Powerful enough that long before Cincinnati legend Dave Parker, who died at the age of 74 Saturday, June 28, won his own long-awaited place in baseball’s Hall of Fame, he helped open the path for another Cincinnati-raised player to reach Cooperstown.

Dave Parker's Hall of Fame plaque reads, "Superstar outfielder delivered on the confidence he brought to the ballpark."

Dave Parker died a month before his Hall of Fame induction, but his son read a poem from his dad at Sunday's ceremony in Cooperstown.