On the blog this fine day, we spotlight my 1964 "dedicated rookie" for the great Richie (Dick) Allen, who put together what I feel is a Hall of Fame career, beginning with the Philadelphia Phillies:
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The man was a beast at the plate, putting up numbers that were consistently up in the league-leaders year after year.
His
rookie year was phenomenal, as he'd score 125 runs, collect 201 hits,
lead the league with 13 triples, while collecting 38 doubles, hit 29
homers and drive in 91 runs, and hit .318, finishing seventh for the MVP
Award.
Needless
to say, he took home the Rookie of the Year in 1964, 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?
