Jim Rice and Dave Parker were arguably the two best players in baseball during the late 1970s, spawning endless debates between Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates fans. Both were big, powerful, hard-hitting outfielders and perennial All-Stars who won the MVP awards in their respective leagues in 1978, when both were at the peak of their powers.
The following spring, they appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated together for the magazine’s 1979 baseball preview. They posed back-to-back in full uniform with Rice looking up at the larger Parker, under the headline “Who’s best?”
Forty-six years later, Rice finally settled the debate once and for all in a recent interview with The Athletic.
“I guess the idea was, like, who’s best?” Rice told Boston sportswriter Steve Buckley. “Well, let me tell you, Dave Parker was better. He just was. He was better.”
While Rice had better batting numbers (largely thanks to Fenway Park), Parker was a better baserunner, defender and all-around player. He also had more playoff success, winning two World Series rings to Rice’s zero.
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“Dave Parker had more tools as far as running and his hitting, and he was stronger,” added the 72-year-old Rice, who now works as a Red Sox studio analyst for NESN. “He was bigger, he was taller, he was better.”
Parker famously got the best of Rice during the 1979 All-Star Game in Seattle, throwing him out at third base with a marvelous throw from right field as Rice tried to stretch a double into a triple. Parker also nailed a runner at home plate later in the game with another spectacular throw, helping the National League beat the American League 7-6.
While Parker was better in his prime and had a longer career than Rice, it was Rice who got to Cooperstown first. Rice was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009 during his 15th and final appearance on the BBWAA ballot, while Parker had to wait another 16 years before he finally got the call from the Era Committee.
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Parker passed away at age 74 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease last month, just four weeks before he was to be enshrined in Cooperstown. While he won’t be there to celebrate his induction ceremony this weekend, at least his career is finally getting the recognition it deserves.
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Featured image via Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images