Title/Author:
“Dick Allen, The Life
and Times of a Baseball Immortal: An Illustrated Biography” by William C.
Kashatus
Tags:
Baseball, biography, Phillies,
White Sox
Publish date:
May 28, 2017
Length:
288 pages
Rating:
3 of 5 stars (okay)
Review:
Baseball has had many players through the years whose talent would be
overshadowed by some type of controversy, be it bad press, a bad personality or
maybe just bad luck. One of these
players was Dick Allen, who played primarily with the Philadelphia Phillies and
Chicago White Sox between 1964 and 1976, with stops in Los Angeles (Dodgers)
and St. Louis along the way. His story
and career is captured in this biography by long time Philadelphia writer
William C. Kashatus.
The book follows the tried-and-true format for a sports biography by
writing about Allen’s childhood in which his father was gone for long periods
of time but when he was around, the moments were special for Dick. His mother ran a strict house and that helped
Dick concentrate on baseball. When he
signed with the Phillies (who subsequently called him “Richie” on rosters and
press releases) he had his first exposure to racism and discrimination when he
played in Little Rock, Arkansas. That
brought a profound awareness to him on the civil rights movement and his views
were note always popular with the media or the fans in Philadelphia, a city
that was having its own problems with race riots in 1964.
Throughout the book, Allen is portrayed in a sympathetic light,
explaining that many of the accusations made through the press are countered by
either teammates, his manager or other personnel associated with the
teams. This was the case not only with
the Phillies but also with the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and
Chicago White Sox, the other teams for whom Allen played in his career. He enjoyed the best success in Chicago where
twice he led the American League in home runs and was the league’s Most
Valuable Player in 1972. He then went
back to the Phillies after expressing his desire to “retire” after the 1974
season.
After writing about Allen’s post-baseball life, Kashatus devotes the last
chapter to making a pitch for Allen to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of
Fame. He uses today’s advanced statistics to make a favorable case for Allen
that from strictly numbers, looks favorable when compared to legendary players
who are already enshrined such as Harmon Killebrew. It is the author’s belief that Allen has been
kept out because of the media’s negative feelings toward him, both in the past
and present. This is a section that is
one that is best left for the readers to make that judgement for themselves.
This is the second book on two years written about Allen and this one shows the player in a very favorable light. If a reader was a fan of Dick Allen during his career, then this will one to add to his or her library.
This is the second book on two years written about Allen and this one shows the player in a very favorable light. If a reader was a fan of Dick Allen during his career, then this will one to add to his or her library.
I wish to thank Schiffer Publishing for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (PDF)
Buying links:
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