December has been a bad month for Phillies' alumni. Only 10 days in and we've already lost Dick Allen, Phil Linz, and coaches Billy DeMars and Denis Menke. Let's start with Allen...
Dick Allen passed away on December 7, 2020 at age 78.
Allen was one of the most feared sluggers of the mid-1960s to early-1970s. He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1964, while leading the NL in runs and triples, and also batting .318! He was among the league leaders in home runs, RBI, and batting average from 1964-66.
After well-documented issues with team management and the fans, Allen was traded after the 1969 season.
Following brief stops in St. Louis and LA, he wound up with the White Sox in 1972, where he regained his dominant style of play, winning the AL MVP that season while leading the AL in homers, RBI, walks, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
Allen returned to the Phillies in 1975 and 1976. Although his skills had diminished somewhat by then, players like Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, and Greg Luzinski have cited Allen's value as a mentor to them. The team finally made the playoffs in 1976.
It's been said that Allen is one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame. After falling one vote short in the last veterans' committee election, the committee's dithering had postponed this year's election until next year. (Too late, dopes!)
As a consolation, this summer the Phillies had finally retired his number and inducted him into their Wall of Fame (albeit without any fans attending the games this year).
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