The Phillies claimed Dick Allen as their own as he went into the Hall of Fame yesterday, and with good reason. Allen spent his prime in Philadelphia. His best years though, may have been with the White Sox from 1972-74 (surprisingly, that was still with the red pinstripes seen above). Let’s take a look.
The Phillies traded Allen after the 1969 season despite All-Star level production in only 118 games (.949 OPS and 3.7 WAR). He didn’t go to the White Sox yet though. Allen was traded first to the Cardinals (in the Curt Flood trade) and then to the Dodgers before ending up on the South Side in 1972. While it might not rank as highly as revenge seasons for Frank Robinson or Steve Carlton, Allen made his 3 previous teams all regret their business transactions.
Monday, July 28 at 7:40p – Cristopher Sanchez v. Davis Martin (R)
at Rate Field in Chicago, IL
Tuesday, July 29 at 7:40p – Jesus Luzardo v. Jonathan Cannon (R)
Wednesday, July 30 at 2:10p – Taijuan Walker v. Adrian Houser (R) (unless he’s traded)
The 1972 season was Allen’s best since his unbelievable rookie year in 1964, winning his first and only MVP award. Allen hit a league leading 37 HRs and 113 RBIs with 99 walks. His .308 batting average left him .01 shy of the Triple Crown (Rod Carew hit .318). Offense was down across the board that year, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at Allen’s league leading .603 slugging and 1.023 OPS. No one in the American League as within 100 points of him. His season was so prolific compared to everyone else that his OPS+ was 199, meaning he was basically worth 2 whole ball players. Unfortunately, that team was only led by Allen, left fielder Carlos May, and the pitching staff. The rest of the lineup couldn’t hit a lick.
It’s fun (if you are sadistic) to compare the 1972 Phillies to what they didn’t have in Allen that year. This was the season the Phillies acquired Carlton from the Cardinals who went 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA in 346.1 innings, winning the Cy Young. Despite that, the Phillies were 59-97 including losing 18 of 19 at one point. Allen’s replacement was a 3 headed abomination of Tom Hutton, Deron Johnson, and Joe Lis. Combined they managed 0.00 WAR.
Sadly, Allen’s 1973 season was cut short due to injury by the end of June (he would play 3 more games in July and August, but he was done). After 118 games, he was at or near the league lead in most offensive categories with 16 HRs, 41 RBI, .316 AVG, and a 1.006 OPS. Those seem low, but Reggie Jackson led the league in HRs, RBI, and OPS with 32, 117, and .914. Without Allen, the White Sox flopped, going from 38-32 to 77-85.
Allen’s stats in 1974 don’t tell the full story of just how good he still was. He led the league in HRs with 32 as did his .938 OPS, but this was basically done in half a season. Allen missed all of September again due to injury, but he wasn’t exactly recovered from the previous injury to start the season. He was hitting only .185 through the first 15 games and .264 for the first 36. Then he would go on a tear hitting in 15 of his next 16 games. His average would peak at .311 by mid-August and finish at .301. While not even close to Rod Carew’s .364, it was still good enough for a Top 10 finish despite the rough start.
Even with all the production in Chicago, the White Sox traded him back to Philadelphia. Things didn’t go as well back home. His statistics were down in 2 partial seasons in Philly before finishing things in Oakland in 1977. Allen’s career numbers are fantastic on their own, but are even better when you consider the down numbers across the board in baseball in the late 60s and early 70s. He was simply a great hitter who had to deal with way more bullshit than anyone can imagine. He should have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago.
All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
Philly Front Office 
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