At long last, Dick Allen and Dave Parker have been added to the list of immortals enshrined in Baseball’s Hall of Fame, with plaques going on a wall at the museum in Cooperstown.

Dick Allen deserved it. Sure – his career was only 15 years, but he was every bit as good a hitter as the all-time greats. And his prime was not during a big offense period – rather his career got started when the strike zone was increased in size, the mounds were alpine in nature, and (sadly) the world was more or less conspired against him. Plenty of historians have lamented the fact that Allen was not recognized – nor recognized while he was alive – as one of the truly great players in baseball history.

I remember Allen with the White Sox (I’m not old enough to remember his prime years with the Phillies). He was SO amazing then – an MVP and home run champ – helping turn the White Sox into contenders and, briefly anyway, trying to chase down the World Champion Athletics. Nancy Faust used to play the theme from Jesus Christ, Superstar when he came to the plate – it very well could have been the first walk up song for a batter. (Someone will have to check me on that.) Can we put Nancy Faust in the Hall of Fame, please?

I’m happy for Dave Parker, too. He used to fight with Cub Bill Madlock for batting titles. For a few years, he was a SCARY hitter. You can watch clips of Parker making crazy throws on your favorite social media streams. That said, I am a bit surprised that he got the nod. I always figured that he was very good but not great – and he had squandered some portion of his prime being tied up with the drug culture of the Pirates in the early 1980s. (From 1980 to 1984, he averaged 12 – 64 – .281 in Triple Crown categories. That’s Jay Johnstone and not Roberto Clemente numbers.) He doesn’t have the broader batting skills – the high OBP or the crazy high SLG values. He does have decent counting stats – 2712 hits, for example.

Personally, I’m in favor of having a few more Hall of Famers. The fans appreciate seeing the stars of their lives being recognized for their greatness and contributions to the game. There’s room for Dave Parker in my Hall of Fame and I am happy he will get to enjoy the trip to Cooperstown.