If the World Series is over, it must be HOF season. Who will be elected?
Obviously, Ichiro.
But I want to focus here on the candidates before the Classic Era Committee. And on one player on its ballot: Dick Allen.
Allen was considered by Era committees twice before, in 2014 and 2021. Both times he finished 1 vote short of induction.
Actually, it is insane that Allen hasn’t been elected yet. Insane that he wasn’t elected by the BBWAA. Insane that he wasn’t elected by either of the Era Committees to consider him.
Plenty have addressed his obvious qualifications. But I want to pile on. So . . .
Take a look at these players:
Aside from Allen, they are all in the HOF. Indeed, all the HOF members were BBWAA electees.
Now consider: of these players, identify the one or ones who (1) finished top 3 in OPS+ in consecutive decades (≥ 3000 PAs); (2) had career OPS+ ≥ 150; (3) led the league multiple times in HRs; (4) had career WAR ≥ 50; & (5) won ≥ 1 MVP.
These are amazing feats. To do even one is really impressive; to do two or more—wow! Doesn’t seem like you have to check all these boxes to make it to Cooperstown, but if you can hit a good number, presumably you have a strong case, right?
But let’s take a look at them one by one:
1. Consecutive decades top 3 in OPS+
Allen did it in the 1960s (3rd) and 1970s (2nd).
Others? Musial, in the 40s (2nd) and 50s (3rd).
But no one else on this stellar list of players did! Not Aaron in the 50s or 60s. Not Stargell in the 60s/70s. Not Jackson or Rice in the 70s/80s. For sure not Ortiz.
There’ve been some others, though, from off this list. Like Ted Williams (40s/50s), Babe Ruth (20s/30s), Gehrig (20s/30s) & Mantle (50s/60s).
All those amazing HOF members—and Allen.
Others who didn’t do it but you might have thought did: Willie Mays (50s/60s) & Mike Schmidt (70s/80s). Great HOF members, too…
Can you believe there are some people out there who think Allen didn’t dominate or dominate for a long enough period to be HOF?! Give me a break!
2. OPS+ ≥ 150
Dick Allen’s was 155.
Aaron’s was also 155, and Musial’s 159.
But none of the other great HOF members featured above cleared this bar: Jackson, 139; McCovey, 147; Ortiz, 141; and Rice, 128.
Curious about others: Johnny Bench? Nope (128). Ken Griffey Jr? Nah (136). Mike Piazza? Chipper Jones? An ah (141). Not Harmon Killebrew (143), Duke Snider (140), or Eddie Mathews (143), either. Oh—not Hack Wilson (144), not Larry Walker (141), not Ralph Kiner (149), not Jim Thome (147), not Jeff Bagwell (149).
You get the idea. Only the top 30 most productive hitters in the HOF have done it. Because it is really, really hard to be that good a hitter.
Dick Allen was.
3. Multiple HR titles
Allen, in ’72 & ’74.
Many of the featured players did, too.
But not Musial and not Ortiz (neither won a single HR title).
You’d kind have thought that would be a knock on the latter, right—a power hitter who never actually prevailed in the category most emblematic of power hitting? But that’s okay—you can’t be expected to have done all these amazing things to make HOF!
4. Career WAR ≥ 50
Allen: 58.7.
Most of the others, too: Aaron (143.1); Jackson (74); McCovey (64.4); Musial (128.5); Ortiz (55.3).
But not Rice (47.7).
Oh: Mickey Cochrane (49.7); Lou Brock (45.3); Gil Hodges (43.8; selected over Allen last time); Bill Mazeroski (36.5); Harold Baines (38.8).
Low WAR is one of the knocks on Allen. But if he exceeds all these members, not to mention recent inductees McGriff, Mauer, and Hodges, what gives? Seriously, what?
5. Won an MVP
Allen, ’72.
All of the others did. Except Ortiz. Well, that’s not essential, either, I guess.
Ortiz did best Allen in one important category: positive media coverage, for being relentlessly affable (a trait that no doubt earned him one of the few test-positive-for-steroids HOF exemptions); Allen, in contrast, took a courageous and often necessarily abrasive stand in criticizing race relations at a time when executives, and apparently sports journalists too, didn’t want to hear about it. The impact on his reputation persists.
So you see, Allen is the only one on this list of stellar players who achieved all these things. You won’t find a single other player who has and who isn’t in the HOF already.
If he doesn’t get in this time, you really have to wonder what the hell is going on.