Dick Allen, the power-hungry former Phillie known for bashing baseballs over the wall, and, sometimes, the roof, in the old Connie Mack Stadium, will have his uniform number later on the wall at Citizens Bank Park increased.
The team announced on Thursday that Allen’s no. May 15 would retire on September 3, the 57th anniversary of Allen’s Phillies debut.
“Dick Allen burst the Phillies of 1964 and immediately established himself as a superstar,” Phillies board partner John Middleton said in a statement. “His legendary performance on the field gave millions of fans lasting memories, and he helped cement my love of baseball and the Phillies as a young boy. The Phillies organization is excited to give Dick and his family this honor that his Hall of Fame Fame recognizes worthy career and his legacy as one of the greatest Phillies of all time. “
Allen will be the eighth former Phillie to retire from the club, along with Richie Ashburn (1), Jim Bunning (14), Mike Schmidt (20), Steve Carlton (32), Robin Roberts (36) and Roy Halladay (34). Grover Cleveland Alexander and Chuck Klein did not wear regular figures, but their jerseys are retired.
Allen is the only player not to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, but that may change in December when he re-enters the Golden Days mood of Hall of Fame will be. The Golden Days committee considers the people who played from 1950 to 1969. Allen fell one vote ashamed of making the Hall of Fame when the committee last voted in December 2014 and there were many this time public support for his election. Schmidt has come out in support of Allen and Mark Carfagno, a former veteran of Veterans Stadium and close friend of Allen’s, has launched a campaign on social media.
Retiring Allen’s number without being his Hall of Famer is the subject of an interesting and growing debate around the Phillies.
The team previously had an unwritten policy of only the numbers of players selected for the Hall of Fame with retirement. By unlocking Allen’s number at this time, the Phillies have opened up the possibility of returning the numbers carried by Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. None of the three have yet appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot box and their candidacies are far from slam dunks.
But as Phillies players, Rollins, Utley and Howard were huge – the best shortstop, second baseman and first baseman respectively in club history. Their contributions helped the Phillies win five division titles, two National League pennants and a 2007-11 World Series. Rollins is the all-time hit leader of the franchise and a former NL MVP. Utley was the Phillies’ most popular player and the top offensive second baseman in the game until knee injuries robbed him of some of his prime years. Howard was an NL rookie of the year, an MVP and a house run and RBI king.
If the Phillies would consider non-Hall of Famers for number retirement, they could also one day look to Charlie Manuel, the winning manager of the World Series who presided over the most successful period in club history, and Larry Bowa, a brilliant shortstop, World Series champion, and of favorite who has contributed to the organization for years as a player, coach, manager, advisor and ambassador.
Allen, 68, still works for the Phillies as an ambassador. A resident of Wampum, Pennsylvania (northwest of Pittsburgh), he signed with the Phillies as an 18-year-old in 1960. Four years later, the young third baseman hit .318 with 38 doubles, 13 triples, 29 home games and 91 RBIs. The seemingly pennant-colored Phillies fell into disgrace in the 1964 season, but Allen was named NL Rookie of the Year, a distinction later renamed in honor of one of his heroes, Jackie Robinson. .
Allen spent nine of his 15 seasons with the Phillies and represented the club three times as All-Star. He hit 204 of his 351 career homers with the Phillies. He swung a bat so large – 40 ounces or more in some seasons – that teammates thought it was a weighted bat used for warm-ups. Allen finished fourth in the 1966 NL MVP race behind Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays. He hit .317 with 25 doubles, 10 triples, 40 homers, 110 RBIs and a league-leading .632 dropout percentage that season.
Allen twice led the American League in homers, batting and OPS for the Chicago White Sox, including in 1972 when he was AL MVP.
On the all-time list, Allen ranks 43rd with a .536 strikeout percentage.
In an 11-year stretch from 1964 to 1974, in an era of dominant pitchers, he was one of the most dangerous hitters in the game. He averaged 29 homers and 89 RBIs over that span, while hitting .299 with a .940 OPS. Only Hall of Famer Hank Aaronon’s .941 OPS was better over that span. Allen swallowed .554 from 1964 to 1974, second only to Aaron’s .561. Only Hall of Famers Billy Williams and Aaron had more extra hits than Allen’s 670 in that 11-year run.
Allen published better numbers than many of his contemporaries who were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Allen, however, never received more than 18.9 percent of the required 75 percent for Hall elections by the writers. He fell from the vote in 1997.
Allen’s Hall of Fame candidacy during his time on the Writers’ Vote was clearly influenced by some of the off-field baggage he had amassed as a player. As a young player, Allen was at times rebellious and impartial. He rode with teammates and managers and was a target for fans. He tried to force a trade out of Philadelphia by writing messages in the dirt around the first base at Connie Mack Stadium.
The passage of time has offered new and more empathetic perspectives on Allen’s behavior and what he went through at the time. He treated racism like a minor Phillies leaguer in the south. The Phillies were the last team in the NL to integrate and Allen was the club’s first African – American star in a time of racial tension in America.
Allen is the first African-American to have his number retired by the Phillies. Backup catcher Andrew Knapp had no. 15. to. He will move to no. 7.
And now, with his number going up on the bricks outside the midfield wall at Citizens Bank Park, the only remaining question regarding Dick Allen’s greatness as a player will be answered this winter, when the Golden Days Commission Hall of Fame reconsiders his merits.
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