In the photograph, Dick Allen juggles four baseballs casually, as if it’s the easiest task in the world, with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. It’s hard to imagine that anyone could ever look cooler.
The image ran on the cover of Sports Illustrated in June 1972—a few months before Allen, then first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, was named MVP—and it’s been circulated widely this week after his death at the age of 78. Allen, one of the best hitters of his generation, was a Hall of Fame-caliber player.