Dick Allen 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 Allen 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 school in 1960, Allen signed a pro baseball contract that included a $60,000 bonus.

• Phillies Alumni

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 as an 18-year-old as a 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.

Later in the season in a game against Wellsville, Allen was hit in his left eye by a pitch. He missed several weeks.

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

Allen made his Major League debut (wearing No. 32) on Sept. 3, 1963, his fourth season of pro ball. His Minor League totals: 87 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. Allen was named the National League Rookie of the Year, the Phillies first since Jack Sanford (1957). He finished seventh in the NL MVP voting.

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, first inning against the Cubs’ Larry Jackson.

• July 8 (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.

• 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

• First homer at the Astrodome's inaugural game (April 12, 1965), a 2-0 Phillies win behind Chris Short.

• Forty 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 (Nos. 31, 32, 33), Sept. 29, 1968, at Shea Stadium.

• First Phillies player to homer in five straight games, May 27-June 1, 1969.

His Phillies years were sprinkled with controversy. He became a target of the boobirds and wanted out of Philadelphia. In his autobiography "Crash," he admitted, “I always was rebellious. I liked doing things my own way.”

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

In today’s metrics, his 165 OPS+ from 1964-73 led the Majors, better than Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew and Willie McCovey.

General manager Paul Owens felt a veteran slugger was needed in the middle of the Phillies lineup that featured Greg Luzinski and Mike Schmidt. Allen was the man he wanted and got. Ten years after his 529-foot home run, No. 15 returned to the Phillies. He singled in his first at-bat on May 14, 1975, against the Cincinnati Reds at Veterans Stadium. Allen 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 eyepopping: 1,070 games, .290 average, 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.

The organization’s first African American superstar, 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.

Twice, he fell one vote shy of being selected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Days Era committee, 2014 and '21. That committee meets again in December 2026. His pro career began in Elmira, N.Y. Enshrinement in Cooperstown, N.Y., is so deserving.