Website design By BotEap.comBaseball Library Records February 25 and 27, 35 years ago, marked two groundbreaking events that have served to shape the fiscal and economic reality of contemporary baseball. The above date is at the root of the evolution of MLB salary arbitration and free agency.
Website design By BotEap.comBaseball Library Records on February 25, 1973;
Website design By BotEap.com New 3-year Basic Agreement reached between players and owners… Among the provisions of the deal are a $15,000 minimum salary ‘salary arbitration’ and the ’10 and 53 trade rule’ that allows a 10-year-old player to in the ML ‘the last 5 of which are with your current team’ to veto any trade involving him.
Website design By BotEap.comThe last date in 1973 made Dick Allen the highest paid player in baseball upon receiving a 3-year, $250,000 per year contract from the Chicago White Sox.
Website design By BotEap.comAllen 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 All-Star Game 3 home run, and the collapse of the club at the end of the season. 6 game lead in first place in the National League in the last 12 games of the season.
Website design By BotEap.comAllen’s rookie season reflected the same kind of great-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 major leagues, Allen courted baseball writers with his statistics and was voted National League Rookie of the Year in 1964.
Website design By BotEap.comWhile Howard also won rookie of the year honors in the 2005 season, he also garnered a wallful of awards for his 58-homer, 149-RBI, .313 BA 2006 season that surpassed Allen’s sophomore season by comparison. Additionally, it took Allen four and a half seasons to duplicate Howard’s 129 home runs in fewer than three full seasons.
Website design By BotEap.comThough 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 off-the-field turmoil eventually spilled over onto the field.
Website design By BotEap.comA 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 near the end of a 16-year career. Thomas, who caught a few hits on 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-affiliated club in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Website design By BotEap.comWikipedia records this regarding Allen’s minor league experiences;
Website design By BotEap.com 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 staged protest parades against Allen, the local team’s first black player. However, he led the league in total bases.
Website design By BotEap.comMy recollection is that the clashes occurred when Allen took issue with alleged “racist” comments made by Thomas.
Website design By BotEap.comWikipedia continues to record some of Allen’s scratches throughout his years with the Phillies;
Website design By BotEap.com 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 pushing it through a headlight on August 24, 1967, and earned a 26-game suspension in June 1969 after the Police pulled him over for erratic driving. , and being late for a doubleheader; he too began to drink heavily.
Website design By BotEap.comEven Allen’s name was a source of controversy: from his youth, family and friends had known him as “Dick”, but for reasons somewhat obscure at this late date, the media referred to him 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 that Richie was the name of a little boy.
Website design By BotEap.comThe Phillies’ Boo Bird 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 a shower of fruit, ice, debris, and even flashlight batteries as he headed out onto the field. He began wearing his batting helmet even while playing his defensive position on the field, which gave rise to another nickname, “Crash Helmet”, shortened to “Crash”.
Website design By BotEap.comOne 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 in the morning to see a horse race and got stuck in traffic as he tried to return.
Website design By BotEap.comWhen the Phillies finally grew tired of Allen’s antics, they traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1970 season. But even that deal was mired in controversy, though through no fault of Allen.
Website design By BotEap.comThe Phillies had traded him to St. Louis for outfielder Curt Flood, who didn’t want to play in Philadelphia.
Website design By BotEap.comWikipedia notes;
Website design By BotEap.com Flood declined to tell 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.)
Website design By BotEap.comIt turned out that Flood did not play the 1970 season before signing with the Washington Senators, where he played 13 games before retiring. The Phillies, looking for Flood, received young outfielder Willie Montanez instead.
Website design By BotEap.comMeanwhile, 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.
Website design By BotEap.comIn 1972, after Allen broke a White Sox club record and led the league with 34 HRs with a BA of .316, 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 rest of the season. In 1974, he returned with 32 HRs and a .301 BA but left the team, without reason, in mid-September.
Website design By BotEap.comFormer Phillies great center fielder Richie Ashburn, now announcing play-by-play for the team, convinced Allen to come out of retirement to rejoin the Phils. But Allen had 2 disappointing seasons with the club.
Website design By BotEap.comAllen’s career came to an end in Philadelphia at the end of the 1976 regular season in which the Phillies won the National League Eastern Division championship. He jumped on the club for their decision not to include veteran second baseman Tony Taylor on their postseason roster for the upcoming NL Championship Series with the Cincinnati Reds. Taylor had been a fixture at second base and a rock of infield consistency for the Phillies through all of the meager bottom spots of the 1960s.
Website design By BotEap.comAllen may have had a point regarding player loyalty, but the Phillies had to do what was best for the club and Taylor was a visibly aging player late in his career. And after the litany of all the earlier tumult from him, this was just icing on a tasteless cake.
