DALLAS — Having waited for the call from Cooperstown for nearly three decades, Dave Parker burst into tears Sunday when he was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame along with the late Dick Allen.
''Yeah, I cried,'' Parker said after receiving the news from Hall chair Jane Forbes Clark. ''It only took a few minutes, because I don't cry.''
Parker received 14 of 16 votes from the classic era committee at the winter meetings, and Allen got 13. A vote of 75% or more was needed for election.
They will be inducted into the Hall in Cooperstown, New York, on July 27 along with players voted in by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, whose balloting will be announced on Jan. 21.
Tommy John was third with seven votes on a committee that considered candidates whose primary impact was before 1980. Ken Boyer, Steve Garvey and Luis Tiant each received less than five votes, as did Negro Leaguers John Donaldson and Vic Harris.
Parker, who turned 73 in June, never got more 24.5% during 15 appearances on the BBWAA ballot from 1997-2011. Allen, who died in 2020 at age 78, received a high of 18.9% on the BBWAA ballot from 1983-97. Both also had fallen short in a series of prior committee votes.
His body shaking during a Zoom news conference from Parkinson's disease that was diagnosed in 2012, Parker flashed the quick wit he became known for during a 19-year career that ended in 1991 and included a pair of World Series titles. Asked whether he had thought of himself as a Hall of Famer, Parker responded with one of his often-said remarks.
''Without a doubt. When the leaves turned brown, I'd be wearing the batting crown," he said. "That was one of my sayings, so I always thought that I was going to be a major leaguer. I told my mother at 8 years old that I would be a baseball star and one day buy her a house. Well, I did that in '78. I got that done.''
