Dave Parker, head injuries and Parkinson’s Disease

Thirteen years ago, Dave Parker was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. It was first found during a routine physical exam when his doctor noticed a slight tremor in one of his fingers. He then went through a series of tests that confirmed the disease. It wasn't any different than the way most of us in the Parkinson’s world get our diagnosis.

One huge difference is that Dave Parker was a world-class baseball player. Few others played the game as intensely or as hard as the former Pirates’ right fielder. He played at a time when the emphasis on head injuries and concussions was not anything close to what it is today. Back in his day, the term ‘he got his bell rung’ was often used for a head injury. You shook it off and went back into the game.

When Parker was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, he thought that the aggressive nature of his play might have been the cause. But his sister also had Parkinson’s, so it’s more likely that genetics is responsible.

However, since then, another baseball player, Kirk Gibson, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Gibson was known to play baseball in the same intense manner as Parker. Is there any connection? Most likely it’s coincidental—but maybe not. There are still plenty of unknown things about Parkinson’s.

One thing about head injuries and Parkinson's—research shows there is a slight connection between concussions and Parkinson’s, but it hasn't shown up yet in the number of former football and hockey players getting the disease.

Since his diagnosis, he started the Dave Parker 39 Foundation. Its goal is to raise money to find a cure plus to make life better for those living with the disease.

Parker would have been inducted in baseball’s Hall of Fame next month. It was a long-overdue honor that sadly he will not be able to enjoy because Dave Parker died on Saturday at the age of seventy-four. The cause of death is supposedly end-stage pneumonia because of Parkinson’s. It’s one of the many ways patients with Parkinson’s have their lives end. It’s also a reminder that everyone’s journey with the disease is different.

We’ll hear plenty more about Dave Parker’s journey in life, baseball and dealing with Parkinson’s, on July 27, in Cooperstown. Here’s the play you’ll be seeing many times between now and then. This is how “The Cobra” will be remembered.

Rest easy, #39!