Dave Parker, Dick Allen get classic era Hall call
-
David Schoenfield, SweetSpot blogger
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.
LOS ANGELES — Veteran forward Evander Kane made his season debut for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Defenseman John Klingberg also returned from a lengthy injury absence as the Oilers attempted to even the series.
Kane is a 15-year NHL veteran who hasn’t played for the Oilers since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final last June. He had surgery last September to repair a sports hernia, and he underwent knee surgery in January.
Kane was slotted on to the Oilers’ second line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.
Klingberg hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury while blocking a shot March 27 in Seattle. The Swedish veteran signed with Edmonton in January after going unsigned early in the season, but he played in only 11 games while dealing with multiple injuries.
The Oilers are hoping Klingberg can help their blue line, which frequently struggled in the Kings’ 6-5 victory in Game 1.
Jeff Skinner was scratched by the Oilers to make room for Kane. The 15-year NHL veteran forward made his Stanley Cup playoff debut in Game 1, recording an assist.
-
Ryan S. Clark
Chris Drury and the New York Rangers agreed to a multiyear contract extension on Wednesday, keeping him at the helm of the team’s hockey operations after missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
“I am pleased that Chris will continue to lead the Rangers hockey operations in his role as president and general manager,” Madison Square Garden chairman and CEO James Dolan said in a statement. “Over his tenure, Chris has shown passion for the Rangers, relentless work ethic and a tireless pursuit of excellence.
“While we are all disappointed in what transpired this past season, I am confident in his ability to guide this organization to success.”
Drury, 48, took over as general manager and president of hockey operations at the start of the 2021-22 season. The Rangers reached the playoffs in his first three seasons.
His future was one of a few items that remained in question, with the intent that the Rangers would use this offseason to reload in their bid to return to the playoffs. The team also is facing a third coaching search in four seasons after firing Peter Laviolette following his two seasons.
“I am honored to sign this contract extension and continue in this position with the team I grew up supporting,” said Drury, a former Rangers captain who played four seasons with the team. “As I said when I began in this role nearly four years ago, there isn’t a more special organization in hockey, and I look forward to continuing our work this offseason to help us reach our goals for next season and in the coming years.”
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the Eastern Conference finals under Laviolette in the 2023-24 season, the Rangers started 12-4-1 this season, only to lose the next five games. That started a chain reaction of inconsistent play that ultimately led to the Rangers finishing six points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
While the Rangers sought to make the playoffs, Drury also made it known they were open for business in December. That’s when they traded captain Jacob Trouba, who still had a year left on his contract, to the Anaheim Ducks. A few weeks later, they traded Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, who would then sign an extension with the Rangers.
A month before the trade deadline, the Rangers reacquired J.T. Miller in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers also traded defenseman Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche and forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights while adding defensemen Carson Soucy in a separate deal with the Canucks.
Still, the Rangers lost four consecutive games in early March before having two three-game losing streaks that further damaged their chances in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.
Now that Drury has a new contract, he’ll be charged with trying to improve a roster that PuckPedia projects will have only $9.67 million in available cap space. K’Andre Miller, Zac Jones and Matt Rempe are part of the club’s eight-player restricted free agent class, while the Rangers have only two unrestricted free agents in Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Calvin de Haan.
Drury will be looking for a coach in what is expected to be a competitive market. Anaheim and Seattle also fired their coaches, and three other teams — Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia — ended the season with interim coaches. The Canucks declined the option on coach Rick Tocchet, but they have offered him a new, more lucrative contract.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway