#400 - Dick Allen

Card fact: This is the first time that an all-star card has landed on a century number, meaning I need to update the all-star list AND update the state of the set on the same post.

Normally, I do both under the heading of "other blog stuff." But this time I will feature the all-star update in the "card fact" portion. Here it is:

AL

1B - Dick Allen
2B -
3B - Brooks Robinson
SS - Bert Campaneris
OF - Bobby Murcer
OF -
OF -
C - Carlton Fisk
P -

NL

1B - Steve Garvey
2B - Joe Morgan
3B - Ron Cey
SS -
OF - Hank Aaron
OF - Pete Rose
OF -
C - Johnny Bench
P -

What I thought about this card then: I didn't have it. But I vaguely recall someone else having it. I remember some cool kid I knew owned it, and I thought it was unattainable. Not that I wasn't a cool kid or anything.

What I think about this card now: Just a great card. But I've had a difficult time getting it well-centered. This one is better than what I had.

Other stuff: Lordy, where do you start? Allen was one of the most controversial figures in baseball history. He started out as a powerful star for the Phillies, winning N.L. Rookie of the Year honors in 1964, but was relentlessly booed by Philadelphia fans during his time there. Because of perceptions that he was difficult, he was traded to St. Louis for Curt Flood, a deal in which Flood famously refused to go to Philadelphia.

Allen was then traded to the Dodgers, who after a year, sent him to the White Sox in the Tommy John deal. Allen enjoyed a resurgence in Chicago, capturing the A.L. MVP award in 1972 and recording three strong seasons, despite a '73 season abbreviated by a broken leg. But Allen left the White Sox in mid-September after a feud with teammate Ron Santo. The White Sox shipped him to the Braves in the offseason. Allen later returned to Philadelphia for 1975 and 1976 and finished his career with Oakland in 1977.

Throughout the latter stages of his career, Allen is pictured wearing a helmet, even while in the field (such as on this card). Allen began wearing a helmet in the field in Philadelphia when fans started hurling objects at him.

Topps used three different first names for Allen during his career. It started out with "Richie," which is what he was called while with the Phillies. Then with the 1970 set, Topps shortened Allen's name to "Rich." It stayed that way until 1973 when it became "Dick." Allen said that he was always called "Dick" growing up and thought "Richie" was a little boy's name.

Allen is considered by many as a Hall of Famer and possibly the most obvious example of a player being undeservedly left out of the Hall. Detractors say Allen's career was a little too short and his fielding was not good.

(EDIT: Dick Allen died Dec, 7, 2020 at age 78, while still waiting for election to the Hall).

Back facts: There is the sad fact, White Sox fans. Traded to the Braves, right on the back of his White Sox card!

Other blog stuff: Inventory time! After 100 more cards, let's see what we have:

1. COLOR COMBINATIONS

Orange-brown has poured on the coal and padded its lead after holding only a one-card edge after 300 cards. Some of the earlier leaders/favorites, like green-light green, purple-pink and green-purple have fallen way behind. Last-place yellow-green didn't have one card in the past 100:

1. Orange-brown: 40
2. Pink-yellow: 34
3. Green-light green: 27
4. Yellow-red: 27
5. Purple-pink: 26
6. Green-purple: 25
7. Blue-orange: 20
8. Brown-tan: 20
9. Orange-yellow: 19
10. Red-orange: 19
11. Tan-light blue: 19
12. Yellow-light blue: 19
13. Red-blue: 18
14. Green-yellow: 17
15. Red-yellow: 17
16. Light blue-green: 16
17. Brown-orange: 15
18. Yellow-green: 12

2. POWDER BLUE UNIFORMS

Eleven more cards, including this one, to total 49 so far.

3. LOOKING UP

Just two more players looking to the skies for a grand total of 11. That's got to increase later in the set.

4. DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY

One guy who seemed like a gal to me back then. So the grand total is 9.

5. DECEASED

Eleven more departed players to add -- including a couple of recent ones in Ed Kirkpatrick and Ron Santo who weren't even in the last 100 cards. The total is at 39.

6. CHAW

Jackie Brown is the third player to display a chaw on cardboard thus far.

7. MLB SONS

Four more players who had sons who played in the majors. That's 19 total.

8. ROOKIE CUP/ALL-STARS

7/11

9. MOST POPULAR FIRST NAME

Jim has passed Dave/David and is now the overall leader with 17 players with that name.

10. MINIS

We had a mini surge. A total of 55 cards in the set thus far I have in mini form. That is 13.8 percent, up slightly from 100 cards ago.

All right, time to hit the next 100! Up next, one of the worst airbrush jobs in the entire set. Just awful.

#307 - Home Run Leaders

Card fact: We have two players looking toward the sky on one card! That may be the only instance of this in the set. But I'm not sure. No looking ahead. Don't spoil it for everyone.

What I thought about this card then: Didn't see it.

What I think about this card now: Why was Dick Allen always photographed wearing a batting helmet late in his career? He's wearing it in both 1975 Topps cards, his 1973, 1974 and 1976 Topps cards, and his 1971 Topps card. That means he's wearing a helmet in all of his most recent cards from 1970 onward (the '72 Topps card, in which he's wearing a regular cap, doesn't count because it's just a re-use of the 1970 Topps photo).

Other stuff: This was Mike Schmidt's first appearance on a card as the home run king. It was the first of eight homer titles for him. It was the second of two home runs titles for Dick Allen, who achieved both feats with the White Sox.

Back facts: The fact that 22 home runs made the top 10 in each league illustrates the low offensive period baseball was in at the time. Even in our "year of the pitcher" this season, 22 home runs ranks only 17th in both the American and National leagues.

The players in the top 10 in 1974 that I didn't expect to see are Bobby Darwin and Charlie Spikes in the American League. It's also interesting to see Frank Robinson up there at such a late stage in his career.

For the National League, no one is a surprise. Those are legitimate sluggers.

Other blog stuff: On this date in 1953, Mickey Mantle is photographed blowing a large bubble with his chewing gum as he returns to center field after a seven-run fifth inning by the Yankees. This causes manager Casey Stengel to scold Mantle publicly. Mantle apologizes. But Bowman Gum gives him an endorsement deal.