The Baseball Hall of Fame is a very interesting place. The greatest players in the history of the sport are supposed to be represented there but there is a lot of debate over certain people. Some feel like locks and still never make it in over long periods of time. The Chicago White Sox have seen a few examples of that lately.
For one, Minnie Minoso finally made it in after all these years. He isn’t with us to celebrate but it is still good to know that he finally made it in. Unfortunately, there was a snub that came out of the 2021 Golden Era selection. Dick Allen missed the cut by one vote which is a complete disgrace.
Allen deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Coming up one vote short is one of the biggest slaps in the face possible. If the organization really wants the best players represented in the Hall, they are doing a disservice by keeping him out.
He played in the MLB for 15 years and played in 1749 games. That is a lot of Major League Baseball for one person. Not only did he play long, but he also played extremely well. He had a career WAR of 58.7 which is just about what you need to be considered a Hall of Fame player. He had a career OPS of .912 as well which is magnificent.
Throughout his amazing career, Allen won a Rookie of the Year Award, an MVP, and was an All-Star seven times. People clearly liked him and the way that he played. All of these accomplishments get a lot of people into the Hall of Fame but for some reason, he keeps coming up just short. It isn’t cool.
Dick Allen was an elite baseball player during his time with the Chicago White Sox.
Of his 15 years, he only played with the Chicago White Sox for three which isn’t very many. However, those might be the three best years of his career. Statistically, he had more success with the White Sox than any team he played for.
In 348 White Sox games, he had a slash of .307/.398/.589 for an OPS of .988. He hit 85 of his 351 career home runs in a White Sox uniform which is by far his best home run per game average with any team. He received MVP votes in every year he played with the White Sox, including his one MVP win which came in 1972.
It was an outstanding career for him and most people know it. Unfortunately, the Golden Era Committee finally put in Minnie Minosos but was too ignorant to put in Dick Allen. Hopefully, he finds his way in at some point.