Richard Anthony Allen (March 8, 1942 – December 7, 2020), nicknamed "Crash" and "the Wampum Walloper", was an American professional baseball player. During his 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played as a first baseman and third baseman, most notably for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox, and was one of baseball's top sluggers of the 1960s and early 1970s.
A seven-time All-Star player, Allen began his career as a Phillie by being selected 1964 National League (NL) Rookie of the Year and in 1972 was the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player with the Chicago White Sox. He led the AL in home runs twice; the NL in slugging percentage once and the AL twice; and each major league in on-base percentage once apiece. Allen's career .534 slugging percentage was among his era's highest in an age of comparatively modest offensive production. The Phillies retired Allen's uniform number 15 on September 3, 2020, a few months before his death. On July 27, , Allen was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Early life Allen was born in Wampum, Pennsylvania, one of nine children of Era and Coy Allen, a truck driver. After his parents divorced, he was mainly raised by his mother who worked as a housekeeper to support her children. Allen grew up in Chewton, Pennsylvania, a small village just outside Wampum.
He attended Wampum High School where, along with his brothers Hank and Ron, he was a star basketball player at the school; all three brothers earned All-State honors. In the 1958 and 1960 seasons, Allen captained the basketball team, leading them to the state championship and earning All-American honors.
Despite their prowess in basketball, the brothers chose to prioritize baseball as, at the time, baseball paid better and they wanted to buy their mother a new house. Hank became an outfielder for three teams in the American League while Ron briefly played first base for the 1972 St. Louis Cardinals. Dick was scouted by Phillies scout Jack Ogden who convinced the team to sign Allen in 1960 for a $70,000 bonus.
MLB career
Philadelphia Phillies Allen faced racial harassment while playing for the Phillies' minor league affiliate in Little Rock; residents sent death threats to Allen, the local team's first black player.
His first full season in the majors, 1964, ranks among the greatest rookie seasons ever. He led the league in runs (125), triples (13), extra base hits (80), and total bases (352); Allen finished in the top five in batting average (.318), slugging average (.557), hits (201), and doubles (38) and won Rookie of the Year. Playing for the first time at third base, he led the league with 41 errors. Along with outfielder Johnny Callison and pitchers Chris Short and Jim Bunning, Allen led the Phillies to a six-and-a-half game hold on first place with 12 games to play in an exceptionally strong National League. The 1964 Phillies then lost ten straight games and finished tied for second place. The Phillies lost the first game of the streak to the Cincinnati Reds when Chico Ruiz stole home with Frank Robinson batting for the game's only run. In Allen's autobiography (written with Tim Whitaker), Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen, Allen stated that the play "broke our humps".Allen, Dick, and Whitaker, Tim. Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen (Ticknor & Fields, 1989), p. 55 Despite the Phillies' collapse, Allen hit .438 with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs and 11 RBI in those last 12 games.
Allen hit a two-run home run off the Cubs' Larry Jackson on May 29, 1965 that cleared the Coke sign on Connie Mack Stadium's left-center field roof. That home run, an estimated 529-footer, inspired Willie Stargell to say: "Now I know why they (the Phillies fans) boo Richie all the time. When he hits a home run, there's no souvenir."
While playing for Philadelphia, Allen appeared on several All-Star teams including the 1965–67 teams (in the latter of these three games, he hit a home run off Dean Chance). He led the league in slugging (.632), OPS (1.027) and extra base hits (75) in 1966.
Non-baseball incidents soon marred Allen's Philadelphia career. In July 1965, he got into a fistfight with teammate Frank Thomas. According to two teammates who witnessed the fight, Thomas swung a bat at Allen, hitting him in the shoulder. Johnny Callison said, "Thomas got himself fired when he swung that bat at Richie. In baseball you don't swing a bat at another player—ever." Pat Corrales confirmed that Thomas hit Allen with a bat and added that Thomas was a "bully" known for making racially divisive remarks. Allen and his teammates were not permitted to give their side of the story under threat of a heavy fine. The Phillies released Thomas the next day. That not only made the fans and local sports writers see Allen as costing a white player his job, but freed Thomas to give his version of the fight.Wright, Craig R.: "Dick Allen: Another View", SABR's Baseball Research Journal vol. 24, 1995, republished with permission at White Sox Interactive . In an hour-long interview aired December 15, 2009, on the MLB Network's Studio 42 with Bob Costas, Allen asserted that he and Thomas had since become good friends.MLB Network's "Studio 42 with Bob Costas", hour-long interview with Dick Allen first aired December 15, 2009.
Allen's name was a source of controversy: he had been known since his youth as "Dick" to family and friends, but the media referred to him upon his arrival in Philadelphia as "Richie". After leaving the Phillies, he asked to be called "Dick", saying Richie was a little boy's name. In his dual career as an R&B singer, the label on his records with the Groovy Grooves firm slated him as "Rich" Allen.Rich Allen & The Ebonistics "Echoes Of November," Groovy Grooves, 1968.
Some Phillies fans, known for being tough on hometown players even in the best of times, exacerbated Allen's problems. Initially the abuse was verbal, with obscenities and racial epithets. Eventually Allen was greeted with showers of fruit, ice, refuse, and even flashlight batteries as he took the field. He began wearing his batting helmet even while playing his position in the field, which gave rise to another nickname, "Crash Helmet", shortened to "Crash".
He almost ended his career in 1967 after mangling his throwing hand by pushing it through a car headlight. Allen was fined $2,500 and suspended indefinitely in 1969 when he failed to appear for the Phillies twi-night doubleheader game with the New York Mets. Allen had gone to New Jersey in the morning to see a horse race, and got caught in traffic trying to return.
St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers Allen finally had enough, and demanded the Phillies trade him. They sent him to the Cardinals in a trade before the 1970 season. Even this deal caused controversy, though not of Allen's making, since Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood refused to report to the Phillies as part of the trade. (Flood then sued baseball in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the reserve clause and to be declared a free agent.) Coincidentally, the player the Phillies received as compensation for Flood not reporting, Willie Montañez, hit 30 home runs as a 1971 rookie to eclipse Allen's Phillies rookie home run record of 29, set in 1964.Schlegel, John. "Powerful starts: Greatest homer tallies by rookies," Major League Baseball.com (July 11, 2014). Allen earned another All-Star berth in St. Louis.
Decades before Mark McGwire, Dick Allen entertained the St. Louis fans with some long home runs, at least one of them landing in the seats above the club level in left field. Nevertheless, the Cardinals traded Allen to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 1971 season for 1969 NL Rookie of the Year Ted Sizemore and young catcher Bob Stinson. Allen had a relatively quiet season in 1971 although he hit .295 for the Dodgers.
Chicago White Sox Allen was acquired by the White Sox from the Dodgers for Tommy John and Steve Huntz at the Winter Meetings on December 2, 1971.Durso, Joseph. "White Sox Add Bahnsen, Ship McKinney to Yanks," The New York Times, Friday, December 3, 1971. Retrieved December 4, 2021 White Sox manager Chuck Tanner's low-key style of handling ballplayers made it possible for Allen to thrive, for a while, on the South Side. Tanner decided to play Allen exclusively at first base, which allowed him to concentrate on hitting. That first year, his first in the American League (AL), Allen almost single-handedly lifted the entire team to second place in the AL West, as he led the league in home runs (37) (setting a team record), RBI (113), walks (99), on-base percentage (.420), slugging percentage (.603), and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.023), while winning a well-deserved MVP award. However, the Sox fell short at the end and finished games behind the World Series–bound Oakland Athletics.
On February 27, 1973, Allen became the highest-paid player in baseball, signing a 3-year $750,000 contract. His $250,000 AAV was a record at the time of the contract's signing. The Sox were favored by many to make the playoffs in 1973, but those hopes were dashed due in large measure to the fractured fibula that Allen suffered in June. (He tried to return five weeks after injuring the leg in a collision with Mike Epstein of the California Angels, but the pain ended Allen's season after just one game in which he batted 3-for-5.) In 1974, despite his making the AL All-Star team in each of the three years with the Sox, Allen's stay in Chicago ended in controversy when he left the team on September 14 with two weeks left in the season. In his autobiography, Allen blamed his feud with then third-baseman/Designated hitter Ron Santo, who was playing a final, undistinguished season with the White Sox after leaving the crosstown Chicago Cubs.Allen & Whitaker, Crash, pp. 148–151.
With Allen's intention to continue playing baseball uncertain, the White Sox reluctantly sold his contract to the Atlanta Braves for only $5,000, despite the fact that he had led the league in home runs, slugging (.563), and OPS (.938). Allen refused to report to the Braves and announced his retirement.
Return to the Phillies The Phillies coaxed Allen out of retirement for the 1975 season. The lay-off and effects of his broken leg in 1973 hampered his play. His numbers improved in 1976, a Phillies division winner, as he hit 15 home runs and batted .268 in 85 games. He continued his tape measure legacy during his second go-round with the Phillies. On August 22, 1975, Allen smashed a homer into the upper deck at San Diego Stadium, as the Phillies beat the Padres 6-5.
Oakland Athletics Allen played in 54 games and hit five home runs with 31 RBI with a .240 batting average during his final season, for the Oakland Athletics in 1977 before leaving the team abruptly in June of that season. His final day as a player was on June 19, playing both games of a doubleheader, against the White Sox. In five total plate appearances, he had two hits, with his final hit being a single in the eighth inning.
Career statistics and honors During a pitching-dominant era, Allen was considered one of the top sluggers of the 1960s and 1970s era. He finished his career with 351 home runs and a .534 slugging percentage.
Allen's number 15 was retired by the Phillies in September 2020. He was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2004."Shrine of the Eternals – Inductees" . Baseball Reliquary. www.baseballreliquary.org. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
Category Games AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS E FLD% Total 1,749 6,332 1,099 1,848 320 79 351 1,119 133 52 894 1,556 .292 .378 .534 .912 245 .975
Hall of Fame candidacy