First Call: 'Dave Parker Day' is Friday. Celebrating the day The Cobra uncoiled. - TribLIVE

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You’re calling off sick on Friday, right?

What? You’re not? How come? Did you forget it’s “Dave Parker Day”?

Yup! Tomorrow is the 41st anniversary of “The Cobra’s” MVP performance in the All-Star Game, July 17, 1979.

That’s when the Pirates right fielder gunned down two American League runners with his infamous cannon of an arm.

Could you tell Parker was my favorite player as a kid? Four decades removed, I think I’m allowed to drop the veil of impartiality, right?

In honor of that, for “First Call” this Thursday, I compiled a list of my favorite Pittsburgh-related All-Star Game moments.

1. The Cobra uncoils: Parker had a hit, a walk, and an RBI that night in the Kingdome.

But he won the game’s MVP trophy because of the rifle throws he made from right field. In the seventh inning, Parker lost a ball in the Kingdome roof as Boston Red Sox star Jim Rice blooped a ball down the right field line.

But Parker erased that mistake and hosed Rice at third base as he tried to stretch the misplay into a triple.

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The next inning, Parker made one of the most memorable throws in baseball history, let alone the All-Star Game, as he nailed Brian Downing trying to score at home plate.

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The National League won 7-6 when Ron Guidry (New York Yankees) walked Lee Mazzilli (New York Mets) with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning.

Three months later, Parker and the Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. The last World Series title in Pirates history.

2. Clemente comes through: The 1971 All-Star Game in Detroit may have featured the greatest collection of talent ever assembled in a Major League Baseball stadium. There were 21 future Hall of Fame players on the field that day.

Reggie Jackson stole the show with his famous “light tower” home run off of Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis. Frank Robinson won the MVP as the American League won 6-4.

But Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente had this moment off Mickey Lolich.

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That would end up being the final All-Star at-bat of Clemente’s career.

3.Three Rivers thriller: Not much good is associated with 1994 in baseball terms. That’s the year the strike wiped out the second half.

But the All-Star weekend at Three Rivers Stadium was an all-time classic.

The rosters were outstanding. The game was tense. Jim Leyland got a standing ovation before the game. The National League won 8-7 on this memorable Moises Alou RBI.

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Tony Gwynn, who scored that winning run, was hitting .383 at the time. Fred McGriff won the MVP. It was the National League’s first victory since 1987.

4. The Big Hurt: Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. won the home run contest in 1994.

But, ask most Pittsburghers who were there what they remember about that day and it was Chicago White Sox star first baseman Frank Thomas blasting this unforgettable moonshoot.

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It was originally measured at 525 feet. Then walked back to 519.

Still not bad though, right?

5. Down the turnpike: It’s not often Philadelphia athletes are warmly remembered in Pittsburgh. But Phillies’ first baseman Ryan Howard is because of the exhibition he put on in the 2006 Home Run Derby at PNC Park.

Howard finished with 23 homers. New York Mets third baseman David Wright dazzled, smashing baseballs into the more cavernous left field rotunda area on a regular basis. He finished second with 22.

And Red Sox slugger David Ortiz clocked a 488-foot blast into the Allegheny River.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

Categories: Pirates/MLB | Sports | Breakfast With Benz