Results tagged “Dick Allen” from The Sports Desk

I'm happy to see that Dick Allen, passed over in the baseball writers' vote, will be considered for the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. When I think of awesome, brutal swings, I think of Andre Dawson's and Jack Clark's -- whose cuts I got to watch up-close -- and Allen's. Here's the Hall of Fame's announcement. Then a thought on whether Allen belongs.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- In an era dominated by pitchers, Dick Allen proved to be one of baseball's best hitters.

And though his final numbers were clearly affected by the time in which he played, Allen's body of work has won him a spot on the Veterans Committee ballot this fall at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Allen, born on March 8, 1942, was known as one of the sport's top right-handed power hitters of the 1960s and early 1970s. Allen played for the Philadelphia Phillies (1963-69, 1975-76), St. Louis Cardinals (1970), Los Angeles Dodgers (1971), Chicago White Sox (1972-74), and Oakland Athletics (1977).

In 15 big league seasons, Allen clubbed 320 doubles, 79 triples and 351 home runs in 1,749 games. A third baseman and then a first baseman, Allen drove in 1,119 and scored 1,099 runs.

In 1964, Allen was named NL Rookie of the Year with the Phillies after hitting .318 with 29 home runs, 91 RBIs and 201 hits.

Allen earned 1972 MVP honors with the White Sox after leading the American League in home runs (37), RBIs (113), slugging percentage (.603) and walks (99). His .534 career slugging average was among the highest in an era marked by low averages.

A seven time All-Star, Allen was a three-time league leader in slugging percentage and extra-base hits and twice in on-base percentage. He finished in the top five in slugging seven times and extra-base hits six times.

Allen was also a fierce base runner and finished in the top ten in steals twice.

Allen will be considered for the Class of 2009 at the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee as part of the post-1942 ballot (players who began their big league careers in 1943 or after). Other members of the post-1942 Veterans Committee final ballot are Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills. Any player receiving at least 75 percent of the vote from the Veterans Committee, which consists of the 64 living Hall of Famers, will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2009.

Results from the Veterans Committee vote will be announced Dec. 8 at baseball's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.

I'm afraid Allen is one of those players whose achievements don't quite measure up to Cooperstown. For a vivid illustration, look at baseball-reference.com's "similarity scores," showing the 10 players Allen was most like in terms of career stats and roles -- names synonymous with near-greatness.

1. Brian Giles
2. Jim Edmonds
3. Reggie Smith
4. Ellis Burks
5. Andruw Jones
6. George Foster
7. Fred Lynn
8. Tim Salmon
9. Shawn Green
10. Rocky Colavito

Allen's statistical matches are more impressive on a year-by-year basis. Here are the players he was most similar to at different ages:

22 David Wright
23 David Wright
24 David Wright
25 Willie Mays
26 Manny Ramirez
27 Gary Sheffield
28 Chipper Jones
29 Chipper Jones
30 Chipper Jones
31 Gary Sheffield
32 Gary Sheffield
33 Gary Sheffield
34 Willie Stargell
35 Willie Stargell

Allen was a Dodger at age 29. As for a couple of other matches that pop out, if you called Allen the Manny Ramirez or Gary Sheffield of his generation, you might be on to something.

Anyway, Allen was a favorite of mine as a kid. In my park league, I wanted to wear a batting helmet in the field. Allen did it because Philadelphia fans threw things at the controversial first baseman. I wanted to do it because Allen made it look cool.