Share:
Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 25, 2021 10:05 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Anthony H. Williams and Sen. Scott Martin, Sen. Steven J. Santarsiero, Sen. Timothy P. Kearney, Sen. Camera Bartolotta, Sen. James R. Brewster, Sen. Jay Costa, Sen. Carolyn T. Comitta |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Honoring the Life and Career of Philadelphia Phillie Dick Allen |
| In the near future I will be introducing a resolution to honor the life and career of Philadelphia Phillies player Dick Allen, who unfortunately passed from cancer on December 7, 2020. During his fifteen season career in Major League Baseball, including seven seasons as a Phillie, Allen faced racism and abuse from fans, sports media and fellow players. A team mate once swung at bat at his head during an allegedly racially-motivated incident during batting practice, and he was often met with obscenities and racial epithets from the stands. Eventually Allen was greeted with showers of fruit, garbage and even flashlight batteries as he took the field. The threat was so great that he began wearing his batting helmet even while playing his position in the field to protect himself from projectiles. Nonetheless, he persevered through adversity and produced amazing results, earning him the titles of National League Rookie of the Year in 1964 and Most Valuable Player of the American League in 1972. He was a seven time MLB All-Star and Baseball Hall of Fame candidate, whose jersey number 15 was retired by the Phillies this past season. A powerful bat, he once hit a ball that cleared the Coca-Cola sign on the center left outfield roof of Connie Mack Stadium, an estimated 529-feet. His rookie year has been described as one of the best ever as he led the league in runs (125), triples (13), extra base hits (80), and total bases (352); Allen finished in the top five in batting average (.318), slugging average (.557), hits (201), and doubles (38). Known by his teammates and managers as a leader and mentor, Allen’s contemporaries describe him as treated unfairly by the sport media of the time. Instead of the divisive personality they portrayed, according to Phillies legend and Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, “Dick was a sensitive Black man who refused to be treated as a second-class citizen… Imagine what Dick could've accomplished as a player in another era, on another team, left alone to hone his skills, to be confident, to come to the ballpark every day and just play baseball." I hope that you will join me in honoring one of baseball’s greatest sluggers, who overcame every obstacle put in his way to achieve greatness. Thank you |
Introduced as SR32