RIP - Dick Allen

 

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). 

 

Philadelphia Inquirer obituary   

 

Philadelphia Inquirer story  

 

New York Times story 

 

Magic Valley Cowboys

Last week I posted Ken Henderson's card on my 1966 blog. One of the minor league teams he played for was "Magic Valley". That jogged my memory of seeing that team listed on the back of some Phillies' cards in the mid-1960s. so I decided to investigate this magical place.

Magic Valley is an area in south-central Idaho. The Magic Valley Cowboys were a minor-league franchise off-and-on from 1952-71. (On a few of the players' cards below, the team's location is referred to as "Twin Falls" instead of "Magic Valley".)


From 1952-58 it was a Cubs' class-C team, where the likes of John Buzhardt, Bob Will, and Bill Pleis passed through.

From 1961 to 1963 it was a Phillies' outpost.
In 1961 Dick Allen and Adolfo Phillips played class-C ball there. The following year, Phillips returned, and was joined by Hank Allen and Johnny Morris.
In 1963 it was reorganized as a class-A team, featuring Alex Johnson, Jeff James, Al Raffo, and Mike Marshall. (Yes, Marshall was once Phillies' property!)

The Cowboys became a Giants' rookie-league affiliate from 1964 to 1966, featuring future major-leaguers Ken Henderson, Bob Schroeder, Ron Bryant, Chris Arnold, Don Hahn, and Bob Reynolds.

Next, the Braves took over the team from 1968-70, and it became home to Mike McQueen and Grady Little ('68), Mickey Rivers and Larvell Blanks ('69), and Adrian Devine and Rod Gilbreath ('70).

1971 was the last year for the Magic Valley Cowboys. Now unaffiliated, it included future big-leaguers Jerry Remy and Butch Metzger.

Phillies 1967 Yearbook

A few months ago, I found the box containing all my Phillies' yearbooks from 1967 to 1980-something. I bought this yearbook on my first trip to a Phillies game, back in May 1967.

Fifty-six pages of Phillies' facts and photos for only ONE DOLLAR! Most major-league players got a full page to themselves, while some of the younger or marginal players shared a page with another player. (No one had more than a single page.)

I'm not going to scan and post every page (at least not all at once!), but I have already posted Jim Bunning's page here, and here are a few more:

If the yearbook was a dollar, I'm guessing that hot dog was a quarter!

Here's "Rich" (not Richie) Allen.

Johnny Callison was a fan favorite, and lived year-round in the Philadelphia suburbs.

In his lower-right photo, Bob Uecker seems to be thinking "There must be a better way to make a living!"

This page is interesting in that it is evidence that veteran Braves' and Reds' starter Joey Jay was given a spring training invite to Phillies' camp in 1967. He didn't make the team, but spent the year pitching for their single-A team before retiring.

After the player pages and center-spread color team photo, there's a section for minor-league managers, prospects, scouts, etc. Here are the Phillies pitching prospects that season. Both Steve Arlin and Mike Wegener were lost in the expansion draft after the 1968 season.

And the position-player prospects. Sutherland, Harmon, Hisle, and Doyle all had long careers in the majors. (Hmm... surprising that Larry Bowa is not here.)  Dick Allen's brother Ron had a cup of coffee with the Mets a few years later.

Inside the back cover is a shot of the infamous "spite wall" in the outfield. Connie Mack put that up years earlier to prevent the residents across the street from viewing the games for free.
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1967 Phillies Photos

I just found these in my house a few weeks ago. I bought them at the ballpark in 1967, and they have been in a folder in my desk since the 1970s (along with some old baseball card catalogs which I will be posting in the near future).

Here are 6 stars from the 1967 team. I don't know if these were the only ones issued, or if there were photos of all players, which you could collect in packs of 6. (Maybe Jim at The Phillies Room blog has these, or some more info about them.) Each photo is 5" x 7".

Jim Bunning was the ace of the pitching staff, but that didn't induce the team to make sure the negative wasn't reversed before printing these. Chris Short was the left-handed ace, and was just coming off a 20-win season.

Larry Jackson came over from the Cubs in early 1966 in exchange for Ferguson Jenkins, and was the team's #3 starter from 1966-68. Cookie Rojas upgraded from Jack-of-all-trades to starting 2nd baseman by the mid-1960s.

Dick Groat was acquired from the Cardinals along with Bill White and Bob Uecker before the 1966 season. Groat was the regular SS in 1966, but missed the first 2 months of 1967. Upon his return, he was sold to the Giants. Richie Allen was the Phillies' superstar slugger from 1964-69, and returned to the team for 1975-76.
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Trades: Dick Allen for Curt Flood? (Oct. 1969)

Another installment in the occasional series about some big trades in the 1960s: 

The Phillies closed out the decade with a major housecleaning. In separate deals, they moved sluggers Dick Allen and Johnny Callison, and also said goodbye to Cookie Rojas and Turk Farrell. By the start of the 1970 season, the only players remaining from the 1967 team were Chris Short, Tony Taylor, Johnny Briggs, Rick Wise, and Grant Jackson.

On October 7, 1969 the Phillies finally unloaded disgruntled slugger Dick "Richie" Allen. He and team management had been a thorn in each others' side for several seasons, with the Phillies' managers quitting or being fired during both the 1968 and 1969 seasons.

Allen (who had moved to 1st base for the 1969 season), along with fan favorite (but objectively speaking, serviceable) 2nd baseman Cookie Rojas and 2nd-year pitcher Jerry Johnson were dealt to the Cardinals. In return, the Phillies were getting 7-time Gold Glove center fielder Curt Flood, all-star catcher Tim McCarver, ace lefty reliever Joe Hoerner, and reserve outfielder Byron Browne. Flood and McCarver had played in 3 World Series in the past 6 years, while Hoerner participated in the '67 and '68 World Series.

Famously, Curt Flood refused to report to the Phillies, setting the ball rolling for eventual player free agency.  As compensation, the Cardinals sent prospect Willie Montanez to the Phillies. Flood had just won 7 straight Gold Gloves, and was a 3-time All-Star with the Cardinals. He appeared in all 3 World Series for the Cardinals in the 1960s, and led the NL with 211 hits in 1964.

Tim McCarver was the team's starting catcher in the '64, '67, and '68 World Series, and was an All-Star in '66 and '67.  In 1967, he finished 2nd in the MVP voting.  Curiously, he led the NL with 13 triples in 1966.  (I always figured him as a lumbering plodder!)

Joe Hoerner was a Rule 5 pickup from the Astros before the 1966 season, and led the Cardinals in saves for each of his 4 seasons in St. Louis.

Byron Browne made a splash as a rookie with the Cubs in 1966 (hence the trophy), but spent most of 1967-69 in the minors.

Allen was the Phillies top slugger from 1964-69, and was among the league leaders in homers and RBI from 1964-66.  He was also the NL Rookie of the Year in 1964.

Cookie Rojas had been with the Phillies since 1963, working his way up from jack-of-all-trades to become the team's regular 2nd baseman for his final 4 seasons in Philly.

Jerry Johnson joined the Phillies during the 1968 season, and was a swing man in both '68 and '69.


SUMMARY:
So who "won" this deal?  On the surface you would think the Cardinals, because the Phillies gave up Allen and didn't get the services of Flood.

However, Allen only lasted 1 season in St. Louis before he was traded to the Dodgers for the punchless Ted Sizemore, and Rojas' stay was even less: by June he was traded to the Royals for a prospect that never panned out. Johnson was traded away a month earlier.

Although Flood never played for the Phillies, his career was done.  After sitting out the 1970 season, he had a failed 13-game comeback in 1971 with the Senators. McCarver had 2 1/2 good seasons with the Phils, then returned several years later as Steve Carlton's personal catcher.  Hoerner was the Phils' top reliever for 2 seasons, and made his only All-Star team in 1970, compiling a 9-5 record with a 2.65 ERA.  The next season his ERA shrank to 1.97. Browne was a reserve in 1970 and spent most of the next 2 seasons in the minors.

Throw-in Willie Montanez made the team in 1971, collecting 99 RBI and finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting. After 3 years as a starting outfielder, he moved in to first base and was eventually flipped to the Giants in early 1975 for center fielder Garry Maddox. The reason the Phillies moved Willie?  To make room at 1st base for Dick Allen, who was re-acquired in mid-1975 and helped power the team to the playoffs in 1976.

ADVANTAGE: Phillies


Click the 'trades' label below to see all the installments in this series.
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1967 Scrapbook - Richie Allen

Here's another installment in an occasional series called "1967 Scrapbook". In 2011 I found a baseball scrapbook I had made in 1967, containing photos that I clipped from the Philadelphia sports pages that summer. 


June 4th vs. Astros:

June 8th vs. Cubs:

Unknown date vs. Braves:

July 8th (against the Cardinals) was the only game Allen did not start in 1967 (prior to missing all games after 8/23 due to injury).

1960s Blog Hall of Fame Results (#4)

16 ballots were cast, with Dick Allen being the lone inductee this time.

Allen never dipped below 70% during the entire election, and was the only candidate who spent any time at or above 75% after the first 5 ballots were cast. (The closest anyone else came was Billy Williams, at 71% after the 7th ballot.)

Allen joins the 20 players and 1 manager already in the Hall:

Besides Allen, the only candidate whose stock rose this time was 500-homer club member Eddie Mathews, slightly increasing his share from 59% to 63%.

Everyone else on the ballot slipped, but kept their "same order of finish" from the previous election. Warren Spahn, Billy Williams, Whitey Ford, Rod Carew, and Orlando Cepeda all saw their share decrease by 9% (actually 14% for Ford), while Jim Bunning, Roger Maris, and Ron Santo each dropped by 4%.

This was the first time write-in slots were on the ballot, and I was kind of surprised that only one voter used them. With only 6% of the vote, write-in candidates Gary Peters and Joel Horlen will not get slots on the next ballot. 

Maury Wills and Joe Torre will also be dropped from the next ballot, as they did not get the minimum 15% of the vote.  (Although Wills was listed in the poll as receiving 18%, one voter selected seven candidates (instead of the maximum of six), so their 7th player selected (Wills) was disallowed.)

Congratulations to Crash Allen!

Happy 70th to Dick Allen!

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Today is Dick Allen's 70th birthday.

Growing up in the 1960s, "Richie" Allen was one of my favorite Phillies players back then. I was sorry to see him go after the 1969 season, but he DID wear out his welcome, and what the heck, WE were getting Curt Flood in return.

The Phillies' fanbase was abuzz with excitement and anticipation when he returned in 1975.



About a year or 2 ago, I watched Bob Costas interview Dick Allen on the MLB Network. He has really mellowed out over the years; soft-spoken, and had nice things to say about Gene Mauch, Frank Thomas, and others.

I read his autobiography, "Crash" about a year ago. It was interesting to get his "inside" view, and learn about his early years as a high school basketball star.

Happy Birthday Crash!

Bob Costas interviewing Dick Allen on MLB

Earlier tonight, I was watching Bob Costas' Studio 42 interview show on the MLB Network. His guest was Dick Allen, who is surprisingly soft-spoken. Mixed in with studio chatter was video of Allen's highlights, as well as comments from Willie Mays, Cookie Rojas, and Stan Hochman (a Philadelphia sportswriter since 1959).

Some topics:

- Allen is friends to this day with Frank Thomas.
- He doesn't blame Gene Mauch for 1964's collapse.
- His off-field antics and in-game scrawling in the dirt were designed to get him shipped out of Philly.
- He was the first black player to play for the minor-league team in Little Rock AR, and took much abuse there.

These shows are usually replayed often [at least the McCarver episode was! :( ] Phillies fans should check it out.