Jim Cowan

That's a great article. Here are the 1974 Salem Pirates: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=a5fe3f71 Look at the all around production from Edmead, the youngest guy in the league. Hard not to think about the career he might have had.

I remember that from The Sporting News too.

I just looked it up myself. At a Nascar event recently, the winning driver was Brandon somebody. As he was being interviewed afterwards, all the rednecks in the stands are chanting "f you Biden", so either Brandon or the interviewer said that they thought that the chant was "let's go Brandon". So now if you are a douchebag and want to say "f you Biden", or paint it on the back of your dress, you just say "let's go Brandon" and all the other racist mother******* laugh uproariously at how clever you are.

Jimmy Wynn was "The Toy Cannon" because he was so small but hit so many home runs.

I don't think so. I still have stuff from The Sporting News in the 1970's stuck in my head, and there was an outstanding young outfield prospect for the Pirates named Mitchell Page who, during spring training, got traded to the A's. Disappointed and upset he went to Willie Stargell, the father figure for the Pirates and the entire National League, and asked "who do I go to for advice?" Stargell's reply was "you can go to Dick". There it is, Dick Allen being endorsed by Stargell, right there in print in the most influential baseball publication.

Harold Baines lol, a DH with a career OPS+ of 121. It's funny, I mentioned Johnny Callison earlier, no one has ever heard of him, he played 16 years with an OPS+ of 115, played good defense in right field, good arm and could run the bases. Should he be in the Hall? Ha ha of course not. Was he a better player than Harold Baines? He, and legions of others.

The 1968 Phillies are my favourite Dick Allen team. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/1968.shtml Take a look at that lineup, there's Allen with a 160 OPS plus, with no help whatsoever from the rest of that putrid lineup except Johnny Callison. That's the Year of the Pitcher, Allen has 33 home runs and the sportswriter of the day would have said didn't hit .300 and didn't drive in 100 runs. 100 RBI? On that team? I remember a couple of newspaper articles from back then that said "Dick Allen struck out in the 8th, trying to hit a game-tying home run" and being 16 or so thinking what a selfish bastard, just get on base. It wasn't until a few years later that I realized what everyone on both teams knew: if he didn't hit a home run in that situation, the Phillies would lose, guaranteed. Naturally the K's went up and the OBP went down. He also was the first guy that I ever heard of against whom a 4-man outfield was used, with the thinking being that if we hold him to a single the rest of those guys won't be able to get him around. Just a wonderful, wonderful player. Apparently Bill James doesn't like him for some reason? Bill James can kiss my ***. There is also some nonsense about him "quitting on his team" when he left early out of absolute frustration with the team and its racist fans who of course booed him incessantly. Just put the guy in, like they should have done while he was still alive.

Wouldn't that be nice. We have 129 of those arseholes in ICU beds in Ontario, getting treated for free and occupying space that could be used for recovering surgery patients.

One year in the early 2000's Allen was being considered by the old-style Veterans Committee, which included Al Kaline. Al Oliver ended up getting more votes than Allen. I would love to have heard Kaline explain that one.

For the early era it's Buck O'Neil all the way for the reasons cited by Riv above and because Joe Posnanski was writing about Buck O'Neil, a friend, long ago.

Has to be Dick Allen, finally, by now?

It certainly seems so.

That's so funny, that's the funniest thing in ages.

The Spanish Flu started in Kansas lol!

I feel like I suffered a brain injury during my covid test

Put her in the general population of the roughest prison that they can find.

Avila built the current roster, 100%. It's fair to complain about how long it took, but the positive trend and the players acquired over the past 3 years are entirely because of Avila and his evolving staff, and have nothing to do with the on-field coaching personnel. Will Hinch be consulted about acquisitions? Of course. But those players would be here now, with him or without him.

I'll bet it would and it's a surprisingly good idea for a reality show. Change the city every week. "This Week in Jury Selection".

Funny how $20 million almost seems "affordable" now, and 5 years isn't an extreme long term commitment. I think you're right, he wouldn't take it.

Ha ha ha! OMG those animations are still just terrible.

No offense taken.

Ordinarily I wouldn't care about your southern border at all but your government's shameful performance from 2017 to 2020 landed you on the world stage whether you like it or not.

There is a movement, "Proud of Being Stupid", that has grown by leaps and bounds since 2016.

Yes he isn't a key building block. They need to find someone to play every day with a decent glove and mediocre bat, not the Castros and Goodrum and Short. We can't deal with that again.

His hair. I don't want to see a Detroit hat on that douche haircut.