Sport: Plutocrat from Pittsburgh

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Slugger Dave Parker reigns as baseball's best-paid player

In the time before baseball's free-agent era, ,the loudest sounds of the off season came from the hot stove league, that long winter of "Remember when . . ." and "Who was it that . . . ?" Today such gentle ruminations have been all but drowned out by the ringing of cash registers, as players who have learned to measure the value of strong arms and big bats in the open market have begun renegotiating contracts.

This past winter more than half a dozen athletes joined the list of baseball millionaires. Like a medieval heir apparent, Pete Rose flashed his Prince Valiant haircut before a clutch of contending clubs, finally settling on the Philadelphia Phillies and their reported dowry of $3.5 million over four years. Former Minnesota Twins Star Rod Carew took his seven batting titles to the California Angels in exchange for some $4.5 million over five years. Boston Slugger Jim Rice, the American League's M.V.P. last season, agreed to a seven-year deal said to total $5.4 million and, in the process, earned Carl Yastrzemski an estimated $1.2 million worth of primogeniture for the remaining two years of his contract.

But the happiest millionaire must have been the Pittsburgh Pirates' Dave Parker. At 27, he owns the biggest contract in baseball (around $6 million for five years) and, by the admission of his peers, the gifts to go with it. He is, put sim ply, the best all-round player in baseball. Last year major league general managers voted him the player they would most like to have. Should such judgments seem too subjective for students of statistics, Parker can satisfy them as well: two straight National League batting championships (.338 in 1977 and .334 last season), consecutive Gold Glove Awards as the best rightfielder in the league and, last year, the Most Valuable Player award. Most eloquent testimony of all: Willie Stargell, 37, the Pirates' captain and home run leader, claimed no right to salary seniority à la Yastrzemski when Parker's contract was announced. He came, instead, to the signing ceremony to applaud his teammate. In his 17th major league season, Stargell offered this long view on the young star: "Dave is the best in the game and he deserves to be paid the best. He's the kind of player who only comes along once every 20 or 30 years."

In the city where the late rightfielder Roberto Clemente became a mythic figure, that is quite a tribute. But Parker seems more than equal to the memories of Clemente. Despite his bulk (6 ft. 5 in., 230 Ibs.), his speed (100 yds. in 9.6 sec.) ranks him among the fastest in the major leagues, and he can throw screamers to the plate from the fence.