Dick Allen turns 70 today, and Chris Jaffe remembers the controversial figure:
One thing interesting about Allen was that he was genuinely controversial. By that I mean it wasn’t that he did something that everyone hated. No, that would make him merely widely maligned. To be controversial, you need a split of opinion—not only vehement opponents, but also passionate detractors. Throughout Allen’s career, he had plenty of both. Many considered him to be a pure clubhouse cancer while others thought he was a good man, just misunderstood.
He twice posted bWARs over nine, and is one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame. Many believe the honor did not fall on him due to his controversial nature.
I’d be more inclined to take up Allen’s cause if he had mellowed significantly as he aged (and overt racism became less of a problem in MLB). Sadly, he didn’t, and while Bill James’ statement that Allen had done more to keep his teams from winning than any player in history is to an extent hyperbole, he was certainly more of a PITA than Barry Bonds could ever have conceived of being, and I’m not going to second guess the writers and the Veterans for declining to overlook the reality of Crash in favor of the flat statistical record (which is, admittedly, very impressive).
While I’m very sympathetic to Allen’s difficulties as a very proud black man in a game and era that didn’t exactly embrace people like him, my recollection is that every team that had him couldn’t wait to get rid of him. He seemed to have a problem with authority — all authority.