Rogan: Sports’ Forgotten Heroes: Bob Allison
From SABR member Warren Rogan at Sports’ Forgotten Heroes on August 28, 2018, with SABR member Gregory H. Wolf:
Bob Allison spent four years in the minor leagues before breaking in with the Washington Senators in 1959. When he made it to the Senators (now the Minnesota Twins), very few thought Bob possessed any power, after all, in four minor league seasons he hit just 28 home runs. Well, his rookie year stunned almost everyone! Bob connected for 30 home runs and drove in 85 on his way to a surprising Rookie of the Year award. From there, Bob established himself as one of the games feared sluggers. However, playing in a lineup that also included future Hall of Famer, Harmon Killebrew, one of the greatest to ever play for Minnesota, did not help Bob’s national popularity. But, in Minnesota, Twins’ fans loved him and revered him. Injuries robbed Bob of a long career as he was only healthy to play a full season in nine of his 13 years. But, if you calculate his career stats and break them down to what he would do on average if he played 162 games a year, Bob would have hit 27 home runs a year with 84 RBI a season. Joining the podcast is Gregory H. Wolf, director of the BioProject for SABR, Greg has written over 150 biographies for SABR and has authored several books including: A Pennant for the Twin Cities, and Winning On The North Side: The 1929 Chicago Cubs.
Listen to the full podcast here (scroll down to Episode 37): https://sportsfh.com/archives/
Originally published: August 29, 2018. Last Updated: August 29, 2018.