June Pop Culture RIPs: Dave Parker was arguably the most intimidating baseball player ever

Dave “Cobra” Parker was always the exact kind of player I hated to see as a kid in the batter’s box against my beloved St. Louis Cardinals. He was big, intimidating, and, with a rocket of an arm, wasn’t exactly a guy I liked to see playing in right field either. Parker had Parkinson’s and passed away at age 74, but not before winning the 1979 World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates and being inducted into the Hall of Fame just last year. In a different era of baseball, the big guy used cocaine throughout the late 1970s and early 80s, with that habit ending publicly as he testified in 1985 that he had essentially been a dealer for his teammates and even some of his opponents. But what I remember most was the bat waving he did while awaiting every pitch, hence the name “Cobra,” putting him in the running of most intimidating baseball players ever. After more than a decade with the Pirates, Parker had another productive four years with the Cincinnati Reds, won another World Series with the 1989 Oakland A’s, and even later coached the Cardinals.

Bill Moyers was one of the greatest U.S. journalists ever and passed away at age 91. He was President Lyndon Johnson’s press secretary and one of the most influential people ever in that position, helping usher in the Great Society programs of that administration. The New York Times noted that “in his four decades as a television correspondent and commentator, Moyers, an ordained Baptist minister, explored issues ranging from poverty, violence, income inequality and racial bigotry to the role of money in politics, threats to the Constitution and climate change. His documentaries and reports won him the top prizes in television journalism, more than 30 Emmy Awards and comparisons to Edward R. Murrow, his revered predecessor at CBS.”

Sly Stone was right up there with the best funksters ever and passed away at age 82. It’s amazing he made it that long after all his wild tales of excess and isolation. “I Want to Take You Higher” crossed somewhere between the Jackson 5 and Funkadelic/Parliament. I’m an even bigger fan of his great soul groovers like “Everybody is a Star” and his pop tunes like “Stand,” “Everyday People,” and “Hot Fun in the Summertime.” Sly’s death is a reminder that, one of these days, I need to go deeper than the hits. I hear the albums Fresh and Time are great options to find the deeper cuts.

Mick Ralphs isn’t really a name I was ever all that familiar with. As the guitarist for Bad Company, I was largely drawn to that band as a high schooler because of the powerful vocals of Paul Rodgers. But looking back, Ralph’s guitar playing should be equally recognized. Those licks in songs like “Can’t Get Enough” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love” are undeniably killer. Also having played with Mott the Hoople, Ralphs had suffered a stroke after a Bad Company show in 2016 and never fully recovered. He was 81 and Bad Company is set to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year.

Lou Christie had a striking falsetto that put him in the Frankie Valli crooner genre, but his material is far more interesting to me. While Beatles-type pop replaced this kind of sock-hop style, Christie was a really interesting songwriter and was able to survive the transition and keep performing and recording for the rest of his life, until passing away after a brief illness at age 82. I highly recommend the compilation The Complete Co & Ce/Roulette Recordings. Also, “Lightning’ Strikes” was his sole #1 hit, in 1966, and it’s a jam. “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” was another big hit for him, leaning more into a bubblegum Archies sound.

Bobby Sherman was less a crooner like Christie and more a bubblegummer. Nowhere near in the league of greats like The Archies and The Jackson 5, he did add some pretty good contributions to the genre, like “Julie, Do You Love Me,” “Little Women,” and “Easy Come, Easy Go,” each of which hit the top 10. I think I must have learned about him from guest appearances on TV shows like The Monkees and The Partridge Family. He passed away at age 81 of liver cancer.

Jim Marshall was the rare aged 87 pro football player who I could have possibly remembered watching as a kid. That’s because the Minnesota Vikings defensive legend played until he was nearly 42 in 1979. This was after he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns and sent to the expansion Vikings way back in 1961, becoming part of their fearsome Purple People Eaters and famously running to the wrong end zone after a fumble recovery.

And finally, we lost several bit players from some of my favorite childhood TV shows, including Rick Hurst, who was 79 and played the deputy sheriff Cletus Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard; Lynn Hamilton, who was 95 and played Fred Sanford’s girlfriend and fiancé on Sanford and Son; and Gailard Sartain, who was 81 and was a goofball Hee-Haw regular but also played more serious roles in films like Mississippi Burning and The Outsiders.