Time to get my Dick Allen "fix" in and present to you all my "Nicknames of the 70's" card for the former slugger.
Take a look at what I came up with:
I used the 1974 template since he was in the middle of a great run with the South Side Pale Hose.
As I've stated many times, I have always been a fervent fan of
Allen and his "'tude", kind of like what Albert Belle ended up being a couple decades
later.
Allen, whether during his "Richie" or "Dick" years, could flat out rake.
Six times he'd top 30 homers, with a high of 40 in 1966 while still with the Phillies.
He'd also top 100 runs scored twice, 100+ runs batted in three
times, and even top 200 hits, which was during his amazing rookie year,
where he also hit 29 homers, scored 125 runs and drove in 91.
Needless to say, he took home the Rookie of the Year that year, and
in 1972 would take home the MVP trophy while with the White Sox when he
paced the American League with 37 homers and 113 RBI's, while just
missing out on the Triple Crown, batting .308,
just ten points off the league-leading mark by perennial winner Rod
Carew.
By the time he left the game at the age of 35, Allen hit over 350 homers, batted .292 and scored 1099 runs with 1119 RBI's.
The seven-time all-star also led his league in triples once, walks once, on-base-percentage twice and slugging three times.
I'm not saying the man is a lock-tight Hall of Fame candidate, but I
do think in light of some of the guys already in, HE should also be in
there.
The fact that the most support he got was an 18.9% showing in 1996 seems like a joke to me.
What do you all think?