Baseball Library Records February 25 and 27, 35 years ago, marked two revolutionary events that have served to shape the fiscal and economic reality of contemporary baseball. The earlier date is the root of the evolution of MLB salary arbitration and free agency.
Baseball Library Records February 25, 1973;
A new 3-year Basic Agreement is reached between players and owners… Among the provisions of the agreement are a minimum salary of $15,000 ‘salary arbitration’ and the ’10 and 53 trade rule’ which allows a player with 10 years in the ML ‘the last 5 of which are with your current team’ to veto any trades involving you.
The last date in 1973 made Dick Allen the highest paid baseball player by receiving a 3-year, $250,000 per year contract from the Chicago White Sox.
Allen burst onto the Phillies scene at the start of the 1964 season, a season memorable for Jim Bunnings’ Father’s Day perfect game against the Mets, right fielder Johnny Callison’s Game 3 All-Star home run and collapse the club at the end of the season. 6 games ahead of first place in the National League in the last 12 games of the season.
Allen’s rookie season reflected the same kind of career promise as Ryan Howard’s rookie season in 2005. But Howard hit all 22 of his home runs with a .286 BA in 88 games where Allen’s 29 home runs, 104 RBIs, 201 hits, and a .318 BA were full-season stats. Although he committed 41 errors at third base, never having played there before reaching the big leagues, Allen courted baseball writers with his stats and was voted National League Rookie of the Year in 1964.
While Howard also earned rookie of the year honors in the 2005 season, he also earned a wall of awards for his 58 home run, 149 RBI, .313 BA 2006 season which, by comparison, surpassed Allen’s sophomore season. Additionally, it took Allen four and a half seasons to duplicate Howard’s 129 home runs in fewer than three full seasons.
Although Allen put up impressive numbers in 1965 before really blossoming for the Phils with a 40-homer, 110-RBI, .317 BA season in 1966, his turmoil off the field eventually spilled over onto the field.
A glimpse of the future disturbance that would haunt Allen throughout his career was seen a year later, in 1965, in his encounters with veteran journeyman utility player Frank Thomas, who was nearing the end of a 16-year career. Thomas, who caught a few hits with his bat throughout his career, provided some emergency home runs for the Phils after their acquisition late in the 1964 season. But perhaps the turbulence that marked Allen’s career stemmed from his minor league experiences with the Phillies affiliate club in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Wikipedia records this in regards to Allen’s minor league experiences;
His career got off to a turbulent start when he faced racial harassment while playing for the Phillies’ minor league affiliate in Little Rock; residents organized protest parades against Allen, the first black player on the local team. However, he led the league in total bases.
My recollection is that the confrontations occurred when Allen took issue with the alleged “racist” comments made by Thomas.
Wikipedia continues to record some of Allen’s scratches throughout his years with the Phillies;
He quickly wore out his welcome due to his erratic behavior. He got into a fistfight with popular Phillie Frank Thomas in July 1965, cut his throwing hand by shoving it through a car headlight on August 24, 1967, and earned a 26-game suspension in June 1969 after the police pull him over for erratic driving. , and being late for a doubleheader; he also started drinking a lot.
Even Allen’s name was a matter of controversy: he was known to family and friends as “Dick” from his youth, but for reasons somewhat obscure at this late date, he was referred to by the media upon his arrival in Philadelphia as “Richie.” . ”, possibly a merger with Phillies star Richie Ashburn. After several years, he asked to be called “Dick”, saying Richie was a little boy’s name.
The Phillies’ Boo Bird fans, known for being hard on homegrown players even in the best of times, exacerbated Allen’s problems. Initially the abuse was verbal, with obscenities and racial epithets. Finally, Allen was greeted with a shower of fruit, ice, debris, and even flashlight batteries as he took to the field. He began wearing his batting helmet even while playing his defensive position in the field, leading to another nickname, “Crash Helmet,” shortened to “Crash.”
One of Dick Allen’s most infuriating moments for fans came on June 24, 1969. Allen was fined $2,500 and suspended indefinitely when he failed to show up for the Phillies’ two-night game with the Mets. Allen had gone to New Jersey that morning to watch a horse race and got stuck in traffic as he was trying to get back.
When the Phillies finally had enough of Allen’s antics, they traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1970 season. But even that deal was shrouded in controversy, though through no fault of Allen’s.
The Phillies had traded him to St. Louis for outfielder Curt Flood, who didn’t want to play in Philadelphia.
Wikipedia notes;
Flood refused to inform the Phillies as part of the trade. (Flood later sued baseball in an unsuccessful attempt to void the reserve clause and be declared a free agent.)
As it turned out, Flood did not play the 1970 season before signing with the Washington Senators, where he played 13 games before retiring. The Phillies, who were looking for Flood, got young outfielder Willie Montanez instead.
Meanwhile, Allen had a productive 1970 season of 34 HRs, 101 RBIs, and .279 with the Cardinals. But in 1971, he was traded to the Dodgers and then to the White Sox, where he played from 1972 to 1974.
In 1972, after Allen had set a White Sox club record and led the league with 34 HRs with a .316 BA, he reached the pinnacle of his career, winning the AL MVP award. In 1973, after receiving the 3-year contract from the White Sox, Allen broke his leg in a crash while running the bases in late June and missed the remainder of the season. In 1974, he returned with 32 HRs and a .301 BA but left the team, without giving a reason, in mid-September.
Former Phillies great center fielder Richie Ashburn, now announcing play-by-play for the team, convinced Allen to come out of retirement to rejoin the Phillies. But Allen had 2 disappointing seasons with the club.
Allen’s career came to an end in Philadelphia at the end of the 1976 regular season in which the Phillies won the NL East championship. He jumped on the club for its decision not to include veteran second baseman Tony Taylor on its postseason roster for the upcoming NLCS with the Cincinnati Reds. Taylor had been a fixture at second base and a rock of consistency in the Phillies’ infield throughout all of the meager past few spots of the 1960s.
Allen may have had a point regarding player loyalty, but the Phillies had to do what was best for the club and Taylor was a player who visibly aged late in his career. And after the litany of all the previous tumult from him, this was just the icing on a tasteless cake.