Impossible to understate: Dick Allen kept the White Sox in Chicago.1971
It was the trade that perhaps saved the franchise. White Sox player personnel director Roland Hemond sent pitcher Tommy John and infielder Steve Huntz to the Dodgers for slugger Dick Allen.
Allen, one of the most prolific talents in the game, marched to his own drummer and was deemed difficult to handle by other teams and managers. White Sox skipper Chuck Tanner, who knew the Allen family for years, showed the slugger his due respect and thus got the best out of him. Allen, singlehandedly, nearly led the team to the 1972 playoffs, winning the American League MVP. He’d win two home run titles in his three years on the…
