Literary birthday greetings: Player A and Player B

March 8, 2011

One of our birthday boys is in the Hall of Fame, although their numbers are amazingly similar.

162-Game Avg Player A Player B
At bats 638 586
Runs 97 102
Hits 190 171
Doubles 29 30
Triples 6 7
Home Runs 30 33
RBI 113 104
Walks 52 83
Strikeouts 110 144
Batting Average .298 .292
OBP .352 .378
SLG .502 .534
OPS .857 .912

A few other items: Each won an MVP Award. Player B also won a Rookie of the Year Award. Player A was an eight-time All-Star; Player B was similarly honored seven times. Both were African-American and played at a time when racism in their “home cities” was still a serious consideration. Neither were considered especially media-friendly.

Before he injured a hand in 1967, Player B hit 10 or more triples for four straight years, so he had some speed, with more than twice as many stolen bases as Player A (133 to 52). With the exception of some raw numbers — the result of Player A appearing in 340 more games than player B — and more strikeouts per year (144 to 110), the  stats would seem to indicate that Player B, aka, Dick Allen, born this date in 1942, would warrant the same recognition as Player A, aka Jim Rice (1953), who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. Go figure.

The books:

Pictures like this probably didn't help Dick Allen's image.

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Tagged as: Baseball Hall of Fame, Dick Allen, Jim Rice

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