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January 08, 2008
Going To The Crash Well Again
Thinking about Goose Gossage, and his upcoming Hall of Fame speech, I wonder if he'll mention Dick Allen at all?
In "The Goose Is Loose" by Rich Gossage, Goose said (about Allen) on page 30 (hardcover ed.):
I'll let my tribute go at this: If I were to pick an "All-Teammate Team" for my career, I'd put Dick Allen at first base.
I went back now and looked at all the 1B that Gossage played with: Willie Stargell, Chris Chambliss, Bob Watson, Steve Garvey, Mark Grace, Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire and Tino Martinez top the list.
Gossage would rather have Dick Allen than any of those guys. That says a lot about Dick Allen for me.
Further, from "The Goose Is Loose" (hardcover, pages 27 and 28):
It's a shame, but today's players have no idea about Dick Allen's ability. That's because he didn't suck up to the press like a lot of major leaguers do. He wasn't a quote machine. He didn't play the publicity game at all. His reticence pissed off many members of the press, so they made him out to be a bad guy, For the record, he wasn't.
It's just that Dick didn't suck up to anyone, period. He didn't possess an ounce of BS in his makeup. Dick shot straight and played baseball. He also studied the game intently. I can remember being in the dugout at times when some of the White Sox players would be horsing around, playing grab-ass and goofing around. Dick would pipe up with, "Cut the crap and get your heads into the game. Watch the pitcher. Learn something."
Allen played to win. The only stats that mattered to him were W's and L's - wins and losses. Many was the time he'd set up a pitcher by looking foolish on purpose. Early in the game, with the bases empty, Dick might let a pitcher make him look bad on a slider. Late in the game, with runners on base and the game hanging in the balance, Dick would come up again and the pitcher would say to himself, "Hey, this guy can't touch my slider."
So, here comes the slider, and there a slider would go - either smashed into the outfield wall or into the cheap seats.
Oh, well, at the least, this was another chance to mention Dick Allen - and perhaps that will bring good luck and another monster season for A-Rod this year.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at January 8, 2008 11:17 PM