Editing Dick Allen (section)

==MLB career==

===Philadelphia Phillies===
Allen faced racial harassment while playing for the Phillies' [[Minor League Baseball|minor league]] affiliate in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]]; residents sent death threats to Allen, the local team's first black player. 

His first full season in the majors, [[1964 Philadelphia Phillies season|1964]], ranks among the greatest rookie seasons ever.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rickswaine.com/articles/article2.html|title=The Ill-Fated Rookie Class of 1964|year=1998|volume=27|last=Swaine|first=Rick|work=rickswaine.com|publisher=Rick Swaine|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624070833/http://www.rickswaine.com/articles/article2.html|archive-date=June 24, 2012|access-date=April 1, 2015}}</ref> He led the league in [[Run (baseball)|runs]] (125), [[Triple (baseball)|triples]] (13), [[extra base hit]]s (80), and total bases (352); Allen finished in the top five in [[Batting average (baseball)|batting average]] (.318), slugging average (.557), [[Hit (baseball)|hits]] (201), and [[Double (baseball)|doubles]] (38) and won Rookie of the Year. Playing for the first time at third base, he led the league with 41 errors. Along with outfielder [[Johnny Callison]] and [[pitchers]] [[Chris Short]] and [[Jim Bunning]], Allen led the Phillies to a six-and-a-half game hold on first place with 12 games to play in an exceptionally strong National League. The 1964 Phillies then lost ten straight games and finished tied for second place. The Phillies lost the first game of the streak to the [[Cincinnati Reds]] when [[Chico Ruiz]] stole home with [[Frank Robinson]] batting for the game's only run. In Allen's [[autobiography]] (written with Tim Whitaker), ''Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen'', Allen stated that the play "broke our humps".<ref>Allen, Dick, and Whitaker, Tim. ''Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen'' (Ticknor & Fields, 1989), p. 55</ref> Despite the Phillies' collapse, Allen hit .438 with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs and 11 RBI in those last 12 games.

Allen hit a two-run home run off the Cubs' [[Larry Jackson (baseball)|Larry Jackson]] on May 29, 1965<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI196505290.shtml|title=Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score, May 29, 1965|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> that cleared the Coke sign on [[Connie Mack Stadium]]'s left-center field roof. That home run, an estimated 529-footer, inspired [[Willie Stargell]] to say: "Now I know why they (the Phillies fans) boo Richie all the time. When he hits a home run, there's no [[souvenir]]."<ref name="stargellquote">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quostar.shtml|title=Willie Stargell Quotes|date=January 1975|work=baseball-almanac.com|publisher=[[Baseball Almanac]]|access-date=January 13, 2020}}</ref>

{{MLBBioRet
|Image  = PhilsAllen.PNG
|Name   = Dick Allen
|Number = 15
|Team   = Philadelphia Phillies
|Year   = 2020
}}
While playing for Philadelphia, Allen appeared on several [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] teams including the [[1965 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1965]]–[[1967 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|67]] teams (in the latter of these three games, he hit a home run off [[Dean Chance]]). He led the league in slugging (.632), [[On-base plus slugging|OPS]] (1.027) and extra base hits (75) in 1966.<ref name="BR page"/>

Non-baseball incidents soon marred Allen's Philadelphia career. In July 1965, he got into a fistfight with teammate [[Frank Thomas (outfielder)|Frank Thomas]]. According to two teammates who witnessed the fight, Thomas swung a bat at Allen, hitting him in the shoulder. [[Johnny Callison]] said, "Thomas got himself fired when he swung that bat at Richie. In baseball you don't swing a bat at another player—ever." [[Pat Corrales]] confirmed that Thomas hit Allen with a bat and added that Thomas was a "bully" known for making racially divisive remarks. Allen and his teammates were not permitted to give their side of the story under threat of a heavy fine. The Phillies released Thomas the next day. That not only made the fans and local sports writers see Allen as costing a white player his job, but freed Thomas to give his version of the fight.<ref>Wright, Craig R.: "Dick Allen: Another View", SABR's ''Baseball Research Journal'' vol. 24, 1995, republished with permission at [http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/index.php?category=11&id=2065 White Sox Interactive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411001249/http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/index.php?category=11&id=2065 |date=April 11, 2019 }}.</ref> In an hour-long interview aired December 15, 2009, on the [[MLB Network]]'s ''Studio 42 with [[Bob Costas]]'', Allen asserted that he and Thomas had since become good friends.<ref>MLB Network's "Studio 42 with Bob Costas", hour-long interview with Dick Allen first aired December 15, 2009.</ref>

Allen's name was a source of controversy: he had been known since his youth as "Dick" to family and friends, but the media referred to him upon his arrival in Philadelphia as "Richie".<ref name="nicknames">{{cite web|title=Dick Allen: What Could Have Been|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/164255-dick-allen-what-could-have-been|author=Cody Swartz|date=April 28, 2009|work=Bleacher Report|access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> After leaving the Phillies, he asked to be called "Dick", saying Richie was a little boy's name. In his dual career as an R&B singer, the label on his records with the Groovy Grooves firm slated him as "Rich" Allen.<ref>Rich Allen & The Ebonistics [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJDDs7ohpJk "Echoes Of November,"] Groovy Grooves, 1968.</ref>

Some Phillies fans, known for being tough on hometown players even in the best of times, exacerbated Allen's problems. Initially the abuse was verbal, with obscenities and racial epithets. Eventually Allen was greeted with showers of fruit, ice, refuse, and even flashlight batteries as he took the field. He began wearing his batting helmet even while playing his position in the field, which gave rise to another [[nickname]], "Crash Helmet", shortened to "Crash".<ref name="nicknames" />

He almost ended his career in [[1967 Philadelphia Phillies season|1967]] after mangling his throwing hand by pushing it through a car headlight.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Cooperstown Casebook: Case Study: Dick Allen|url=https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/32361/the-cooperstown-casebook-case-study-dick-allen/|author=Jay Jaffe|date=July 26, 2017|work=Baseball Prospectus|access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> Allen was fined $2,500 and suspended indefinitely in [[1969 Philadelphia Phillies season|1969]] when he failed to appear for the Phillies twi-night doubleheader game with the [[1967 New York Mets season|New York Mets]]. Allen had gone to [[New Jersey]] in the morning to see a horse race, and got caught in traffic trying to return.<ref>{{cite web|title=Today in Baseball History June 24th|url=http://www.nationalpastime.com/site/index.php?fact_day=24&fact_month=06|work=nationalpastime.com|access-date=June 24, 2013}}</ref>

===St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers===
Allen finally had enough, and demanded the Phillies trade him. They sent him to the Cardinals in a trade before the 1970 season. Even this deal caused controversy, though not of Allen's making, since Cardinals outfielder [[Curt Flood]] refused to report to the Phillies as part of the trade. (Flood then [[Flood v. Kuhn|sued baseball]] in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the [[reserve clause]] and to be declared a [[free agent]].) Coincidentally, the player the Phillies received as compensation for Flood not reporting, [[Willie Montañez]], hit 30 home runs as a 1971 rookie to eclipse Allen's Phillies rookie home run record of 29, set in 1964.<ref>Schlegel, John. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140808055753/http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/powerful-starts-greatest-home-run-tallies-by-rookies?ymd=20140711&content_id=84168772&vkey=news_mlb "Powerful starts: Greatest homer tallies by rookies,"] Major League Baseball.com (July 11, 2014).</ref> Allen earned another All-Star berth in St. Louis.<ref name="BR page"/>

Decades before [[Mark McGwire]], Dick Allen entertained the St. Louis fans with some long home runs, at least one of them landing in the seats above the club level in left field. Nevertheless, the Cardinals traded Allen to the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] before the 1971 season for 1969 NL Rookie of the Year [[Ted Sizemore]] and young catcher [[Bob Stinson (baseball)|Bob Stinson]]. Allen had a relatively quiet season in 1971 although he hit .295 for the [[1971 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Dodgers]].<ref name="BR page">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/allendi01.shtml|title=Dick Allen stats|work=baseball-reference.com|publisher=[[Baseball Reference]]|access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

===Chicago White Sox===
Allen was acquired by the [[1972 Chicago White Sox season|White Sox]] from the Dodgers for [[Tommy John]] and [[Steve Huntz]] at the [[Winter Meetings]] on December 2, 1971.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/03/archives/dodgers-get-frank-robinson-and-trade-allen-in-separate-deals-by.html Durso, Joseph. "White Sox Add Bahnsen, Ship McKinney to Yanks," ''The New York Times'', Friday, December 3, 1971.] Retrieved December 4, 2021</ref> For various reasons, his previous managers had shuffled him around on defense, playing him at first base, third base, and the outfield in no particular order – a practice which almost certainly weakened his defensive play, and which may have contributed to his frequent injuries, not to mention his perceived bad attitude.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}} Sox manager [[Chuck Tanner]]'s low-key style of handling ballplayers made it possible for Allen to thrive, for a while, on the South Side. Tanner decided to play Allen exclusively at first base, which allowed him to concentrate on hitting. That first year, his first in the [[American League]] (AL), Allen almost single-handedly lifted the entire team to second place in the AL West, as he led the league in home runs (37) (setting a team record), [[Runs batted in|RBI]] (113), [[Base on balls|walks]] (99), on-base percentage (.420), slugging percentage (.603), and [[on-base plus slugging]] percentage (1.023), while winning a well-deserved MVP award. However, the Sox fell short at the end and finished {{frac|5|1|2}} games behind the World Series–bound [[1972 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland Athletics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1972.shtml|title= 1972 AL Team Statistics |work=baseball-reference.com|publisher=[[Baseball Reference]]|access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

Allen's feats during his years with the White Sox – particularly in that MVP season of 1972 – are spoken of reverently by South Side fans who credit him with saving the franchise for Chicago (it was rumored to be bound for St. Petersburg or Seattle at the time).<ref name=Tribune>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-chicago-white-sox-dick-allen-died-20201207-zyhngctlgjdq5mzhuq37wnrpmq-story.html|title=Dick Allen, the Chicago White Sox legend who won American League MVP honors in 1972, dies at 78|author=Paul Sullivan|author2=Paul Skrbina|date=December 7, 2020|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> His powerful swing sent home runs deep into some of cavernous old [[Comiskey Park]]'s farthest reaches, including the roof and even the distant ({{convert|445|ft|m}}) center field bleachers, a rare feat at one of baseball's most pitcher-friendly stadiums. On July 31, 1972, Allen became the first player in baseball's "modern era" to hit two [[inside-the-park home run]]s in one game. Both homers were hit off [[Bert Blyleven]] in the White Sox' 8–1 victory over the [[Minnesota Twins]] at [[Metropolitan Stadium]]. On July 6, 1974, at [[1974 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit]]'s [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Tiger Stadium]], he lined a homer off the roof façade in deep left-center field at a linear distance of approximately {{convert|415|ft|m}} and a height of {{convert|85|ft|m}}.<ref>Jenkinson, Bill: The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Homeruns, Carrol and Graf, 2007</ref>

On February 27, 1973, Allen became the highest-paid player in baseball, signing a 3-year $750,000 contract. His $250,000 AAV was a record at the time of the contract's signing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/2/27/22567887/today-in-chicago-white-sox-history-february-27|title=Today in White Sox History: February 27|date=February 27, 2022 }}</ref> The Sox were favored by many to make the playoffs in [[1973 Chicago White Sox season|1973]], but those hopes were dashed due in large measure to the fractured fibula that Allen suffered in June. (He tried to return five weeks after injuring the leg in a collision with [[Mike Epstein]] of the [[California Angels]], but the pain ended Allen's season after just one game in which he batted 3-for-5.) In 1974, despite his making the AL All-Star team in each of the three years with the Sox, Allen's stay in Chicago ended in controversy when he left the team on September 14 with two weeks left in the [[1974 Chicago White Sox season|season]]. In his [[autobiography]], Allen blamed his feud with then third-baseman/Designated hitter [[Ron Santo]], who was playing a final, undistinguished season with the White Sox after leaving the crosstown [[Chicago Cubs]].<ref>Allen & Whitaker, ''Crash'', pp. 148–151.</ref>

With Allen's intention to continue playing baseball uncertain, the White Sox reluctantly sold his contract to the [[Atlanta Braves]] for only $5,000, despite the fact that he had led the league in home runs, slugging (.563), and OPS (.938). Allen refused to report to the Braves and announced his retirement.<ref name=Tribune />

===Return to the Phillies===
The Phillies coaxed Allen out of retirement for the [[1975 Philadelphia Phillies season|1975 season]].  The lay-off and effects of his broken leg in 1973 hampered his play. His numbers improved in [[1976 Philadelphia Phillies season|1976]], a Phillies division winner, as he hit 15 home runs and batted .268 in 85 games.<ref name="BR page" /> He continued his tape measure legacy during his second go-round with the Phillies. On August 22, 1975, Allen smashed a homer into the upper deck at [[SDCCU Stadium|San Diego Stadium]], as the Phillies beat the [[1975 San Diego Padres season|Padres]] 6-5.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Philadelphia Phillies at San Diego Padres Box Score, August 22, 1975|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN197508220.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

===Oakland Athletics===
Allen played in 54 games and hit five home runs with 31 RBI with a .240 batting average during his final season, for the [[1977 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland Athletics]] in 1977 before leaving the team abruptly in June of that season.<ref name="BR page" /> His final day as a player was on June 19, playing both games of a doubleheader, against the White Sox. In five total plate appearances, he had two hits, with his final hit being a single in the eighth inning.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=allendi01&t=b&year=1977|title=Dick Allen 1977 Batting Game Logs|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA197706191.shtml|title=Oakland Athletics at Chicago White Sox Box Score, June 19, 1977|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>