Push Renewed To Get Phillies Great Dick Allen Into Hall Of Fame
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Baseball, the Hall of Fame and race relations were all rolled into one lightning rod of a man who swung a thunderous bat. A group of advocates who want to see a bust of former Phillies great Dick Allen in Cooperstown took their message to a classroom at Archbishop Ryan High School on Wednesday.
The memories came flooding back to the old timers who regaled students with tales of Allen's Hurculean strength.
"We were sitting on the third base side in the upper deck one day when Richie Allen hit a home run over the far billboard on the roof and the people were just dumbfounded," said Bob Wagner, former Roman Catholic High School football coach and supporter of Allen HOF.
"I can tell you confidently that Dick Allen was and remains the most powerful hitters in the last half century," said Bill Jenkinson, baseball historian and author.
But they also talked about Dick Allen the man, who was maligned for speaking his mind during an era in which African-Americans were just starting to find their voice.
"He wasn't going to put himself in any kind of a box or do a dance or a shuffle for the press people and for anybody else, he was just gonna stand there and be black," said Ken Shuttleworth, former KYW Newsradio reporter.
Mark Carfagno, former Phillies ground crew member and close personal friend of Allen, has been a driving force behind the effort to get Allen into the Hall of Fame. He has a Facebook page that supporters can join: "Dick Allen Belongs in the Hall of Fame."
"Dick Allen hit 20 home runs over 500 feet, documented by baseball historian Bill Jenkinson," said Carfagmo. "Since the year 2000, only one player, Adam Dunn, has hit a ball over 500 feet."
Allen becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame again this year, but supporters such as author Mitch Nathanson remain worried that his reputation to some voters as a malcontent will supersede his accomplishments on the field.
"What he did, what makes him important, and the reason we're talking about him during Black History Month is that he stood up for himself," Nathanson said. "And he said 'you know, I don't want special treatment, I want the same treatment.'"
