Dick Allen to go into Hall of Fame as a Phillie, Billy Wagner an Astro
Allen, who died in 2020, will be the first player to enter the Hall of Fame as a Phillie since pitcher Jim Bunning was inducted in 1996.
Dick Allen will be immortalized in Cooperstown as a Phillie.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced Monday which logos will appear on the caps of the class of 2025. Allen, who began his career in Philadelphia and spent nine seasons there, will be wearing a Phillies cap on his plaque.
The Hall of Fame Committee works together with the electee or the electee’s family to determine which cap will appear on each plaque. Allen, who died at 78 in December 2020, will be the first player to enter the Hall of Fame as a Phillie since pitcher Jim Bunning was inducted in 1996. Roy Halladay was inducted posthumously in 2019 wearing a blank cap, since his family did not want to choose between the Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays.
» READ MORE: After 20 misses, late Phillies star Dick Allen is finally a Hall of Famer: ‘It should’ve happened so long ago’
Allen played for five teams over his 15-year career, but spent the most time in Philadelphia, which was also where he won Rookie of the Year in 1964. Allen finished his career with 351 home runs and 1,119 RBIs, and won American League MVP with the White Sox in 1972.
He fell short of the Hall of Fame election 20 times before finally breaking through on the Classic Baseball Era Committee’s 2025 ballot, garnering 13 out of 16 votes.
“I kind of lost some faith because, with the numbers that are being put up today, it would sort of lower his numbers,” Allen’s son, Richard Allen Jr., said following the announcement in December. “You’ll hear things like, ‘So-and-so has surpassed Dick Allen with 352 home runs,’ and it just drops him down. So, yeah, I kind of thought that eventually he’d be forgotten.”
» READ MORE: Billy Wagner says the Hall of Fame process is ‘a nightmare.’ But it offers a lesson for his high school team.
Billy Wagner, who was elected in his 10th and final year on the ballot, will be wearing an Astros cap as expected. Wagner spent nine seasons of his 16-year career in Houston and recorded 225 saves over that span. Wagner had a two-year stint as the Phillies’ closer from 2004-05, when he posted a 1.86 ERA and 59 saves.
Rounding out the class of 2025, which will be inducted on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., are Dave Parker (Pirates), CC Sabathia (Yankees), and Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners).