The Pittsburgh Pirates will honor Hall of Famer Dave Parker on Friday night when the players and coaching staff begin wearing a patch on their uniform sleeves commemorating the late right fielder.
Parker will be inducted posthumously into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y. He died last month at 74 following a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
The Pirates play the Arizona Diamondbacks and will continue to wear the patch throughout the remainder of the season. The patch is circular in design and features a gold silhouette of Parker, along with the word “Cobra” written in large white script, commemorating his nickname.
A painted stencil of the patch design will appear on the PNC Park field behind home plate to the left of the Pirates’ “P” throughout the three-game series. A fan messaging wall will be on display on the PNC Park Riverwalk throughout the weekend, allowing fans to leave personal messages for Parker and his family.
During Sunday’s series finale, fans can view the new Parker permanent concrete baseball display that will be placed on the PNC Park Riverwalk trail, along with the Pirates’ 23 other Hall of Famers. Before the permanent placement, the team will display the ball on the Pirates Hall of Fame wall near Clemente Gate in right field.
The Pirates selected Parker in the 14th round of the 1970 amateur draft, and he made his major-league debut three years later. He played for the Pirates through the 1983 season before finishing his career with the Cincinnati Reds (1984-87), Oakland Athletics (1988-89), Milwaukee Brewers (1990), California Angels (1991), and Toronto Blue Jays (1991).
In his 11 seasons with the Pirates, Parker was voted the National League MVP in 1978 while appearing in four All-Star Games, winning three Gold Gloves, and helping the Pirates make their last World Series appearance in 1979 when they rallied to beat the Baltimore Orioles in seven games.
Parker was an inaugural member of the 2022 Pirates Hall of Fame class.