Today on the blog, by special request for my buddy Richie, here's a "missing" 1972 In-Action card of the great Dick Allen in a Los Angeles Dodger version, since that was the team he suited up for in 1971:
Of
course, Allen would be a member of the Chicago White Sox in 1972 and go
on to take home the American League MVP Award after almost winning the
triple crown, but since the man also looked so bad-ass in a Dodger
uniform, creating this version here was something I did not want to
skip!
In
1971 he did not disappoint the L.A. faithful, as he'd hit .295 with 23
homers and 90 RBIs over 155 games while putting in time at third, left
field and first.
However, simply put Allen had it all going on in 1972, just missing out on
that Triple Crown while leading the Junior Circuit in homers with 37 and
runs batted in with 113, as well as walks (99), on-base-percentage
(.420) and slugging (.603).
And let's not forget that although you'd think otherwise, he chipped in with 19 stolen bases and five triples!
He was just on fire.
Needless to say he ran away with the M.V.P. voting that year,
finishing about 160 points ahead of runner-up Joe Rudi of the Oakland
A's.
The man was a beast at the plate, putting up numbers that were consistently up in the league-leaders year after year.
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.
This man is a Hall of Famer in my book!