Hall of Famer Dick Allen

Dick Allen is truly a Phillies legend. Now, he’s a Hall of Famer. Phinally.

Allen was on the HOF ballot for 14 years, but never received close to the 75% of the votes needed for enshrinement by the writers. Twice on the Golden Days Era Committee, he fell one vote short (2014 and 2021). In his third at-bat on that ballot (Dec. 8, 2024), he crushed a ball that landed in Cooperstown, N.Y. He’ll be posthumously inducted on July 27, 2025.

• Phillies Alumni

Dick was an exceptional two-sport star at Wampum High School in western Pennsylvania. He starred on state championship basketball teams.

But his ability to hit a baseball overshadowed his hoop skills. Baseball scouts began following Dick as a junior. Scouts in those days doubled as salesmen. Era Allen served as her son’s negotiator. She was most comfortable with a 66-year-old Phillies scout, John Ogden. Upon graduating from in 1960, Allen signed a pro baseball contract that included a $60,000 bonus.

Ogden also signed Dick’s older brother, Hank (1960) and young brother, Ron (1964). Each played in the Majors. Hank was a teammate when Dick made his pro debut, an 18-year-old shortstop with the Elmira Pioneers of the Class D New York-Penn League. Dick joined the team in Geneva and homered in his first game. A sign of things to come.

Playing in 88 games for the Pioneers, Dick finished with 19 doubles, 10 triples, eight homers, 42 RBIs and a .281 average and led club with an .868 OPS. He spent three more years in the Minors in Class C, Class A and Triple-A, playing shortstop, second base and the outfield. He was an All-Star each of those seasons.

Dick made his Major League debut (wearing No. 32) on Sept. 3, 1963, his fourth season of pro ball. His Minor League totals: 88 doubles, 40 triples, 82 home runs, 342 RBIs, a .306 average, .531 slugging and a .915 OPS. The kid could hit.

Reporting to Spring Training in 1964, he was moved to a new position, third base. He turned in the greatest rookie season for a hitter in franchise history. He set four Phillies rookie records that still stand, runs (125), hits (201), total bases (352) and slugging percentage (.557). He also set personal career highs in games (162), average (.318), runs, hits, doubles (38) and total bases. Dick was named the National League Rookie of the Year, collecting 18 out of 20 votes.

Armed with a 42-ounce bat, he could punish the baseball. His titanic home runs at Connie Mack Stadium are legendary:

* May 29, 1965: A monster home run over the Coca-Cola sign atop the Connie Mack Stadium roof in left-center field in the first inning against the Cubs’ Larry Jackson. Unofficially, 529 feet. The only home run Jackson gave up to Allen.

* July 8, 1965, second game: Hit his first Major League grand slam, a majestic shot off the top of the 75-foot-high Ballantine Beer scoreboard in right-center field at Connie Mack Stadium. Willie Mays and Willie McCovey homered for the Giants’ runs in a 4-2 Phillies win.

* 1967: Became the first player to hit a home run over the center-field fence between the stands and the flagpole at Connie Mack Stadium since the fence was raised to 32 feet in 1934.

Home Run Nuggets

• His first home run came in the fourth game of the 1964 season, April 17, Wrigley Field, Dick Ellsworth.
• His first home run at Connie Mack Stadium came six days later, Joe Gibbon of the Pirates.
• First homer in the inaugural game National League in the Astrodome (April 12, 1965), 2-0 Phillies win behind Chris Short.
• 40 homers in 1966 were the most by a Phillies player since Chuck Klein, 40, in 1930.
• Second Phillies player to go deep in an All-Star Game, 1967, Anaheim Stadium.
• First player in National League history to homer in his last three at-bats of a season (#31-32-33), Sept. 29, 1968, at Shea Stadium.
• First Phillies player to homer in five straight games, May 27-June 1, 1969.
• Playing for the Cardinals in 1970, he hit four home runs against the Phillies, three off Jim Bunning and one off Rick Wise.
• Sept. 21, 1976, was when he drilled his 204th and final Phillies homer, Bill Grief of the Cardinals, Veterans Stadium. Described as “deep right field.”
• His final homer (No. 351) came on May 17, 1977, playing for the A’s against Ron Guidry of the Yankees. “Deep LF."

Career

After 1969 season, the Phillies traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals. He also played for the Dodgers and White Sox (1972 AL MVP). His 15-year career ended in Oakland in 1977. 7 All-Star teams, 351 home runs, .292 average.

In today’s metrics his 165 OPS+ from 1964-73 led the Majors, better than Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew and Willie McCovey. For a stretch of 11 seasons (1964 through 1974), he had a .940 OPS, second only to Hank Aaron’s .941.

Ten years after his 529-foot home run, No. 15 returned to the Phillies. He singled in his first at-bat, May 14, 1975, against the Cincinnati Reds at Veterans Stadium. Dick drew a standing ovation from the 30,908 fans. The past was forgotten. With Allen in the lineup, the Phillies won the NL East in 1976, ending a 26-year postseason drought.

His nine-year Phillies numbers are mind-numbing: 1,070 games, a .290 average, 204 doubles, 64 triples, 204 home runs, 655 RBIs and a .902 OPS. He led the NL in slugging (.632) and OPS (1.027) in 1966 and OBP (.404) and OPS (.970) the following season.

His No. 15 was retired by the Phillies on Sept. 3, 2020, the 57th anniversary of his big league debut. He died three months later at age 78.

Dick’s resting in peace as a Hall of Famer. So very, very sad it didn’t happen while he was alive.