Dave Parker And A Bad Real Estate Investment Saved Robin Yount’s Milwaukee Legacy

Nick Castellanos recently opined that Mets infielder Jose Iglesias deserved MVP votes over Shohei Ohtani due to his impact on the Mets’ dramatic turnaround. After all, where does value derive from? On-field performance or off-field clubhouse presence, the award’s criteria are left unclear. Brewers players have brought home five such awards and former winners in the twilight stage of their careers.

Enter Dave Parker.

In Parker’s lone year in the Cream City, he became the only Brewer to win MLB’s Designated Hitter of the Year. His .289/.330/.451, 118 OPS+ clip garnered a selection to the 1990 All-Star Game. It proved to be the former MVP’s only year in Milwaukee.

Parker agreed to join the Brewers without knowing if Yount, the reigning AL MVP, would play for the Crew the following year. In his age-33 campaign, Yount hit .318/.384/.511 with 103 RBIs despite the Brewers continuing their descent back to .500.

The club failed to improve the team externally, and its superstar threatened to migrate west for greener pastures. According to the LA Times, after the 1989 season, he criticized the team’s lack of willingness to supplement its veteran talent through external acquisitions.

After aggressively courting the Cobra at the Winter Meetings, Parker signed with the Brewers in December 1989, becoming the first Brewers’ free agent signing since Roy Howell in 1980. Dalton claimed the timing was mere coincidence - not a pitch for the franchise great to remain in Milwaukee.

However, according to the LA Times, Yount had expressed that he would be more likely to re-sign with the Brewers if they improved in the offseason.

Meanwhile, the California Angels made Yount “a huge offer,” according to the same sources. Angels owner Gene Autry and his wife Jackie also offered to help Yount with his real estate portfolio in Arizona.

According to United Press International, Yount owed the Brewers more than $5 million in real estate investments. MLB required the loan to be paid back fully before he signed with the Angels unless the Angels replaced the Brewers as a co-signer.

“I think he wants to be in Milwaukee, and I think he wants to be with the Angels,” Jackie Autry told the LA Times, referring to the emotional connection to Milwaukee but a higher chance of winning in Southern California. “If he could split it down the middle, he’d be happy.”

Yount saw Parker’s signing as a commitment to winning.

Three weeks later, Yount agreed to return to Milwaukee on a three-year contract worth $9.6 million, a mere $50,000 below the highest AAV (average annual value) in MLB history.

Yount hit just .257 with 35 homers across the life of the contract and combined for fewer WAR (wins above replacement) across the three years than in his 1989 season alone. Conversely, Paul Molitor finished his career in Toronto and Minnesota after general manager Sal Bando offered a pay cut following the 1992 season. Both are in the Hall of Fame with the ball-in-glove adorning their hats, but just one has a statue on American Family Field’s concourse.

Parker was named team MVP in 1990 before being dealt to the team Yount nearly joined, the California Angels. His most valuable contribution wasn’t the 21 home runs or .781 OPS he posted in Milwaukee but his contributions to helping preserve the legacy of the franchise’s most beloved icon, inadvertently ensuring Yount wore just one uniform in his career.

Are you interested in Brewers history? Then check out the Milwaukee Brewers Players Project, a community-driven project to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Brewers uniform!