"The Cobra" is the nickname of Dave Parker, the great hitter and outfielder scheduled to be posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27, 2025, the same date as Lelands begins our 2025 Summer Auction. Presented is the opportunity to own and display a 1979 Dave Parker game-used Rawlings professional model glove that Parker has autographed. 

Parker passed away on June 28, 2025, from complications from Parkinson's Disease. He did get to enjoy the news of his induction to the Hall of Fame in December 2024, after he received 14 of a possible 16 votes from the Classic Era Baseball committee. On his offensive numbers and recognized defensive prowess, Parker would have seemed to be a Hall of Fame candidate who would have been elected years before now. But his involvement in baseball's wide-spread drug scandal and then "Pittsburgh Drug Trials" in 1985 evidently made some Hall of Fame voters shy away from listing Parker on their ballots, even though Parker later apparently stopped his self-admitted drug usage and counseled younger teammates to avoid making mistakes similar to those he made. What were Parker's numbers? Very impressive. Parker played from 1973-1991 with six Major League teams, but his most memorably campaigns were with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1973-83) and Oakland Athletics (1988-89). He batted a lifetime .290, with 2,712 hits, 339 home runs, and 1,493 RBIs. He won two NL batting championships, both with Pittsburgh: 1977 (.338) and 1978 (.334). Parker was also the 1978 NL MVP. He was a 2-time World Champion. Parker was also a fine right fielder, with a cannon arm. He won three Gold Glove Awards. He also was a 3-time Silver Slugger recipient. Parker won fame with the 1979 iconic "We Are Family" Pirates, a group whose Black, White and Latino players did get along as a "family" just as the lyrics of the famed Sister Sledge "We Are Family" hit record said - a recording that played over-and-over in the raucous Pirate clubhouse , and then soon at Three Rivers Stadium, and then all over Pittsburgh and everywhere Pirate fans gathered. In that season, the Pirates won the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles in seven games. Parker batted .341 in the Series and used his terrific throwing arm to throw out a runner at home plate in Game I, a key play in the Series. In the '79 season, Parker batted .310, with 25 home runs and 94 RBIs. The Cobra was also a World Champion for "The Bash Brothers", the 1989 Oakland Athletics, with two of his slugger teammates being Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire.

The offered glove is a Rawlings PROB-P leather fielder's glove (12.75") with a basket web. It is made of Rawlings top grade "Heart of the Hide" tanned steer hide and bound with rawhide laces. Moderate wear is seen in the pocket, the face of the web, and throughout the body of the glove. The tips and backs of the fingers show appropriate scuffing, as would to be expected from Parker's playing right field. The index sleeve above the "holster" is depressed from Parker's extended index finger. Dave Parker has autographed and dated (as 3-18-81) the thumb sleeve back, using green ink for both the signature and inscription.  His "Cobra" appears on the back of the pinky finger in well-faded black marker. Features include a closed "Fastback" with finger holster and an adjustable wrist snap and a dual laced palm hinge. Natural welting highlights the fingers. Manufacturer's labeling includes a white on red Rawlings wrist label and an embroidered logo at the web base. The five-dot code indicates that the glove was made in 1979.

The glove was gifted to the consignor's grandfather, Dr. Robert Lee Batey, a distinguished cardiologist and a lifelong resident of Bradenton, Florida, the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dr. Batey was a noted innovator with cardiac care, and he was deeply involved in sports medicine, and he provided critical care to athletes, including members of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had a long-standing relationship with the Pittsburgh Pirates' staff. Dave Parker personally gifted the offered glove to Dr. Batey during a celebratory event in Bradenton following the Pirates 1979 World Series triumph. Since then, the offered glove has been carefully preserved within the consignor's family. A very detailed Letter of Provenance, from the consignor Matthew Batey and dated June 2, 2025, is included with the offered glove. Also, included is a PSA/DNA Letter of Authenticity (Cert.: 1G01053) for the offered glove. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony of Dave Parker will remind fans of his baseball abilities as a player often considered to be the best in baseball in the late 1970s. Yet the Hall of Fame ceremonies will be marked with sadness for his recent passing. The offered signed and inscribed Parker glove offers a fine remembrance for the man and his - in recent years - sometimes-overlooked abilities. 

Estimated domestic USA shipping cost only. Does not include handling or insurance: 23.49 Please feel free to contact us for a more accurate shipping cost.