I met Dave Parker in 1989. He was a member of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball Club. I had been a fan since the mid-1970s when Parker, representing the Pittsburgh Pirates, threw a strike from right field to home plate in the All-Star game to prevent a runner from scoring. I had seen a similar throw by a Pirates right fielder a few years earlier in the World Series from a guy by the name of Roberto Clemente. I immediately put Parker in the defensive class with Clemente.