WEBVTT - The Cobra 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:05.520 If you thought more hours a day, hundred minutes a 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:09.200 week was enough, I think again. He's the last remnants 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:12.520 of the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.520 treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:20.280 rich pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes, 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.160 break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:31.040 Maller starts right now in the air everywhere. We were 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.320 back at it starting the weekend. As we get going 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:38.040 here with another full weekend a fifth Hour podcast. A 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.240 very special cult group of the Mallard Militia have found 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.960 this podcast and we thank you for that, and I 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:47.880 am excited. We do this now eight days a week, 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:52.479 double barrel action on a Friday, and we had the 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:55.720 overnight show and now we go right in sash our 0:00:55.800 --> 0:01:00.160 way in to our conversation podcast. We do the us 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.920 because four hours a night not enough. In the overnight. 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.080 We thank you for finding it. We hope you've subscribed. 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.200 Hit that little subscribe button on the podcast. If you 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:09.880 have not reviewed, I know it's a pain in the ass, 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:12.600 but if you if you like the podcast, you should 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:14.760 review the podcast. If you don't like the podcast, you 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:16.840 probably shouldn't review it. It's not for you. But if 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.080 you like the podcast, man, that would be great. Five 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.760 stars review it and that would be wonderful. And back 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:27.319 amazingly another weekend with David Gascon as he is in 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:35.240 here hand sound effects, n scind the thoughts on that 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.480 octu here nothing nothing canned about that just got some 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:41.760 people off the four or five free way they wanted 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.119 to come on in and say hello. So it's uh, 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.039 it's gonna be back in the house and of course 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.520 a brand new day, a little tired from having to 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:51.560 put together a bunch of crap for you. I'm sure 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.600 we'll get into that in the next day or two. No, no, no, 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.440 you didn't have to do any any of that. There's 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:01.120 high production value, like you know, like this podcast is 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:08.840 so moving. But but yeah, you are what pathetic? I'm awesome. Awesome, 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:10.880 that's not a word. That's not a word I would use. 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:14.280 That's a word I would use. You're not You're not 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.680 really kind, You're not really compatible with compliments. So it's 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:22.080 here's what I here's what I do. I believe in 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.520 tough love. Okay, that's what I do. I get I 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.760 believe you get better it's called constructive criticism, is what 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.040 it is. No, No, you don't give anything constructive, You 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:35.880 just criticize. Now, if I was a doctor. If I 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.240 was a doctor, would I be a dentist? Would I 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.480 be a surgeon? No? I would be doctor truth. All right, 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.280 That's what I am, doctor truth with valid and well 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:52.840 reasoned opinions. You'd be like by the dozen. You wouldn't 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:54.639 be an ear doctor. You wouldn't be ear nose and 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.960 through it. Maybe like an ophthalmologist, because at times you 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.760 are observant of the times you're not. You don't really 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.320 listen to ship. You just talk loud over people. It's 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.519 pretty much it. So you'd be an optimologists. It's called 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.640 being a talk show host. Have you ever heard a 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:17.080 talk host? Have you ever heard a talk show host? 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:21.520 Who's I have my talk show host. I would like 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:23.520 you to listen. We got some guys that are here 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:28.280 like that, don't you think? Do you want to name names? No? 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.480 But no, I don't know. I I don't listen to 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.359 a lot of these guys. But if I have heard 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.360 some people over the years that are like that, and 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:40.280 you know what I do? Click click, I move on, 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.600 I go, I go elsewhere. I don't listen. Why would 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.080 I want to listen to that. If I want to 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:48.160 hear somebody whisper, I'll go to the library. I don't 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.400 need to hear that on the radio or podcasting or 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:58.240 it's ridiculous. So mine back to this podcast. Yes, today's podcast. Now, 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:04.119 this is what's known as alternative programming. Right now. I'm 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:05.920 excited to do this. We were actually we're supposed to 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:10.040 do this interview last week. You know, we've been working 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:11.480 on this for a couple of weeks. But I think 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.080 it's perfect because it's obviously NFL Draft weekend and all 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:18.560 that going on that rigamore or so, I think we 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:20.880 should give you an alternate, a little break from all 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.920 that football stuff. And I am fired up because we 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:30.560 have a legitimate big name, this guy Royalty in his 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.320 day back in his halcyon days with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:42.200 as we are chatting with the great Dave Parker. Dave Parky, 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:46.560 National League MVP in nineteen seventy eight, was part of 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:50.880 the we Are Family Pittsburgh Pirates of nineteen seventy nine, 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:55.120 played with Willie Stargel and was teammates with Pete Rose. 0:04:55.440 --> 0:05:00.440 Played with Conseco and McGuire. Robin Youunt was his team 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.279 in Hall of Famer with Milwaukee. Dave Winfield with the 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:07.080 Angels won a couple of World Series and his resume 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:12.080 is outstanding. Uh, And we're gonna gonna chat here with 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.919 with the Parker. He's got a new book out Gascon. 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:19.479 It's called Cobra, A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood. It 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.159 just came out in April, the beginning of April, so 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.000 it's only it's only been out for a short time. 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.400 And if you're like me and you remember watching Dave 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:34.159 Parker and the way he played with the Bravado to 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.240 his game, you're gonna wanna kinda read the book. I mean, 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:40.520 he goes uh full in on everything here. We'll get 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.400 into some of it just a little bit. We'll scratch 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.760 the service. But it's a book designed more for an 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:50.200 adult audience, which is good. So he's gonna tell some 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:51.640 of I mean, this guy was part of the pirates 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:53.840 back when they were you know, in the seventies and 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.040 the eighties, when you know, cocaine was in the air everywhere, 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.960 and I was dragged into that the Pittsburgh drug trials, 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.960 which he was a star of we'll ask him about that. 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.960 By the way, before I we get into the conversation 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.440 with Dave Parker, if you're gonna buy the book, I 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:15.360 recommend going to Dave Parker thirty nine Foundation dot com 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:17.720 because if you if you're gonna buy the book anyway, 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:21.440 you buy it there and it will help the Dave 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:24.560 Parker thirty nine Foundation in their mission to help defeat 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.520 Parkinson's which Dave has been battling here for the last 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:31.720 handfull of years. But let's get into it right now. 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.960 And I think we should start with this, Dave Parker 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:40.080 that recently we've seen a number of players of former players, 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:41.480 guys that you played with at the end of your 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.960 career who no longer are watching baseball, who are disgusted 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:51.120 with baseball. Gary Sheffield is one and David Wells is another. 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.560 Just at the top of my head here, But where 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.000 do you stand on that? Where are you at on 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:59.440 watching baseball? Do you still enjoy the game? Do you 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.880 still check out? Well, I'm watching it if I'm walking 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.000 through the house and happen to be on TVV. But 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:11.120 the game is too slow, They don't play small ball. 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:17.920 Guys are standing that to play taking the strikes, swinging 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:23.280 and balls and bob their head. They're not fundamentally sound, 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:28.280 and uh, it's hard to watch. Yeah, And I gotta 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:29.960 ask you, is a guy that played, you know, in 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:31.920 the for me the goal I grew up watching you 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.360 played there, so I loved I loved your your era 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.040 of baseball. But this ghost runner, right, they were an 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.640 extra inting So they just magically a runner pops up 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:46.600 on second base? Where are you on that? Pretty soon 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:52.160 they're gonna have robots pitching. You know, a weird thing. 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.280 I'm losing the rules. I don't even know the rules 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.480 are in baseball no more. You gotta guy running in Pennsylvania, 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:01.440 you know, if I know, like a pen Son, I 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:05.640 had to play the extra four or five years. Yeah, 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.240 it's pretty it's pretty crazy. If you were in charge 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.520 and Rob Manford and I do the overnight show here 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:14.720 at Fox, and I've taken my shots to the commissioner. 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.720 But if you were running baseball, David, you could you 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.640 could fix and tweak something in the sport of baseball. 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:25.280 What what would it be? What do you think baseball 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:30.440 needs that the commissioner could do? What they need to 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:34.600 promoted better? They need promoted better. And you don't have 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:40.040 any as African Americans in the game decentages like down 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:44.360 the seventh. Uh they need to promote the game more, 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:49.440 bring some new blood in. And they have this this broke. 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.280 Don't fix it. You know, ain't nothing wrong with baseball. 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:54.840 You throw it, I catch it, and you throwing it 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:59.640 out hit you know, and just keep it simple. Yeah, David, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.680 you were, you know, one of the great African American 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:06.360 players in your day. But but baseball's they've they've had 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:11.160 these different campaigns to try to encourage uh more black 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.120 kids to play baseball. But it's it seems like basketball 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:16.720 and football for the last twenty or thirty years, everyone's 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:21.080 been gravitating to that. So I don't know what else 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.439 baseball can do. You know, It's it's an interesting dilemma, right, 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.560 I mean, if if kids don't want to play baseball, 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:28.720 you can't really force him, right, So what are they 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:36.800 supposed to do? It's an odd situation. Well, you know, 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:39.960 it's try to faults and to do it. But I mean, 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:44.040 you still got to promote it. You gotta. Basketball have 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:47.880 all these programs for youth during their All Star games, 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.480 and then they make a grandness to the kids baseball 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.560 could do the same thing. I'm not nothing a hook 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.960 with not fouls and players to do and just create 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:06.200 environment for them the I want to do it absolutely now. 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.240 When you played, you had you had swagger, You had 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.880 swagger to your to your your your game. There were 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:19.880 usually frowned upon. I know today in baseball one guys 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:24.800 like Fernando Tatis Jr. Who have that to their game, 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:27.559 there's still people call them out on it, like you're 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:29.680 not supposed to play baseball that way. When you were 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.319 playing back in the seventies and the eighties and the 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.240 end of the nineties, there were people. Do people give 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:37.160 you a hard time for the jewelry and all the 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:42.560 razmutazz that you brought. I got to hit fifty times 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:48.240 in twenty years, So when too many people won the 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.800 through me because I was a physical player and I 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:57.280 was intimidating and I had a situations would open McGuire 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.880 and got hit about three or four times in a week, 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.559 and uh put him to the side, And I said, 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.199 if you want to stop that, just run out there 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:07.920 one day and grab a guy in the college and 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:11.280 shaking for a second. And he did, and then you 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.800 get hit for the rest of the year. You know, 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.160 guys want to put on the show. Have some at 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:22.240 a possess to the game, be prepared to pay the price. 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:26.760 Bob Gibson would have probably unbroken about twelve thirteen ribs 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.520 by now. I've see these guys go up to line 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.800 thing that I'm looking for one to do a flip. 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:37.559 You know. It's a certain respect that's in baseball and 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:41.520 you gotta have it. Yeah, and we're talking with the 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.120 great Dave Parker. Obviously he's got a book out and 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:46.679 we're gonna talk more about that in a couple of minutes. 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:50.840 Here Cobra A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood. It's available 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:55.960 wherever you get books, in Amazon, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:00.000 all those locations where you you would get your books. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.480 And we'll talk more about that. But Dave, you mentioned 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:04.960 the on field justice when you played, and you would 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.480 get drilled, and then they didn't do that too often 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:09.680 because you were a big holking guy and you could 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.240 rip their heads off. But baseball's try to get away 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:14.280 from that now. It's another one of those things that's 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.040 changed since you played, where they don't really want the 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:21.000 players to take care of the adjudication on the field, 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.520 and uh, you know what were the rules I guess 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:28.200 the unspoken rules when you were playing that you guys 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:34.520 followed to police the game when you were playing well, 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:38.000 and to for two you hit one of mine when 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.280 we hit two years. You know that's that's that's the 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.800 way that a lot of guys dealt with it. But 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.679 I mean you sure enough respect You know, I had 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.840 a whole run truck where I had my fingers down 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:52.520 and I ran real slow, but uh, it was done 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:56.000 in a respectful way. And I don't think God will 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.120 offend him by and none of the guys took pride 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:02.880 and and taking deep one of my best friends then 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:06.120 in secondsly I got him about six or seven times, 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:08.600 and he had come and tell you a story about 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.559 what what he thought when it was going over the fence. 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.839 You know, it's a certain way that you can do 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:20.680 that without showing up the player. Yeah. Well, now, obviously 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:25.840 we live in the social media age, Dave. Everything's about Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.160 all that stuff. How would how would a young Dave 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:33.800 Parker when you were just mashing the baseball with the pirates, 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:37.040 how would you have been on social media in your 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:43.199 in your prime. I was a boy accepted because I 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.040 had a little pas working. I used to make a 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:51.360 rhymes and till you know, when the needs turned brown, 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:55.400 I'll be wearing the vetting crown. And I had another 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:59.719 one that I used on on Sundays was there's only 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.640 three things for sure, the day and the sun and 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:05.360 the winds don't blow and big days gonna go for 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:09.959 for four. You were like the poet laureate. They didn't. 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:11.400 I was talking to one of my buddies and we 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:13.200 were talking about you back in the day, and then 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.840 you have a wasn't there some line you like? Mommy 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:17.880 said there would be Daves like this, right? I mean 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:19.920 you you were you were a poet in your day. 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:23.280 Dave with the we were imperfect for Twitter would have 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:28.320 been perfect, you know they called me in baseball. The 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.720 one about Mama said every days like this was when 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.640 me and Winfield was playing together and and I had 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.960 so u. I just put together things that fit the club, 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.720 that fit the individual. Be sure to catch live editions 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.360 of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.400 eleven pm Pacific. Be sure to catch live editions of 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.400 The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:55.000 pm Pacife on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.120 Radio app Dave. What do you miss most about the 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.840 game nowadays? And obviously there's a change in saber mention 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.040 and analytics and things like that, But what do you 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.920 miss about what it was compared to what it is now? 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:09.840 Just the guys are not fundamentally sound, you know, and 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:13.280 you're making three hundred million a year, which I believe 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:18.240 in whatever the market or bear. But you know, the 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.360 older in the game, some some play. You know, you 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:27.040 gotta be fundamentally and sound and lease, you know, hustle 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.200 a little bit and leave your feet. You know, you 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:33.200 don't see that. And so the money that they're they're 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.520 getting paid, you can request some of that and maybe 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.000 get it. Any guys that played today that remind you 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:41.840 of how the game was played back in the day. 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.640 I like Tatis. I think that's the kid's name in 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:51.120 San Diego. I like his style. You know, he puts 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:56.160 himself on the line and he's got flash and then 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:00.760 he hustles put team on his back and we don't 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.360 have to many players es capable of doing and today, 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:06.600 I mean he's certainly a figure in San Diego. What 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:09.160 about Nanaheim with Shoo Tani, What do you think about him? 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:16.880 I don't know much about him fair enough. Um, you know, Dave, 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.400 with with the way that things have been progressive with 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:22.040 Major League Baseball, you mentioned a guy like Fernano Tattoos Jr. 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:25.400 And And marketing the game. What kind of steps would 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:27.800 you take to get these guys out there? I mean, 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.280 Mike Trout, for all intensive purposes, is the best player 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.960 in Major League Baseball right now, but doesn't have the personality, 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.720 doesn't have the chrisma, and he can't force the guy. 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:40.880 So who else would you go up there with and say, hey, 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:42.760 we need to market you a little bit more outside 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.760 of a guy like Tatis or maybe Mookie Betts. Well, 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:52.080 I'm sure is that more than one star? So you know, 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.880 you tell you, as a managine you star and tell 0:16:55.960 --> 0:17:02.120 them what you expect and uh, they should be able 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:07.600 to do that. We know, no problem at all. Yeah, Dave, 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.480 your your book. Let's talk about that now. The Cobra, 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:14.320 that's why you're here. Cobra A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood, 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.040 as we mentioned, is available now wherever you get your books. 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:19.600 That just came out here in the month of April, 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:22.040 so it's a brand new books. You can be one 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:23.920 of the first people to check it out. I know, 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.439 for guys like me, listen, I I grew up watching 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:27.879 to play day. I want to. I want to hear 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.440 all about you and read all about you. And I've 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.560 actually read some of the book already. But for the 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.840 person listening, let's say the younger person, the gen Z 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:38.960 person that doesn't know Dave Parker, that didn't watch you 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.520 play with the swagger back in your day. Why should 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:48.679 someone who's in that category by this book, Dave? Well, there, 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.960 we've probably heard of me. If I hadn't seen me play, 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:58.120 and I interviewing the individual, then UM have a request 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:03.400 for the game. Somebody that played hard. I never ran out. 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.400 I always ran out my ground balls regards and when 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.879 he was hit, and I always played at a hundred. 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:15.600 I was physical, I was colorful. I was a fun 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:20.320 to watch. Now you were, and I I understand this 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.800 book is geared more to an adult towards an adult audience. 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.639 Right you you as you met you? I mean, you 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:31.119 played in a wild era before social media, when you 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.639 could you know, guys could get away with more stuff 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.680 back in the seventies in the eighties. So how saucy 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:38.280 do we get in this book? Are we gonna hear 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.800 about the partying and all that you know back in 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.280 the pirate days and whatnot? How how deep do we 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.000 get in this book? Dave? It gets pretty deep. I 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.680 tell people, you know, some curse words in here. You 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.320 might not want to care to read it, you know, 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:56.720 but it gets pretty deep. I was one of the 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:01.920 guys that wouldn't missed a good party. And when congregate 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:06.119 with my teammates, we'll go out to dinner and twelve 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.840 thirteen of us and we go to a nightclub back rooms, 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:13.399 so we, uh did all the fun stuff too. Yeah. So, 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.000 and baseball in those days, they've they've attempted to, I 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:18.879 guess clean it up and all that. But you played, 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:21.760 as I said, in the seventies and the stories about 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:24.800 greenies and whatnot in the locker room and just the 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.159 wildness in the parts. And then you played into the 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.960 eighties and the you know, the beginning of the steroid era. 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:35.000 Uh did you ever dabble in in that day when 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:36.760 you were playing or did you avoid that? You played 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.280 with the A's and McGuire and Conseco were there. So 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.720 how tempting was it if you didn't do it? No, 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:47.200 that wasn't tempting at all. You know, steroids slink to 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:50.280 human body, and I'm not one to try to slink. 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.679 I'm kind of add on uh STIs never did uh 0:19:55.640 --> 0:20:01.480 attract me? Absolutely? You you told interesting story wrong with 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:05.240 my buddy sports with Coleman, and I had not heard this. 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.320 I've always known I have one of the great nicknames 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:11.760 in sports in the Cobra. And and what is the 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:13.960 origin of that? For the for the guys listening that 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.040 haven't heard you tell the story before? Who gave you 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:19.080 the nickname? And it's a great nickname, one of the 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.600 greats in sports. But who gave you the nickname the Cobra? 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:27.280 Trainer Tony brought a rome was a big boxing sing 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:32.639 and we had a fighter in Cincinnati called the Cincinnati Cobra. 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:37.200 His name was Es Shaul and he was the heavyweight champ. 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:44.159 And Tony associated me man Cincinnati and gave me the 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:48.480 title the Cobra, and Bob Prince made it famous are announcing. 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:54.280 So it came from a trainer. It's good nickname that trainer, 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.399 whoever that is that, I got a good job by him. 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:58.760 I saw in the book here there's a quote from 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.239 Keith Hernandez, who played it against you and now as 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:06.720 a Mets broadcaster, and he said of you that for 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:11.200 a that period of time, he he meeting you, Dave Parker, 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:16.680 the greatest player of my generation. That's a tremendous compliment 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:21.119 by Keith Hernandez. And I mean you were a wonderful day. 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.399 I mean, where do you put yourself, David, that in 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:29.800 that seventies early eighties window, I was the best player 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:38.600 from mid seventies, say heyy and uh from eighty four two, 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:45.760 I mean coming out of Oakland, Um, it was Milwaukee. 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:50.320 I was the best player for about ten of those 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:57.560 two years, Dave. Statistically speaking, your eight five campaign with Cincinnati, 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:00.000 you had thirty four home runs, drove in a hundred 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:05.720 and batted over three. That says a lot obviously in 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:07.879 the middle of your career. But where did you find, 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:09.960 I guess, the most comfort in your career. Did you 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:15.360 enjoyed Pittsburgh more than Cincinnati or Milwaukee or Oakland? Well, 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:18.560 I enjoyed Pittsburgh because they gave me an opportunity to 0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:23.960 play and started was like a father, big brother talk 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:27.160 Ellis was like a brother, and we just had guys 0:22:27.320 --> 0:22:34.920 Bill mad Lock guys that was great guys that play 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:39.880 with and organization was was great to play for at 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:44.480 a time. But I kind of overstayed my welcome and 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:49.200 uh ran into some problems with the fans for a 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:51.800 period of time. Did you get that sense that you 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:53.879 were overstaying you're welcome or is that something that was 0:22:54.160 --> 0:22:59.280 hinted by somebody else. No, it's just uh when when 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:06.280 your fans thought, falling stuff and yelling stuff from the fans, 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:09.720 I mean from the stands and gets to the point 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:13.920 where maybe it's time to do something else. Was there? Wait? Wait, wait, 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:15.600 what were they thrown at you when you What was 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:17.480 the craziest thing that got thrown at you when you 0:23:17.520 --> 0:23:19.639 were playing in those ear? In that ear that that 0:23:19.760 --> 0:23:22.600 happened a lot, right? And what kind of projectiles were 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:25.600 flying down when you were out in the field. Well, 0:23:25.680 --> 0:23:30.119 we had one of the strangest things with a sock 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:32.960 full of nuts and boats. It was a sock that 0:23:33.119 --> 0:23:36.240 had nuts and boats and and somebody threw it out 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:39.639 the right field and I heard a chink, and I 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:41.680 want to see what it was, And that's what it was. 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:45.480 Some nuts and boats. What's so, was it worse in 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:51.400 Pittsburgh or worse in Philadelphia? It was in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia 0:23:51.480 --> 0:23:55.120 through a battery. I mean somebody in Pittsburgh through a battery. 0:23:55.280 --> 0:23:57.920 So I had two batteries and a sock full of 0:23:58.040 --> 0:24:03.840 nuts and boats. That's crazy, Dave. Well, what about the 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:06.000 Hall of Fame? Obviously you didn't get voted in by 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:10.520 the writers. You're still eligible through the Veterans Committee. Do 0:24:10.600 --> 0:24:13.040 you do you think you've been ostracized day because of 0:24:13.160 --> 0:24:14.919 some of the stuff that happened in Pittsburgh where they 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:17.760 just won't put you any get your numbers. As you said, 0:24:17.800 --> 0:24:20.000 you for for a period of years were the top 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:21.800