Dick Allen shut out of Hall of Fame
Former Phillies great Dick Allen was up for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. When the results were revealed on Monday, Allen came one vote shy of induction.
The fraternity of Phillies hitters in the Hall of Fame isn't a large one.
In the last quarter century, it's been limited to Mike Schmidt and Richie Ashburn. And Ashburn had to wait more than 30 years after his career was over before reaching Cooperstown.
On Monday, that fraternity came one vote short of gaining another member.
Dick Allen, one of the more under appreciated hitters in baseball history, fell a vote shy of getting elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday. Allen, 72, was one of 10 players being considered from "The Golden Era," from 1947-72, by a 16-member Hall of Fame panel that included current Phillies interim president (and Hall of Fame executive) Pat Gillick.
No one was elected. Each candidate must be on 75 percent of the ballots (the easy math: they must be voted on by at least 12 of the 16 voters).
Along with Allen, Gil Hodges, Ken Boyer, Jim Kaat, Minnie Monoso, Tony Oliva, Billy Pierce, Luis Tiant, Mary Wills and former Reds general manager Bob Howsam are on the ballot. Both Allen and Oliva received 11 votes, one vote shy of election.
"It shows how difficult it is to earn a plaque in Cooperstown," Gillick said during Monday's Hall of Fame press conference at the Winter Meetings in San Diego.
Allen hit .292 with a .912 OPS, 351 home runs and 1,119 RBI in 1,749 games. Allen was voted the American League MVP in 1972, while with the White Sox, when he led the league in home runs (37), RBI (113), walks (99), OBP (.420), slugging percentage (.603), OPS (1.023) and OPS+ (199).
Allen spent 9 of his 15 big league seasons with the Phillies, hitting .290 with a .902 OPS, 204 home runs, 64 triples and 204 doubles in 1,070 games. He was voted National League Rookie of the Year in 1963.
From the 11-year period of 1964-74, Allen was easily one of the top players in baseball.
During that 11-year period, Allen hit .299 (5th best in all of baseball) with a .386 OBP (5th), 319 home runs (5th), 3,005 total bases (5th) and 775 walks (9th). Only Aaron (391 home runs, with 283 more plate appearances), Harmon Killebrew, Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey had more home runs; only Billy Williams, Aaron, Lou Brock and Rose had more total bases.
Allen's .940 OPS was the second best in MLB during that run (only Aaron's .941 was better). Allen had more stolen bases (110) than both Mays and Rose during that 11-year stretch.
From 1964-74, Allen's OPS-plus (a sabermetric statistic that adjusts for league and ballpark effects) was the best in in the game. Allen's 165 OPS-plus topped Hall of Famers McCovey (161), Aaron (159), Frank Robinson (159), Stargell (153), Roberto Clemente (151), Killebrew (148) and Mays (148).
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