with the NY Giants, and 1 each with the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves
2. Between 1928 and 1930, he hit .370 while playing for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League.
3. He caught Johnny VanderMeer's back-to-back no-hitters, which we covered briefly in Part 39 of this series.
4. In 1938, he was the NL MVP. That season, he hit .342 with 19 homeruns and 95 RBIs. Modern statistics give his MVP season a total 4.8 WAR, far less than Bill Lee, Arky Vaughn and Mel Ott, all of who had greater than 8.0 WAR. 
5. Considered one of the slowest ballplayers, he also led the league by grounding into 30 double plays that year, an NL league record that stood for 70 years until 2008 when it was broken by Miguel Tejada.
6. Inducted into the Cincinnati Reds HOF in 1958, he was consistently overlooked by Cooperstown.  Indeed, he vowed to not attend the ceremony if ever elected. His eventual induction, championed by Birdie Tibbets, came in 1986, 9 years after his death.
7. He did not believe in signing autographs. It wasn’t until a youngster asked if he was illiterate that Lombardi, to dispute the point, signed the scrap of paper.
8. There is a picture of Lombardi holding seven baseballs in one hand. 
9. Lombardi struggled to find his place after his career ended and even attempted suicide in 1953.
10.  In 2004 a full-size bronze statue of Ernie was dedicated outside Great American Ballpark, joining those of Frank Robinson, Joe Nuxhall, and Ted Kluszewski at the entrance to the ballpark.

What I am listening to:  John Moreland