If Baseball HOF Is Overdue For Allen, What About Ken Boyer?

Ken Boyer’s grand slam homer in the sixth inning of Game 4 at Yankee Stadium turned the 1964 World Series around. The blow remains among the iconic moments in baseball history. .

It's hard to understand the thinking of those who vote for the various Halls of Fame in Sports. That's not to begrudge those who are honored, good for them and their families. So good for the late Dick Allen and his family.

Allen’s slugging career certainly deserved consideration. And he was a heckuva hitter for one summer in St. Louis - when he played, that is. He missed 40 games and still hit 34 home runs.

At the same time, I have a hard time understanding or accepting that his induction into Cooperstown was - as most stories proclaim: "long overdue." Forgive me, but how is Allen long overdue while Ken Boyer barely pings the radar?

Now, to be sure, Boyer was not the feared long-ball threat represented by Allen. Boyer didn't swing a 42-ounce bat, didn't hit tape-measure jobs. But Boyer played the same number of years as Allen, 15. He had more hits than Allen, more RBIs, more runs and 538 fewer strikeouts.

For those who put stock in it - many of today's baseball writers do - Boyer also had a higher WAR and a much higher OPS+. Both Allen and Boyer were NL MVPs, once. Both were named to All Star teams seven times. And both played third base quite a bit during their careers.

Allen once committed 41 errors in a season at third - you can’t teach that. That’s not Charlie Hickman bad - third sacker Hickman had 91 boots for the New York Giants in 1900 - but it’s not good. Fact is, Allen played third base so poorly, he was moved to the outfield and then to first base, where he was considered adequate, at best.

Boyer won five Gold Gloves as a third baseman. He likely would have won a sixth in 1956 - when he led NL third basemen in assists and DPs - if the award existed. But the Gold Glove did not start until 1957 - a season during which Boyer played more than 100 games in center field and led NL outfielders in fielding percentage. Is defense no longer part of the baseball equation; no longer half of what the game requires? Apparently, now that designated hitters have preceded Boyer into the museum, defense is inconsequential.

Boyer used his feet to smooth over the dirt as he got ready for each pitch. Allen used his feet to scrape out messages in the dirt, trying to get traded. Allen had a reputation - accurate or not - as being difficult, at least during his seven seasons in Philadelphia. In his 1970 St. Louis season, Allen pulled a hamstring in mid-August and appeared in only five more games the rest of the way.

Red Schoendienst was the manager at the time, and he once explained ,““Our doctor said he could have played if we were in the running for the pennant. We weren’t, so we let him rest.” Others suggested the team was less than happy with Allen’s rehab efforts. The Ol’ Redhead was not one to speak poorly of someone. Believe what you want, but when the season ended, the club moved Allen in one of the oddest trades of all time, sending him to Los Angeles for second baseman Ted Sizemore.

In contrast, the club initially traded Curt Flood, Tim McCarver and Joe Hoerner to get Allen in 1969.

Now, Sizemore was a fine second baseman and a savvy sponsor of Lou Brock’s base running efforts. But Allen had more home runs in 1970 than Sizemore had in his 12-season career (23). They were not the same kind of players. Late in his life - he died at age 78 in 2020 - Allen’s reputation underwent a revision. He was re-cast as misunderstood soul, a victim of racism, a good teammate.

People like Joe Torre, Bob Gibson and former Cardinals trainer Gene Gieselmann spoke well of Allen. I met hm a couple of times, long after his playing days were over, and he was congenial. Many times in such controversies, a vein of truth runs through both sides. Judge for yourself.

On the other hand, Boyer was universally liked and respected during his playing days. He was the last captain of one of baseball's most storied franchises, captain and MVP of the 1964 World Champions, a championship he precipitated with a Game 4 grand slam at Yankee Stadium, a blow that turned the series around.

Allen never played in a World Series. He had two singles in nine at-bats in three league championship games, no home runs and no RBIs.

Yet, all these things said and considered, we’re supposed to see Dick Allen's election to the Hall of Fame was an injustice corrected, a tribute "long overdue." But Ken Boyer remains hanging chad on a Cooperstown ballot, passed over for players like Allen, Ron Santo, Tony Perez, etc.

Do home runs carry THAT much weight? Rocky Colavito died yesterday; he hit more home runs than Allen or fellow inductee Dave Parker. Colavito isn't in the Hall of Fame - he should be in there for the name alone.

I'm not disparaging those who do get in - good for them, good for their families to experience that joy. But for some who remain on the outside, like Ken Boyer, it's hard to swallow.