In a different world, Dick Allen — one of the most feared sluggers of his day — might have been marveling on Monday at the news he’d been waiting years to hear. As one of the best hitters of his era and a former MVP, Allen is considered one of the best players not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was due to be voted on Sunday as part of one of the Hall of Fame’s era committees, with this being seemingly his best chance to get in after falling one vote shy in 2015. But COVID-19 delayed this year’s election.

Instead, we learned of a much sadder fate — Allen died Monday at age 78, according to his official Twitter account, another baseball legend gone in a year that has taken so many of them. The MLB Players Association confirmed Allen’s death.

Allen starred for the Phillies and the White Sox, winning the Rookie of the Year in Philadelphia in 1964 and winning the MVP in 1972 in Chicago. Three times in his career, he finished a season with an OPS above 1.000 — including the MVP season when he slashed .308/.420/.603 with 37 homers and 113 RBIs.

The Phillies, the team with which he is most attached to this day, released a statement praising Allen as one of their most popular players and an all-time great.

While he never topped 20 percent on a BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot during the ’80s or ’90s, baseball’s advanced analytical age has made a better case for Allen with his stellar on-base percentage and OPS in addition to his power numbers.

There have been blogs and campaigns from friends, but Allen never himself stumped to get himself into Cooperstown. The media didn’t like him back in the ’60s and ’70s, pointing out supposed misdoings — including being surly in the clubhouse and showing up late — which played a part in his low BBWAA votes. He was labeled an “outlaw” and controversial.

Part of that was race. He was part of the second generation of Black baseball players, and was the first Black minor leaguer to play in the state of Arkansas. He endured threats and hate speech on his way to becoming one of the best players in the league.

In 2014, Goose Gossage told USA Today of Allen: “I’ve been around the game a long time, and he’s the greatest player I’ve ever seen play in my life.”

In a lot of ways, Allen was Barry Bonds before Barry Bonds — from his abilities at the plate to his controversial Hall of Fame case, just without the cloud of steroid suspicions.

Things seemed to be taking a turn recently, as the Phillies retired Allen’s No. 15 in 2020 and he was on the Hall of Fame ballot again. In September, at the Phillies’ ceremony, team owner John Middleton said of Allen’s Hall of Fame campaign:

He’ll be on the ballot again next year, this time posthumously. Maybe that’s when Dick Allen will finally get his Cooperstown moment.

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