At his home in Wampum, Pa. on Monday afternoon, baseball great and former White Sox Dick Allen passed away. It is said that Allen’s acquisition on the South Side, and the greatness that garnered him the 1972 AL MVP, kept the White Sox from moving out of Chicago. He was also a star-crossed figure who invited controversy — and had loads more visited upon him.
He was an all-time great, worthy of the Hall of Fame, although as pointed out below, Allen could have silenced any debate over his place in Cooperstown with just a little more focus and a few more breaks.