The Hall of Fame Should Reverse the Slight to Dick Allen

Despite a career average of .292, 351 total home runs, 1,119 total RBIs, the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year award, seven All-Star appearances, and the 1972 AL MVP award, during his fifteen years of eligibility of 1982 through 1997, Dick Allen never garnered more than 20% of the vote from the BBWAA for Hall of Fame induction. The oft-cited reason for this has been the character issue. Baseball writers viewed Allen as a divisive figure in the clubhouse. Bill James has accused Allen of “manipulat[ing] racism as an explosive to blow his teams apart.”

But far from manipulating racism, Allen was a victim of racism, who was saddled with an undeserved reputation because of his reactions to regrettable treatment by players and fans alike. 

Allen broke into the major leagues in Philadelphia, a city Curt Flood described as “[t]he nation’s northernmost southern city.”  Philadelphia was infamous for its treatment of Jackie Robinson when he broke the color barrier in 1947. The Phillies, led by Manager Ben Chapman, taunted Robinson mercilessly in the team’s first meeting with the Dodgers in Brooklyn that year. When the Dodgers first came to Philadelphia, Phillies General Manager Herb Pennock threatened not to let his team take the field if Robinson was playing. It was a threat to which Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey responded that the Dodgers were ready to claim the game 9-0, the score used to signify a forfeit, if the Phillies followed through on their threat. Even when the Dodgers arrived in Philadelphia, the Benjamin Franklin Hotel denied the team service because of Robinson’s presence. 

The Phillies were the last National League team to integrate. Even when the Phillies debuted an African American player, John Kennedy in 1957, his role was mostly limited to that of a pinch runner. 

It was into this atmosphere that Dick Allen was thrown in the mid-1960s. 

Allen’s storied performance as a power hitter in his rookie year contributed to the Phillies’ pennant run of 1964. But in 1965, an incident bearing clear racial overtones infected his relationship with many of the Phillies fans for the remainder of his tenure in Philadelphia. 

On July 3, 1965, Allen was involved in a scuffle with Phillies first baseman Frank Thomas that erupted during batting practice. Thomas, nick-named “the Donkey” and “Lurch,” was known for his “needling” of other players. Richie Ashburn is quoted as saying that Thomas “didn’t get the tag ‘the Big Donkey’ for his smarts.  A lot of guys in baseball could give the needle, but Thomas never knew when to quit.”

A week before the incident, the Phillies were on a West Coast road trip. In a clear act of racism, Thomas is alleged to have said to Allen, “Hey, boy, can you carry my bags to the lobby.”  Allen held in his emotions until the batting cage incident. 

On July 2d, Thomas was unsuccessful in a bunting attempt. During batting practice, Thomas laid down a bunt. One of the Phillies, whether it was Allen or Johnny Callison, is unclear, shouted, “Twenty-four hours too late, Lurch.”  Thomas replied that Allen was running his mouth like “Cassius Clay,” or “Mohamed Clay,” a reference to the boxing legend Mohamed Ali. Offended by the racial overtones of the remark, Allen lunged at Thomas, and the two fought. Thomas swung his bat at Allen, hitting him in the right shoulder. According to Bill James, it took most of the Phillies team to separate the two big men.

After the game, Manager Gene Mauch informed Frank Thomas that he was being placed on waivers. Thomas was popular with Phillies fans, having been brought in to the team for his power in August of 1964 to strengthen the Phillies’ pennant run. His injury in September is one factor often cited for the team’s late season collapse. 

Having been dumped by the Phillies, Thomas was free to tell his side of the story to the press. Allen, meanwhile, was threatened with a fine from the team if he addressed the incident with the media. The result was that many in the city turned against Allen. 

Some Phillies fans took to throwing objects on the field toward Allen. Fearing for his safety, Allen began wearing a batting helmet in the field. He reacted to the fans’ disapproval by writing in the infield dirt. Discouraged by the fans’ treatment, Allen demanded a trade from Phillies’ owner Bob Carpenter. It was a demand that eventually came to fruition in 1969, in the infamous trade with the Cardinals, that would have brought Curt Flood to Philadelphia. Leary of city’s treatment of Allen, Flood refused to play for the Phillies, instead beginning his long battle with Major League Baseball over the dreaded reserve clause. 

But according the Allen’s contemporaries, his reputation as a clubhouse divider was completely undeserved. Gene Mauch stated that his teammates “always liked him.”  

Willie Stargell argued that Allen was a victim of the times in which he played. “It was a time of change and protest in the country, and baseball reacted against all that. They saw it as a threat to the game. The sportswriters were reactionary too. They didn't like seeing a man of such extraordinary skills doing it his way.”

Mike Schmidt considered Allen a mentor. Schmidt stated of Allen, “The baseball writers used to claim that Dick would divide the clubhouse along racial lines. That was a lie. The truth is that Dick never divided any clubhouse.”

Nonetheless, the incident with Frank Thomas haunted Allen, even after his retirement. Never mind that Thomas purposefully peppered Allen with racially charged remarks that would never be acceptable today. Allen was the one accused of manipulating racism. And thus, Allen never gained widespread support among the baseball writers for his Hall of Fame candidacy. 

It is an affront over which baseball could have made amends. The Hall of Fame currently employs an eras committee system for evaluating the candidacy of players passed over by the writers. In the 2013 Winter Meetings, the Golden Era Committee considered Allen’s candidacy, but failed to elect him by one vote. 

The Golden Era Committee was slated to meet again during the 2016 Winter Meetings. However, in the wake of Bud Selig’s retirement as Commissioner, the Hall changed its eras committee structure.  A new committee, called the Today’s Game Committee, met and elected Selig immediately after his retirement. 

The system was meant to benefit more recent players who had failed to garner enough votes from the writers for induction. As a result, the Today’s Game Committee and the Modern Game Committee will alternate until the 2019 Winter Meetings, when the Golden Days Committee will once again meet.  The dividing line between the Golden Days Committee and the Modern Game Committee is whether a player’s major contribution to baseball took place before 1970. Despite Allen’s 1972 AL MVP award, his four All-Star appearances after 1970, and his twice leading the AL in home runs after 1970, the Hall has made it clear that it considers Allen’s best years to have come during his first stint with the Phillies in the 1960s. Thus, Allen did not appear on this year’s ballot for the Modern Game Committee. 

It would be a travesty to allow a distorted view of racism to prevent one of the game’s premier power hitters from enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. Yet that is exactly what the Hall’s current structure is in danger of doing. To add to that travesty is the fact that neither the old Veterans Committee nor the current Eras Committees have ever elected an African American player who was not in the Negro Leagues. Although the wait is long, the Golden Days Committee will have the opportunity to reverse that slight with the election of Dick Allen during the 2019 Winter Meetings. 

William J. Kovatch, Jr. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Dick Allen and Tim Whitaker, Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen (Ticknor & Fields, 1989).

Allen Barra, “The Best Player Eligible for the Hall of Fame,” Wall Street Journal (July 28, 2005).

Travis Durkee, “Baseball Hall of Fame 2015: Dick Allen, Tony Oliva Fall One Vote Short of Election,” Sporting News (December 8, 2014) https://www.google.com/amp/www.sportingnews.com/amp/mlb/news/baseball-hall-of-fame-2015-golden-era-committee-allen-oliva/ctwve75dxnjq1bccad94p10b6.

Matt Eddy, “Hall of Fame Gives Expansion Era Stars a Fresh Start,” Baseball America (July 24, 2016) https://www.google.com/amp/www.baseballamerica.com/majors/hall-fame-gives-expansion-era-stars-fresh-look/%3Famphtml=1.

Frank Fitzpatrick, “50 Years on, the Dick Allen-Frank Thomas Fight Still Resinates,” Philadelphia Inquirer (July 3, 2015) https://www.google.com/amp/www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/311524701.html%3famphtml=y.

Curt Flood with Richard Carter, The Way It Is (Trident Press: 1971).

Jay Jaffe, “Hall of Fame’s Era Committees Changes Are Welcome,” Sports Illustrated (July 26, 2016) https://www.google.com/amp/amp.si.com/mlb/2016/07/26/baseball-hall-of-fame-era-committees-rule-changes.

Bill James, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (Free Press: 2001).

William C. Kashatus, Mike Schmidt: Philadelphia's Hall of Fame Third Baseman (McFarland & Co., Inc., 1999).

William C. Kashatus, “Dick Allen, the Phillies and Racism,” Nine (Fall 2000).

William C. Kashatus, “Dick Allen Belongs in the Hall of Fame,” Philadelphia Inquirer (July 26, 2017) https://www.google.com/amp/www.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/phillies-dick-allen-belongs-in-the-hall-of-fame-20170726.html%3famphtml=y.

Craig Muder, “Former Slugger Dick Allen One Step from Cooperstown,” Baseball Hall of Fame, https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-fame/golden-era/allen-dick.

Mike Schmidt and Glenn Waggoner, Clearing the Bases (Harper Collins 2009).

Yanan Wang, “Philadelphia Apologizes to Jackie Robinson for the ‘Unconscionable Abuse’ He Once Suffered There,” Washington Post (April 1, 2016) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/01/philadelphia-apologizes-to-jackie-robinson-for-the-unconscionable-abuse-he-once-suffered-there/.