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Mike Schmidt recalls ovation Dick Allen got in Philly return

Associated Press

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FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, former Philadelphia Phillies player Dick Allen, left, looks over as former teammate Mike Schmidt, second from left, and managing partner John Middleton, right, remove a tarp from Allen's retired number prior to a baseball game between the Phillies and the Washington Nationals in Philadelphia. Allen spent his first seven years with Philadelphia and late in his career, Schmidt helped bring him back to play in the city. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton, File)
FILE - Former Philadelphia Phillies' Dick Allen waves to the crowd before a baseball game against the New York Mets in Philadelphia, in this Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, file photo. Dick Allen, a fearsome hitter who was a seven-time All-Star, the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1972 AL MVP, has died. He was 78. The Philadelphia Phillies, the team Allen started out with, announced his death on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE - This is a March 1964 file photo showing Philadelphia Phillies baseball player Dick Allen at spring training in Clearwater, Fla. Dick Allen, a fearsome hitter who was a seven-time All-Star, the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1972 AL MVP, has died. He was 78. The Philadelphia Phillies, the team Allen started out with, announced his death on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020.(AP Photo/File)
FILE - Former Philadelphia Phillies player Dick Allen reacts after a ceremony unveiling his retired number prior to a baseball game between the Phillies and the Washington Nationals in Philadelphia, in this Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020, file photo. Dick Allen, a fearsome hitter who was a seven-time All-Star, the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1972 AL MVP, has died. He was 78. The Philadelphia Phillies, the team Allen started out with, announced his death on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020.(AP Photo/Derik Hamilton, File)

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, former Philadelphia Phillies player Dick Allen, left, looks over as former teammate Mike Schmidt, second from left, and managing partner John Middleton, right, remove a tarp from Allen's retired number prior to a baseball game between the Phillies and the Washington Nationals in Philadelphia. Allen spent his first seven years with Philadelphia and late in his career, Schmidt helped bring him back to play in the city. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton, File)

PHILADELPHIA – Phillies great Mike Schmidt was at Citizens Bank Park last September when the club retired the No. 15 worn by Dick Allen and spoke fondly, and forcefully, about the former Philadelphia slugger.

Allen, who died Monday at 78, was the NL Rookie of the Year with Philadelphia in 1964 and became a seven-time All-Star. He also was the 1972 AL MVP with the Chicago White Sox.

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Allen’s fight against racism in the 1960s cost him fans and fame -- in 2014, he fell one vote short of election to the Hall of Fame.

Standing next to Allen three months ago, Schmidt said, “Dick was a sensitive Black man who refused to be treated as a second-class citizen.”

Allen spent his first seven years with Philadelphia and late in his career, Schmidt helped bring him back to play in the city. In an email Tuesday to The Associated Press, the Hall of Fame third baseman remembered a tremendous teammate, on and off the field:

“One of my great thrills as a Phillie was watching Dick’s return in 1975. As Dick came from the dugout it started, a standing ovation. As he arrived at home plate, it grew louder and lasted as he tipped his famous helmet,” Schmidt wrote.

“The fans, through their applause, were saying they were sorry for what happened in the late ’60s. They were asking for forgiveness and thanking him for returning to the place where he was mistreated because of the color of his skin.

“He shared blame, for sure, as he often antagonized the racist fans. And off the field, he was no angel. But he was so young in a world he couldn’t understand. He only wanted to be treated as an equal to his teammates.

“In his return in 1975 he was that and even more. I looked at it as a chance to play with ‘the Dick Allen.’ The guy whose baseball card I valued, whose stance I copied, and whose swing was the best I ever saw.

“The next year, 1976, he led us to the postseason. He sent us on our way as we won the NL East three straight years and the World Series in 1980.

“The Phillies retired No. 15 last summer, never to be worn again. The other five are in the Hall of Fame. What’s that tell you?”

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