Parker, Rebutting Claim by Pirates, Says He Gave 110% With Pittsburgh

Speaking on the matter for the first time, Cincinnati Red outfielder Dave Parker said that the civil suit filed against him by the Pittsburgh Pirates is “a shot in the dark to get out of an obligation.”

Pittsburgh Associates, the new owners of the team, filed the suit Monday, claiming that Parker, a former Pirate, breached the five-year contract he signed with the club in 1979 because of his admitted use of cocaine. The team is seeking relief from deferred payments to Parker of $5.3 million, scheduled to begin in 1988.

“I know exactly what those people in Pittsburgh are doing--they’re taking a shot in the dark to get out of an obligation,” Parker said in an interview in Thursday’s Cincinnati Post.

“I view this as being very ignorant on their part. They say I didn’t give my all, but I played with broken jaws, bad knees, all types of injuries and illnesses. All I did was give 110% in that town, and those owners want to sue because they say I didn’t give my all. That’s absurd.”

Asked why he has been the player most often associated with the drug trial and now the the subject of a suit, Parker responded: “Maybe it’s because I’m black. Maybe it’s because I’m verbal and successful. I don’t think many people thrive on those facts when they are put together. And I think people are still trying to get back at me for being the first million-dollar-a-year player in baseball. No modern-day player has been through anything like I have. I’ve been through hell over and over again.”