Posted on 12/07/2020 3:09:32 PM PST by PallMal
Former Chicago White Sox first baseman Dick Allen, credited by many for saving the franchise from relocation, died Monday after a long illness. He was 78.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
RIP.
A many who really enjoyed his private life during his playing days. RIP
Injury prone, marched to his own drummer. Left the team on at least one occasion. Chuck Tanner was the manager, the only one he respected the when he left. The game was between 2nd and 3rd place. Did he ever knock in 100 runs? Played for the Dodgers and A’s- 1 year each. Not HOF material.
Knocked in 113 runs.
There are those who differ.
From mlb.com:
From 1964-74, Allen posted a 58.3 WAR, according to Baseball Reference. It tied Willie Mays for sixth place among position players in that 11-year span, behind Hank Aaron (68.8), Carl Yastrzemski (68.1), Roberto Clemente (64.7), Ron Santo (60.1) and Brooks Robinson (59.3). Pete Rose (58.0), Frank Robinson (55.4) and Joe Morgan (54.0) rounded out the top 10.
Allen led his league in OPS four times, slugging three times, on-base percentage and homers twice each, and RBIs, runs and walks once each. Despite that, he was traded five times. One of those deals, from the Dodgers to the White Sox in December 1971, set up his MVP Award-winning campaign. He returned to the Phillies in a trade in May ‘75, after he refused to report to the Braves following a trade and announced his retirement despite having just won his second home run title in ‘74.
“He’s the greatest player I’ve ever seen play in my life,” Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage told USA Today in 2014. “He had the most amazing season (1972) I’ve ever seen. He’s the smartest baseball man I’ve ever been around in my life. He taught me how to pitch from a hitter’s perspective, and taught me how to play the game, and how to play the game right. There’s no telling the numbers this guy could have put up if all he worried about was stats.
“The guy belongs in the Hall of Fame.”
>> credited by many for saving the franchise from relocation <<
Speaking ill of the dead?
>> one of the best to never make the Hall of Fame. <<
The #1 criteria for the Hall is playing a long, long career. Tack six mediocre seasons (say, .250-hitting and 15 home runs per season) and he’d’ve made it first ballot... as if any baseball teams really needed a .250/15/80 hitter at first base. But end your career within a couple of seasons of cooling off... and you can forget about it.
No doubt he was the one who you wanted AB with the game on the line. Reminded me of Jack Clark.
He was a monster hitter/slugger when he came up with the Phillies. Rest in peace, Richie.
Pete Rose is almost the perfect comparison. They started their careers at about the same time and about the same age. If Rose retired at Allen’s age in 1976, no-one would ever talk about Rose belonging in the hall. But Rose continued to hit for ten more years, and to stink up the league for most of them. By 1982, Rose would have been a drag on just about any team in baseball: his glove and range demoted him to the National-League equivalent of a DH, and his power was completely non-existent. But because he had 700 hits — almost all singles — after that time, everyone is certain he’d be in the Hall if not for being a pathetic low-life criminal.
What makes him a Cubs legend? He played half his career in Philadelphia and then bounced around to a few different clubs for a couple seasons each, including the Cubs. Phillies legend, sure. Cubs legend?
I remember when he went to the White Sox in the American League from the National League. It was a big deal in baseball. The guy hit the hard and far. an MVP award winner. Just short of the HOF, but a great player none the less, when baseball was more than a strike out or homerun.
*** Philly Metro Ping ***
Phillies legend.
He did something unique with the White Sox: during one game he had two inside the park home runs.
I imagine a few other players may have done the same in the 19th Century or the Dead Ball Era. I cannot think of any modern player accomplishing this feat.
White Sox, not Cubs.
Cubs, Sox, what’s the difference? Just kidding. Yup, I jad a brain fart.
Sox in the early 70s for 2 or 3 seasons. Thanks for correcting me. So I’ll say ‘what makes him a White Sox legend?’
RIP.
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