Dick Allen, an immensely talented slugger and seven-time All-Star corner infielder who revived the White Sox with an American League MVP season in 1972, died Monday at his home in Wampum, Pennsylvania, after a long illness. He was 78.
Allen thrived under manager Chuck Tanner during three productive seasons with the Sox from 1972 to ’74 after they acquired him in a trade with the Dodgers for left-hander Tommy John. Before that, he was National League Rookie of the Year with the Phillies, who in September retired his number 15. It was an honor considered long overdue for the franchise’s first Black star, who encountered racism during the turbulent 1960s and was often booed in Philadelphia.
To this day, Allen remains one of the most popular Sox players from his era, even though he played only three seasons on the South Side. He finished his 15-year career with 351 home runs, 1,119 RBI, a .912 OPS and 133 stolen bases.
“Dick will be remembered as not just one of the greatest and most popular players in our franchise’s history but also as a courageous warrior who had to overcome far too many obstacles to reach the level he did,” the Phillies said in a statement Monday. “Dick’s iconic status will resonate for generations of baseball fans to come as one of the all-time greats to play America’s pastime.”
With the Sox in ’72, Allen batted .308/.420/.603, leading the AL with 37 homers, 113 RBI and 99 walks, as well as in on-base and slugging percentage and OPS, and carrying the Sox to a second-place finish behind the Athletics in the AL West.
Sox broadcaster Steve Stone, who played with Allen in 1973, spent many nights with Allen and Hall of Fame right-hander Rich Gossage talking about baseball and other topics until 2 or 3 a.m.
RIP Dick Allen pic.twitter.com/4QUEMMycQ6
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) December 7, 2020
“I found him to be a really nice, engaging guy,” Stone said Monday. “I thought the world of the man, and he was a phenomenal player.”
Stone said Allen predicted a roof-shot homer against All-Star Mike Cuellar at Comiskey Park in 1973. Promising to make up for a misplay at first base in another game in which Stone was pitching, he did so by hitting a tying, opposite-field homer into the wind.
“After the homer, he just walked past me, winked and sat down at the end of the dugout,” Stone said.
“I honestly felt that he could have done anything he wanted to do. If he really took it seriously, he was a first ballot, no-doubt Hall of Famer. But I don’t think he took it as seriously as he probably could have. But what a player.”
Many consider Allen one of the greatest players not in the Hall, which was scheduled to vote on his candidacy this month via the Gold Days Era Committee before the in-person vote was postponed to next December because of the coronavirus pandemic. Allen was one vote shy when the committee last met in 2014.
“He was the best player that I ever saw,” Sox teammate Carlos May once said. “I tried to emulate him, the way he set pitchers up, the way he ran the bases.”
Allen, who generated exceptional bat speed with a heavy 40-ounce bat, often skipped batting practice and sometimes didn’t arrive for Sox games until 45 minutes before the first pitch, former teammate Bill Melton said. He famously graced a 1972 Sports Illustrated cover juggling baseballs in the dugout with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
But he was recognized as a team leader who would “be at the park at 6 a.m. in spring training hitting,” May said.
When Melton heard Allen was struggling about a week ago, he phoned him at the hospital.
“We chuckled about some stories, and he never once uttered his condition,” Melton said. “I just found out today he passed from cancer. He refused to take chemo the second time around. For me, it was typical Dick Allen: ‘I’ve had enough.’ And when he has enough, he moves on.
“We lost a good individual and a really great White Sox player, and he should be spoken about for many, many years in White Sox lore.”
