DALLAS — He was one of the very best players of his era and probably should have had his day in Cooperstown decades ago when he was alive to experience it, but the honor finally came for Dick Allen Sunday evening. He will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025.
Allen’s election came via the Hall of Fame’s Classic Era Baseball Committee, a 16-member panel which voted on eight candidates including Allen, Luis Tiant, Dave Parker, Steve Garvey and Tommy John.
“Just like champagne popping,” his son, Richard Allen Jr., said during a celebration in a conference room at the Hilton Anatole as MLB's Winter Meetings began. “I wanted to hear it, wanted to see it, it’s just so much to take in. A big sigh of relief mainly. Just long overdue. Long overdue.”
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Dick Allen didn’t talk much about the Hall of Fame. When the topic of his omission would come up, he’d deflect. He’d mention other deserving players. “Yeah, but you are too,” his son would say.
“It was like waiting on that third out,” Allen Jr. said. “Just waiting, just waiting. It’s a load off my mind and off my back. He never wanted to talk about it. He never did talk about it.
“... This would have been big for him. He could hide it and fake it all he wants, but he’d get back and when we’re alone, he’d have a green (Heineken) and talk about it.”
The voting panel consisted of Ozzie Smith, Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Tony Perez, Lee Smith, Joe Torre, five current or former executives and five historians/media members.
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Election requires 75% of votes — 12 of 16. Allen had previously appeared on six different veteran’s committee ballots and the two most recent times, 2021 and 2014, he fell just one vote shy.
The resume was always there. From 1964-74, Allen’s .940 OPS was second in baseball to Hank Aaron’s .941. Allen was the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and 1972 AL MVP. He led the league in OPS four different years, in home runs twice and hit over .300 seven times. He was a .292 lifetime hitter. The active player closest to Allen’s .534 career slugging percentage is Juan Soto at .532.
Yet Allen topped out at 18.9% of Hall of Fame votes via the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, the primary path, and fell off the ballot in 1997. He played during an era of high racial tension and did not always have a harmonious relationship with the media, Phillies organization or fanbase. As time has passed, so has the interpretation of how Allen was treated and some of his reactions to those experiences.
“Dick's numbers would have been even more extraordinary had he played in a better environment. Some of the conditions he played in and lived with off the field were truly horrific,” Phillies managing partner John Middleton, one of Allen’s biggest supporters, said four years ago.
Allen died in December 2020 at 78. Three months earlier, on the 57th anniversary of his Phillies debut, the team retired his No. 15 with a ceremony at Citizens Bank Park.
"The city of Philadelphia, even though it was rough at times, I made some friends along the way,” Allen said that day.
Two of Allen’s biggest fans along the way have been former teammate Mike Schmidt and Middleton, who idolized Allen as a kid.
“I remember it was the first time I'd ever heard someone described as a phenom," Middleton said. "Dick helped turn my fandom into a passion.”
Schmidt was the person to reveal Allen’s retired No. 15 past the center field wall that day.
“As long as there's baseball in Philadelphia, you'll be one of its legends," Schmidt told him.
And as long as the Baseball Hall of Fame is standing, Allen’s bust will be on display.