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 Torre, 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; the others each received less than five.
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.
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 the 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 racial 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.
After taking a pause for the 4 Nations Face-Off — and continuing Canadian domination in best-on-best tournaments — the NHL regular season is now rocketing toward the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The stakes are high. Time is short. Who’s in and who’s out?
The NHL Bubble Watch is our monthly check-in on the Stanley Cup playoff races using postseason probabilities and points projections from Stathletes for all 32 teams. We also reveal which teams shouldn’t worry about any of this because they’re lottery-bound already.
As a bonus this month, we’re also including which player from the playoff contenders needs to step up the most in the stretch run.
But first, a look at the projected playoff bracket:
PHOENIX — Veteran outfielder Mark Canha signed a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers that includes an invitation to major league camp.
The move announced Monday continues attempts by the two-time defending NL Central champions to boost their depth after outfielder Blake Perkins fractured his right shin during batting practice, an injury that probably will sideline him for the first month of the season. Milwaukee already had signed Manuel Margot to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp.
Canha, 36, previously joined the Brewers at the 2023 trade deadline. He batted .287 with a .373 on-base percentage, five homers, 33 RBIs and four steals in 50 games with Milwaukee that season.
He spent 2024 with the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants. Canha batted .242 with a .344 on-base percentage, seven homers, 42 RBIs and seven steals in 125 games.
Canha is a career .249 batter with a .349 on-base percentage, 120 homers and 459 RBIs in 1,049 games with Oakland (2015-21), the New York Mets (2022-23), Milwaukee, Detroit and San Francisco.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Justin Verlander struck out one and allowed a solo home run while pitching two innings in his spring training debut for the San Francisco Giants on Monday.
Verlander’s first start of the spring came four days after the three-time Cy Young Award winner’s 42nd birthday.
After allowing the two-out homer to Colorado’s Michael Toglia in the first inning, Verlander walked the next batter before retiring the last four he faced. All three Rockies hitters in the second were retired on fly balls.
Verlander’s 262 career wins are the most among active pitchers. The right-hander is preparing for his 20th big league season and his first with San Francisco after an injury-plagued 2024 in Houston. He signed a $15 million, one-year contract with the Giants.
Shoulder inflammation and neck discomfort limited Verlander to 17 starts last season, when he went 5-6 with a 5.48 ERA — a single-season worst that was more than two runs higher than his 3.30 career ERA.