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In 1978, the winners of baseball’s annual MVP awards were Dave Parker and Jim Rice in the NL and AL, respectively, as each slugger hit above .300 with 30+ home runs, 100+ runs batted in, and 100+ runs scored. Overall, these two power-hitting outfielders were among the elite ballplayers of their era and each one retired with a .290+ career batting average, 2,400+ hits, 300+ home runs, 1,400+ runs batted in, and 1,200+ runs scored. However, while Rice was finally inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his 15th and final try, Parker never came close to reaching the 75% threshold during his time on the ballot; for supporters of Parker’s candidacy, they often point to the career of Rice as a benchmark given the close parallels between their careers – as such, let us compare these two feared sluggers of the 1970s and 1980s and ask:
Who was better – Dave Parker or Jim Rice?
The Beginning
Parker and Rice took very different paths to baseball stardom – the former was a draft afterthought and took some time to establish himself, while the latter was destined for stardom and broke onto the scene with one of the great rookie seasons in baseball history.
Though he was born in Mississippi, Parker was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he excelled in both football and baseball; after a knee injury forced him to give up football, he turned his attention to baseball and was drafted in the 14th round of the 1970 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Following a few years in the Pirates’ minor league system, Parker made his major league debut in 1973 and appeared in 54 games, hitting .288 with 4 home runs, 14 runs batted in, 17 runs scored, a .308 on-base percentage, and a .453 slugging percentage, good for a 111 OPS+ (which measures on-base percentage plus slugging vs. a league-wide average set at 100).
Similarly, while growing up in South Carolina, Rice also played numerous sports (football, basketball, and baseball); not only was he selected 15th overall in the first round of the 1971 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox, but he also received football scholarships to a number of schools, including Clemson and North Carolina. Ultimately, Rice chose baseball and was called up to the major leagues together with Fred Lynn late in the 1974 season. In his first full season in 1975, he hit .309 with 22 home runs, 102 runs batted in, 92 runs scored, a .350 on-base percentage, and a .491 slugging percentage (128 OPS+); despite finishing second for AL Rookie of the Year and third for MVP, Rice was overshadowed that year by Lynn, who had one of the greatest rookie seasons in baseball history and won both awards.
Career Comparison
By the late 1970s, Parker and Rice were both superstars (and MVP winners in 1978), though each would hit some turbulence in the early 1980s before a rebound/renaissance later in the decade.
Known as “The Cobra”, Parker became a full-time regular in 1975 and broke out to the tune of a .308 batting average, 25 home runs, 101 runs batted in, 75 runs scored, a .357 on-base percentage, and a league-best .541 slugging percentage (150 OPS+) to finish third for NL MVP. After again hitting .300+ in 1976 (.313), he would go on to win back-to-back batting titles in his prime:
- 1977: .338 batting average with a league-high and career-best 215 hits, a league-high 44 doubles, 21 home runs, 88 runs batted in, 107 runs scored, a career-high .397 on-base percentage, and a .531 slugging percentage, good for a 145 OPS+; additionally, he earned the first of seven All-Star Game selections, was again third for MVP, and won the first of three straight Gold Gloves
- 1978: .334 batting average with 30 home runs, 117 runs batted in, 102 runs scored, a .394 on-base percentage, and a league-high and career-best .585 slugging percentage, good for a 166 OPS+; Parker not only won NL MVP (though ironically was not an All-Star that year), but also signed the first $1M per year contract in baseball history at season’s end
With his rich new contract in hand, Parker responded in 1979 with another strong year, hitting .310 with 25 home runs, 94 runs batted in, a career-high 109 runs scored, a .380 on-base percentage, and a .526 slugging percentage (141 OPS+) to again make the All-Star team while finishing 10th for league MVP. Despite making the All-Star team the next two seasons, however, his numbers declined starting in 1980; in fact, Parker played just 67 and 73 games in 1981 and 1982, respectively, due to a combination of injuries, weight problems, and cocaine use.
Following a middling 1983 season, Parker became a free agent and signed with his hometown Cincinnati Reds. After a solid first season with the team, he returned to his late 1970s superstar form with a pair of All-Star selections and top-five MVP finishes:
- 1985: .312 batting average (his last .300 season) with a league-leading 42 doubles, a career-high 34 home runs, a league-leading and career-best 125 runs batted in, 88 runs scored, a .365 on-base percentage, and a .551 slugging percentage (149 OPS+); finished second for NL MVP to Willie McGee and won a Silver Slugger (the award was introduced in 1980)
- 1986: .273 batting average with 31 home runs, 116 runs batted in, 89 runs scored, a .330 on-base percentage, and a .477 slugging percentage (117 OPS+); though he was originally suspended for the season after testifying in the infamous “Pittsburgh drug trials”, the sentence was commuted to community service and Parker ended up placing fifth for MVP and winning another Silver Slugger
In his final season with the Reds in 1987, he hit just .253, though with 26 home runs and 97 runs batted in, before being traded to the Oakland Athletics for Jose Rijo and Tim Birtsas. Playing primarily designated hitter (DH) in the AL, Parker hit 22 home runs with 97 runs batted in for Oakland in 1989 before signing with the Milwaukee Brewers for the 1990 season; there, he earned a final All-Star selection and Silver Slugger award on the strength of a .289 batting average with 21 home runs, 92 runs batted in, 71 runs scored, a .330 on-base percentage, and a .451 slugging percentage (118 OPS+). Finally, Parker spent one final season in 1991 split between the California Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays before retiring at age 40.
Continuing a standard of excellence in left field for the Red Sox (Rice followed in the footsteps of Ted Williams and then Carl Yastrzemski, who moved to first base/designated hitter to accommodate him in 1975), Rice regressed slightly in 1976 as an encore to his outstanding rookie season, but then posted four straight All-Star campaigns, including three consecutive years hitting .300+ with at least 30 home runs, 100 runs batted in, and 100 runs scored, and placing top-five for AL MVP:
- 1977: .320 batting average with a league-high 39 home runs, 114 runs batted in, 104 runs scored, a .376 on-base percentage, and a league-high .593 slugging percentage (147 OPS+); finished fourth for MVP
- 1978: .315 batting average with 213 hits, 15 triples, 46 home runs, and 139 runs batted in (all league-highs and career-bests), as well as a career-high 121 runs scored, a .370 on-base percentage, and a league-leading and career-best .600 slugging percentage (157 OPS+); not only did Rice win the AL MVP, but he narrowly missed out on a Triple Crown (third in batting average) and his league-high 406 total bases was the most since Joe DiMaggio’s 418 in 1937 and the first season with 400+ total bases since Hank Aaron in 1959
- 1979: a career-high .325 batting average with 39 home runs, 130 runs batted in, 117 runs scored, a .381 on-base percentage, and a .596 slugging percentage (154 OPS+); fifth for MVP
Like Parker, as the calendar turned to the 1980s, Rice’s production dipped in his supposed prime, i.e. hitting below .300 with less than 30 home runs, 100 runs batted in, and/or 100 runs scored. Nevertheless, he improved back to .309 with 24 home runs and 97 runs batted in for the 1982 season before embarking on another streak of four straight All-Star seasons, hitting at least .280 with 20+ home runs and 100+ runs batted in each year, including two more top-five MVP finishes:
- 1983: .305 batting average with a league-leading 39 home runs and 126 runs batted in, 90 runs scored, a .361 on-base percentage, and a .550 slugging percentage (141 OPS+); finished fourth for MVP and won the front end of back-to-back Silver Sluggers
- 1986: .324 batting average with 20 home runs, 110 runs batted in, 98 runs scored, a career-best .384 on-base percentage, and a .490 slugging percentage (137 OPS+); third for MVP
Though 1986 was his last great season,, Rice was solid for a couple more years as a .270 to .280 hitter with around 15 home runs and 70 runs batted in per year; however, in 1989, he played 56 games and hit a career-worst .234 to retire at season’s end at age 36, having played his entire career with the Red Sox.
All in all, by virtue of a longer career for Parker vs. Rice (19 MLB seasons vs. 16 years, translating into nearly 400 more games played and over 1,100 additional at-bats), the former generally has better numbers in the major counting categories with the exception of home runs (382 for Rice vs. 339 for Parker), but the latter reigns supreme in all of the ratio categories. Interestingly, when you break it down by “great” seasons, Rice actually holds advantages in .300+ seasons (7 to 6), 30+ home run campaigns (4 to 3), and years with 100+ runs batted in (8 to 4), with each man scoring 100+ runs on three occasions. In addition to an MVP award apiece, Rice may have earned more All-Star selections (8x to 7x), but it is Parker who has the more robust hardware case: three Silver Sluggers (to Rice’s two) plus three Gold Gloves and a pair of batting titles. Putting it all together, when you look at the advanced metric of Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Rice has the career edge at 47.7 to 40.1. While both players are the definition of borderline cases, their paths to baseball immortality have diverged sharply: on one hand, Rice made it in his 15th and final year of eligibility with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in 2009, barely clearing the 75% threshold (76.4%); contrast, Parker never garnered more than 25% of votes in his 15 years on the ballot (which ran out in 2011), so his pathway to the Hall of Fame now rests with the Veteran’s Committee, which in recent years has elected the likes of Lee Smith and Harold Baines.
Regular Season Statistics
| Dave Parker | Player | Jim Rice |
| 19 (1973-1991) | Seasons | 16 (1974-1989) |
| 2,466 | Games Played | 2,089 |
| 9,358 | At-Bats | 8,225 |
| 2,712 | Hits | 2,452 |
| 1,272 | Runs | 1,249 |
| 339 | Home Runs | 382 |
| 1,493 | Runs Batted In | 1,451 |
| 683 | Walks | 670 |
| 154 | Stolen Bases | 58 |
| .290 | Batting Average | .298 |
| .339 | On-Base Percentage | .352 |
| .471 | Slugging Percentage | .502 |
| 121 | OPS+ | 128 |
| 40.1 | Wins Above Replacement | 47.7 |
| 7x | All-Star Games | 8x |
| 1x | MVP | 1x |
| 2x | World Series Titles | – |
| 3x Silver Slugger, 3x Gold Glove, 2x Batting Title | Other Awards | 2x Silver Slugger |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | 2009 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
When it comes to the postseason, Parker achieved much more success than his counterpart, winning World Series titles with two different teams; in contrast, like most Red Sox players of the 20th century, Rice experienced his share of heartbreak and was on the losing end of one of the most memorable title runs ever.
Across his tenures with the Pirates and Athletics, Parker made five playoff trips and won a World Series with each team. In 1979, he hit .333 in the NLCS (a sweep of the Reds) and .345 (10 hits in 29 at-bats) in the World Series as Pittsburgh prevailed in a tough seven-game series over the Baltimore Orioles. A decade later, as a veteran presence on an Oakland team led by the “Bash Brothers” (Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco) and star closer Dennis Eckersley, he played in the World Series two straight years – a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 avenged by a victory over the cross-town San Francisco Giants in 1989; personally, Parker hit around .200 across the two years, though did slug 3 home runs in the 1989 postseason, the only home runs of his playoff career.
Of course, as a Red Sox lifer, Rice never won a World Series title and in fact, only made the postseason twice (1986 and 1988), but did come agonizingly close – led by Cy Young and MVP winner Roger Clemens, Boston was on the verge of breaking the “Curse of the Bambino” in 1986, but lost to the New York Mets in seven games in a series best remembered for Bill Buckner’s infamous error through the legs; for his part, Rice hit a pair of home runs in the ALCS (despite a .161 batting average) and then, batted .333 in the World Series (9 hits in 27 at-bats) with 6 walks.
Playoff Statistics
| Dave Parker | Player | Jim Rice |
| 30 | Games Played | 18 |
| 111 | At-Bats | 71 |
| 26 | Hits | 16 |
| 11 | Runs | 14 |
| 3 | Home Runs | 2 |
| 11 | Runs Batted In | 7 |
| 7 | Walks | 9 |
| 1 | Stolen Bases | – |
| .234 | Batting Average | .225 |
| .287 | On-Base Percentage | .313 |
| .360 | Slugging Percentage | .366 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; interestingly, Parker and Rice both followed the path of bonafide superstar, then a dip in performance in their late 20s/early 30s, then a late-career rebound back to All-Star level, and finally, waning into retirement in their late 30s. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Dave Parker | Player | Jim Rice |
| 1975-1980, 1984-1986, 1990 | Decade of Dominance | 1975, 1977-1979, 1981-1986 |
| 1,525 | Games Played | 1,489 |
| 5,942 | At-Bats | 5,975 |
| 1,816 | Hits | 1,833 |
| 867 | Runs | 942 |
| 233 | Home Runs | 301 |
| 996 | Runs Batted In | 1,105 |
| 465 | Walks | 502 |
| 115 | Stolen Bases | 39 |
| .306 | Batting Average | .307 |
| .357 | On-Base Percentage | .361 |
| .501 | Slugging Percentage | .525 |
| 39.8 | Wins Above Replacement | 43.4 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Similar to their overall careers, Parker and Rice are very evenly matched across their mostly overlapping decades of dominance in the late 1970s to mid-1980s; Rice was a little bit better in terms of power and run production, which in turn leads to his advantage in WAR across those 10 years.
My Thoughts
Without a doubt, Dave Parker and Jim Rice were two of the most feared hitters in baseball during their peaks, particularly during the 1978 season, and their overall careers are quite similar in terms of peak, trajectory, and total statistics. Had it not been for his well-documented drug abuse issues, Parker may well have been on his way to a slam-dunk Hall of Fame career, but as it stands, I think Rice was just as good as Parker at his best, but a little bit more consistent, especially during those prime years. Perhaps the bigger question is the Hall of Fame – do they belong? If it were up to me, I would say no to both players – neither reached any of the major career milestones that usually guarantee enshrinement (e.g. 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, .300 batting average, etc.) and can generally be lumped into a large group of very good players that sit on the borderline, including the likes of George Foster, Dwight Evans, Darrell Evans, Dick Allen, Tony Oliva, Albert Belle, etc. Having said that, if Rice is worthy of the Hall of Fame, then I would say Parker is as well.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Jim Rice
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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