Unknown date and unknown location; USA, FILE PHOTO; Philadelphia Phillies infielder Dick Allen poses for a portrait. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Network.
From now on, when you say his name? Make sure to preface it correctly.
It's "Hall of Famer" Dick Allen.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame righted one of its most shameful wrongs on Sunday, when its 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee voted Allen into the Hall.
Dick Allen had a 1.249 OPS vs Nolan Ryan, 1.080 OPS vs Juan Marichal, .876 OPS vs Gaylord Perry.
Ferguson Jenkins said of Allen: “To me, he’s a Hall of Famer.”
Here’s our full podcast with Fergie. @MLBNetworkRadio @baseballhall @Phillies @WhiteSox https://t.co/7Bsc9kQnyF pic.twitter.com/G7bT8MJdrh
Allen never received more than 18.9% of votes on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot in the 1980s and '90s, well shy of the 75% needed for induction into the Hall. In December 2014, Allen fell one vote shy of the 12 votes needed for induction in a vote by the Hall's 16-member "Golden Era Committee."
The slugger passed away in his hometown of Wampum, PA on December 7, 2020, at the age of 78. A Hall "Golden Days Committee" again considered Allen's case in 2021, and he again fell just one vote short of the 12 needed for induction.
Finally, and mercifully, Sunday's vote ensured that Allen's legacy will live on in Cooperstown among baseball's other all-time greats.
© Eric Hartline | 2014 Aug 10Allen hit .292/.378/.533 (.912 OPS) in his 15-year major league career, with 1,848 hits, 351 home runs, and 1,119 RBI. He accumulated 58.7 WAR, as calculated by Baseball Reference, and posted a 156 OPS+.
He racked up seven career All-Star selections, won a Rookie of the Year award in 1964, and was the American League MVP in 1972. Allen played for the Phillies from 1963 through 1969, then returned to Philadelphia for the 1975 and 1976 seasons.
The Phillies retired Allen's jersey number (15) in 2020, an honor previously reserved for ex-Phils in the Hall of Fame.
Photo via @PhilliesCBP on twitter"Let’s be candid here, when you look at the voting of the Hall or the record of the Veterans Committee, it’s not exactly consistent,” said Phillies principal owner John Middleton at the time. “There’s a lot of times when you scratch your head.”
Allen's case for the Hall of Fame was always incredibly strong. For example:
- His career WAR placed him near the middle of the pack when compared to first basemen or third basemen already in the Hall; and
- His career OPS+, a metric which adjusts OPS to make it comparable across baseball's various eras and ballparks, was higher than all but two hitters in MLB history who are not in the Hall of Fame (min. 7,000 plate appearances): Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.
Data via stathead.comAllen simply dominated his era:
Dick Allen was an underrated player who dominated parts of the '60s and '70s. pic.twitter.com/uWtZ8QVdB1
Mike Schmidt believes that Allen was kept out of the Hall of Fame because he spoke his mind as a Black man in the 1960s and 1970s, in the face of racial hostility. "Dick did the wrong thing; he became the best player on his team,” Schmidt said during Allen’s number retirement ceremony. “He became the star of the team. He was a sensitive Black man who refused to be treated as a second-class citizen . . . Dick has had to fight labels his entire life.”
From Middleton: "It makes [Allen's] extraordinary achievement even more special when you consider the circumstances, the conditions under which he had to live and perform."
So today we celebrate Dick Allen finally getting the recognition he deserves. And on Sunday July 27, 2025--nearly 50 years after Allen played his last game--the Wampum Whammer will be forever enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Exactly where he should be.
