Dick Allen, a seven-time All-Star who was the American League’s Most Valuable Player with the Chicago White Sox, in 1972 died Monday at his home in Wampum, Pennsylvania. He was 78.
No cause of death was given.
Born March 8, 1942, in Wampum, Richard Anthony Allen starred for the Philadelphia Phillies for six seasons, earning National League Rookie of the Year honors in 1964. He spent single seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Allen, a seven-time All-Star, arrived in Chicago after the 1971 season following a trade from Los Angeles and is credited with saving the franchise, the Chicago Tribune reported. Attendance at Comiskey Park had fallen below 500,000 fans and was barely over 830,000 when Allen joined the team. The White Sox had not won a pennant since 1959 and finished 22 1/2 games out of first place in 1971.
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But in 1972, Allen ignited a revival, slugging the White Sox into contention in the American League West before Chicago finished the season 5 1/2 games behind the Oakland Athletics. The White Sox drew 1.18 million fans and stopped talk of the franchise moving to Seattle or St. Petersburg, Florida, the Tribune reported.
Allen had an MVP season in 1972, leading the American League with a career-high 37 homers while adding a league-leading 113 RBI. Allen batted .308 and was an overwhelming choice for the league’s MVP award.
It’s better than anywhere I’ve been my whole baseball career,” Allen told the Tribune in November. “I might say my whole baseball life. I’ve never been treated any better. You guys are the best for my money.”
Allen’s No. 15 was retired by the Phillies in September, KYW reported. It was a sweet and overdue honor for Allen, who had an often tumultuous and controversial career with the Phillies during the 1960s. Allen was outspoken and fought against racism while in the City of Brotherly Love.
During the ceremony, Allen thanked Phillies managing partner John Middleton, who broke from the team’s tradition of only retiring the numbers of players in the Hall of Fame, KYW reported.
“I thank the city of Philadelphia,” Allen told the fans. “Even though it was rough, I’ve made some friends along the way,” Allen said.
“Dick was a sensitive Black man who refused to be treated as a second-class citizen,” Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt said in a speech that night. “He played in front of home fans that were products of that racist era (with) racist teammates and different rules for whites and Blacks. Fans threw stuff at him and thus Dick wore a batting helmet throughout the whole game. They yelled degrading racial slurs. They dumped trash in his front yard at his home. In general, he was tormented and it came from all directions. And Dick rebelled.”
In 2014, Allen fell one vote short of being elected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee. Allen certainly would have been a candidate again this month on what is now called the Golden Days Era ballot, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the Hall of Fame to postpone voting this year, the Tribune reported.
Allen finished his career with 351 home runs. 1,119 RBI and had a .292 average.
