God Almighty Hisself: The Life and Legacy of Dick Allen

I've waited a few days after I finished this book to review it. The author definitely put a different spin on Dick Allen. He points out numerous times how Allen was a superstar who should have been given special treatment like other baseball players were. He pointed out how both Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams were given special treatment by their teams. Although both Mantle and Williams were given special treatment by their teams both players never gave their teams/organizations the headaches that Allen gave his teams. Being a White Sox fan I saw Allen have his 1972 MVP season where he was devastating as a player. I also remember him quitting on his team and retiring before the season ended in 1974. He then unretired during the off season. He went thru numerous teams during his career and left all of them on bad paper. He wore his welcome out everywhere he went. He has to take some of the blame for his actions. It will be interesting to see if Allen is voted into the MLB Hall Of Fame in the future. The author has definitely wrote a interesting book on Allen but its still hard to feel any love towards Allen after reading this book.

In reading and reviewing this book, you need to separate the story from the person. The story is like nothing else you will ever read. To call Dick Allen one of a kind is an under-statement and the author did an excellent and thorough job of covering his career from every angle. On the other hand, Dick Allen the person comes off as selfish, frustrating and infuriating. In Allen's world, baseball would be a great game if not for the owners, media, fans, money, travel and rules (like actually showing up on time for games). Yes there was the blatant racism he experienced from ownership and fans. Yes, the pre-free agency was grossly unfair to players. Yes, there were incidents that were not his fault and he was put in difficult situations early in his career. None of that makes up for the way he consistently ignored and abandoned his responsibilities to his teams and teammates. The whole combination of the story and the person makes for a fascinating read that I just could not put down. The only criticism I have is that the author comes off as borderline excusing/rationalizing the consistently bad behavior rather than calling Allen out for repeating the same patterns over and over again ... and for that matter, calling out ownership and management for enabling him to do so.

I truly enjoyed this book. In 1972 I saw 30 plus games at Comiskey Park where Dick Allen was the most exciting and electric player I had ever seen.I just do not understand him fighting with management everywhere he played. He had a great and valid point....PAY ME FOR WHAT I AM DOING NOW!I get it. I also get the fact that the "RESERVE CLAUSE" amounted to a form of involuntary servitude.Allen was an introvert. His experience in Philadelphia led to drinking. The fans and toady sports media were not understanding of a guy who looked at being a ballplayer as some 9 to 5 JOB. A JOB, not a game.I understand where Allen professed to be coming from. However, his act screamed SELFISHNESS, not well intentioned rebellion. Curt Flood was selfless. Allen sacrificed NOTHING he could not afford in fine money. Flood stood up for all players. Dick Allen stood up for Dick Allen.

I wanted to read a well-balanced book about Dick Allen, his on-field achievements along with the problems he had in Philadelphia and elsewhere. Instead what I got was how Allen held out every Spring Training for more money, what the GM and team owners did wrong, and every single local sportswriter’s reaction to the yearly drama. Ya wanna read about how Allen fared against HOF pitchers like Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Tom Seaver, or Nolan Ryan? Sounds intriguing right? None of that is covered in this book. I knew what I was getting into after reading the first chapter. The modern day White Guilt is on point and becomes the main and dominant narrative in the story. Not one ounce of holding Allen accountable for his actions. He was treated badly in racist Little Rock, Arkansas for one season, so that becomes his free get out of jail card the rest of his career. No need to be concerned with showing up on time, taking BP, or communicating with your employer. This is repeated ad nauseam chapter after chapter. I don’t mind reading into a player’s issues with management, teammates, or fans, but geez oh man dude, sprinkle in some actual on-field baseball stuff! DO NOT recommend.

To me 'Richie' Allen was a dynamic ball player who was shown very little dignity..this book goes in depth of a man who was a loner who had a talent but couldn't or wouldn't comply with the status quo...Should have been a first ballot HOFer but this book goes into the reasons why he wasn't ... A must read for all baseball fans

I was very excited to read his book since Richie Allen was such a colorful and controversial ballplayer when I was growing up. However instead of providing detailed insight into the player and the teams he played on, the book only focuses on Allen's salary battles as well as his perceived prejudicial and discriminatory treatment as a black ballplayer in the 60s and 70s. While these topics are worthy of discussion, the author redundantly reviews these matters ad naseum. Every chapter reads like a cross between the battles of Stokely Carmichael and Eldridge Cleaver. There are very few baseball anecdotes and insights into Allen's baseball career. I was disappointed with the author's focus and subject matter. Given Richie Allen's electric and controversial career, this should have been a great book...but alas it was not.

Great book about a great, but often overlooked major league from the mid 1960s through the mid 1970s.

This book is more of a sociological evaluation of a complicated man. It is most definitely not a baseball book as very little is devoted to action in the field. It's a rehash of the reality that before Marvin Miller the owners ruled the game via the reserve clause.