The latest edition of “Cooperstown Chances” is live at Sporting News. I had some fun with this one.
A lot’s been written about Dick Allen over the years, much of it unflattering. Since a lot of old ballplayers have listed phone numbers, I called up six of them to ask them how much of this stuff is accurate.
Anyhow, big thanks to Wilbur Wood, Bill Melton, Carlos May, Don Lock, John Herrnstein, and Ed Roebuck for taking my call. A link to my column is HERE. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Graham,
Nice article! Although I realized that Dick Allen was a good player, this article forced me to take another look at his stats. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/allendi01.shtml. Very impressive to put up and be retired by the age of 35. He also meets 2 out of the 4 HOF stats at Baseball Reference and is 1 point short from meeting 3 out of 4 HOF categories. Although he is slightly short (roughly 6 points) on the average HOF career 3rd base numbers, but the fact that he retired at such a young age should offset that. Hopefully your article gets enough visibility that it reaches the masses if Dick Allen is truly as misrepresented as his former teammates suggest. Nice work!!! V/R, JC
First of all, I hope to participate in the “greatest players not in the hall of fame,” but I’m working a seasonal job right now, and working about 50 hours a week. 🙁
Bill Melton, one of the biggest babies I’ve seen. When he should have been in his prime, he started screaming he wanted to play in California so he could be closer to home. He got his wish, stunk up the place, then ended up in………………..Cleveland, where, after one year, he was gone from MLB.
Dick Allen sang professionally in a high, delicate tenor. The tone and texture of his voice has drawn comparisons to Harptones ‘ lead singer Willie Winfield .