PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Legendary Phillies slugger Dick Allen died Monday at his home in western Pennsylvania. He was 78.
His death comes months after the Phillies retired his number, 15, but before he could be voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1964, Allen set career highs in games (162), batting average (.318), runs (125), hits (201), doubles (38), and total bases (352), according to the Phillies.
In 1,070 total games with the Phillies, he batted .290 with 204 doubles, 64 triples, 204 home runs, 655 RBI, 517 walks, and a .902 OPS. He ranks second all-time in Phillies history with a .530 slugging percentage and 10th in home runs.
Phillies fans remember Allen for those majestic home runs at Connie Mack Stadium and his Rookie of the Year season in 1964. But Mark Carfagno, a former member of the Phillies’ grounds crew, remembers Allen, the man.
“He was a dear friend of mine,” Carfagno said. “I mean, he took care of me when I was a kid. You know, he came up to my locker and said, ‘I heard you have no parents. I’ll take care of you.’ ”
Carfagno witnessed 1960s fans torment Allen with racial slurs. But he also had fond memories with him, like how he and his lifelong friend seemed to have their best conversations in garages.
“He used to hang out with the grounds crew. We called it the mudroom. It’s where we kept all our tools. But it was a garage atmosphere. So we hung out there,” he said. “When he worked for the Phillies RBI program, they played over there in Ashburn Field and he hung out with the groundskeepers in their garage.”
The Phillies signed Allen out of high school in 1960. He entered the majors in ’63, at the age of 21. He played nine years in Philadelphia over two separate stints. In 1994, he joined the club’s front office as a fan representative. He later became a club ambassador in November 2017.
Allen also became a member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
Carfagno led a campaign to get him inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Allen fell one vote short by the Golden Era Committee six years ago. He would have been on the ballot again this week, but the vote was postponed a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Allen is survived by his wife of 33 years, Willa; two sons, Richard and Eron; and two brothers, Hank and Ron, who also played in the majors. He is predeceased by his daughter, Terri.