Dave Parker's son, Dave Parker II, and Dick Allen's wife, Willa Allen, to deliver HOF speeches

COOPERSTOWN — Dave Parker and Dick Allen didn’t live to see the day that officially puts a permanent exclamation point on their careers, the one where they get inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

They will each have an admiring pinch hitter to speak for them during Sunday’s ceremony at Clark Sports Center after the two greats finally made it into the Hall courtesy of the Classic Baseball Era Committee last December.

Dave Parker II, who casts a strong resemblance to his late dad, will deliver that induction speech, and Willa Allen will deliver one for her late husband.

Dick Allen died on Dec. 7, 2020, at the age of 78 after a bout with cancer. But the timing seemed to be especially cruel in the case of Parker. “The Cobra” — a nickname that he appreciated — died from Parkinson’s disease this June 28, at the age of 74.

It was unlikely, though, that he would have made it to Cooperstown because of his condition.

“We knew he was fighting Parkinson’s for about 12 years, but within the last year and a half, it took a wrong turn,” said Parker II, 40, who was only 6 years old when his father retired after the 1991 season. “He knew he was being inducted and things of that nature.

“But to be honest, between me, my mother and my family, we just didn’t think he was going to be able to come through all the complications to be able to come and everything.

“If he had still been here, it would’ve been really hard for him to get here. But he knows he’s here. Trust and believe that.”

Parker was a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner in rightfield, two-time NL batting champ and the 1978 NL MVP. He played 19 major-league seasons with the Pirates, Reds, Athletics, Brewers, Angels and Blue Jays, posting a slash line of .290/.339/.471 with 2,712 hits, 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs.

“I’ve been holding this speech in for 15 years,” Parker said on MLB Network after learning he was going to be inducted.

So his son said on Saturday, “He had some input on [the speech] because it was something that was in the making for a couple of years. He knew it was coming. He just didn’t know when it was coming. … So you’ll hear a lot of my dad’s own words in the speech.”

Allen played first, third and left in a 15-year career through 1977. The seven-time All-Star played for the Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, White Sox and Athletics. He batted .292 with 351 homers, including 40 in 1966.

“I think he wanted [to make the Hall] as much as anyone else,” Willa said. “But Dick felt he played well enough to be here.”

“It means a lot to the whole Allen family,” she added. “…It’s just sad that he’s not here to participate.”

Hamilton, Boswell also honored

The Hall of Fame is also for broadcasters and writers. Cleveland broadcaster Tom Hamilton and longtime baseball writer Thomas Boswell received their due at a ceremony on Saturday.

Boswell spent 52 years writing for the Washington Post. He received the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Career Excellence Award.

“I think I discovered as soon as I started writing a lot about baseball that it was as rich for a writer as it has been for me as a child growing up,” Boswell said.

Hamilton has been calling Cleveland games for these last 36 seasons. He received the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters.

“It’s beyond your wildest dreams,” Hamilton said. “My wife and I have talked about how many times in life the actual events do not match the expectations. And our expectations have been surpassed a hundred times.”