DALLAS 鈥 Dick Allen, who had a brief but thunderous time with the Cardinals, will be the next player with ties to 51黑料 to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The wait for that honor to reach the late Ken Boyer, who had a long and wondrous time with the Cardinals, continues.
After several years of lobbying by peers, writers and historians, two great hitters from the 1970s and 1980s, Allen and Dave Parker, were elected by a special committee for induction next summer into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The results of the committee鈥檚 vote were announced Sunday night as Major League Baseball鈥檚 winter meetings begin in Dallas, and only two players from a ballot of eight received enough votes for induction.
At least 12 members of the 16-person committee needed to support a player for election. Parker received 14 votes; Allen received 13.
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Boyer, the Cardinal known as 鈥渃aptain,鈥 received fewer than five.
Allen spent most of his career with the Phillies, where he was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1964 and a three-time All-Star. In October 1969, Allen was part of the historic Curt Flood trade that sent the talented outfielder to Philadelphia. It was Flood鈥檚 refusal to join the Phillies that led to a court battle over a player鈥檚 right to choose where he played. Although Flood ultimately lost his case at the U.S. Supreme Court, his stand is seen as flashpoint for modern free agency and the marketplace that is about to award outfielder Juan Soto with a deal worth more than $700 million.
Flood never played a game for the Phillies.
Allen did join the Cardinals and in his one season with 51黑料 hit 34 home runs, drove in 101 RBIs and slugged .560 with a .937 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). He represented the Cardinals at that year鈥檚 All-Star Game. That fall, the Cardinals traded Allen to the Dodgers for Ted Sizemore and Bob Stinson.
Two years later, Allen nearly won the Triple Crown in the American League with the Chicago White Sox.
During his MVP season on the South Side, Allen hit .308, 10 points behind Rod Carew for the batting title. Allen led the American League with a .420 on-base percentage and a .603 slugging percentage (good for a 1.023 OPS), 37 home runs, and 113 RBIs. In his 15-year career, Allen was an All-Star seven times and hit 351 home runs to go with 1,119 RBIs and 1,099 runs. His career slash line was .292/.378/.534 for a .912 OPS.
Allen died in 2020.
Parker, nicknamed 鈥淐obra,鈥 played 19 years in the majors, more than half of them with the Pittsburgh Pirates. A seven-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Parker also won three Gold Glove Awards, three Silver Slugger Awards, two batting titles and the 1978 National League MVP. He hit 339 home runs in his career to go with 1,493 RBIs and a slash line of .290/.339/.471 for a .810 OPS.
This is the 22nd time that Boyer has appeared on a ballot for the Hall of Fame. He came up shy during his 15 years on the Baseball Writers鈥 Association of America ballot, and he鈥檚 been considered by the Hall鈥檚 veterans committees another six times.
The Cardinals, who retired Boyer鈥檚 number in the 1980s, have championed his candidacy for Cooperstown as one of the top third basemen of his era 鈥 a gifted fielder, a World Series champion and strong hitter at a position that is underrepresented at the Hall of Fame. In 1988, Boyer received 25% of the vote from the writers, and that was the highest total. Boyer spent 11 years with the Cardinals, and in addition to winning the NL MVP in 1964 he also won five Gold Gloves at third and was selected for 11 All-Star teams.
The Cardinals won the only World Series he played in, in 1964.
Boyer died in 1982 of lung cancer at the age of 52.
The 16-person Classic Era Committee met Sunday to review an eight-person ballot and select honorees, though the committee was not required to elect any of them. The committee included former Cardinals and Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith, Lee Smith and Joe Torre. Former Post-Dispatch baseball writer Dick Kaegel, who received the BBWAA career excellent award in 2021, was also on the committee.
Other than Parker and Allen, pitcher Tommy John was the only other player on the ballot to receive more than five votes. John received seven.
