MLB power rankings: Top 30 nicknames of all-time
By John Buhler
22. Dave Parker: Cobra
If your nicknames derives from a snake, you’re just probably better than everybody else (i.e. Kobe Bryant a.k.a. The Black Mamba). Though there is not a lot of snake nicknames in baseball outside of the Arizona Diamondbacks, we have to pay out respects to the slugger known as Dave Parker: The Cobra.
At six-foot-five and over 230 pounds, Parker was a menacing presence in the batter’s box and in the outfield. He spent most of his MLB career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and later for his hometown Cincinnati Reds.
Parker was a seven-time All-Star, two-time World Champion and the 1978 NL MVP. Substance abuse issues in the 1980s and not quite having the batting numbers are what ultimately kept him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
That being said, Parker was a five-tool player in his prime that could strike fear in the opponent anywhere on the baseball diamond. It’s not like the nickname Cobra is tremendously unique, but that’s Parker’s nickname and nobody in baseball has the right to touch. However, we do need more snake nicknames, so let’s get cracking, baseball.