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Bernard Keith Allen
Washington Senators
Second Base
Born: April 16, 1939, East Liverpool, OH
Signed: Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Minnesota Twins 1962-1966; Washington Senators 1967-1971; New York Yankees 1972-1973; Montreal Expos 1973
Bernie Allen was a two-sport star at Purdue University, twice being named the team MVP of the Boilermakers baseball team and serving as the quarterback for the football team while winning MVP honors there as well. Allen's big league baseball career began in 1962 with the Twins after only half a season in the minor leagues the year before. Allen peaked statistically his rookie season, reaching his career highs in the three triple crown categories with a .269 average, 12 home runs and 64 RBIs. He finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting and was named the second baseman on the 1962 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. Allen settled in after that as a reliable second baseman for the Twins and later the expansion Senators. He led all second baseman in fielding percentage in 1968 with a .991 mark.
Allen transitioned to a back-up role later in his career, wrapping up his 12-years in the big leagues with the Yankees and Expos. In 1,139 career games, Allen batted .239 with 815 hits. Allen was inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #88
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
As the team's most used second baseman again, Allen appeared in 122 games and batted .247 with 17 doubles. He lost some playing time to back-up Tim Cullen (#586), but still managed nine home runs and 45 RBIs - his highest totals since his 1962 rookie season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #596
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1962-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #293
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 57 in the Beckett online database as of 5/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 11th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than a dollar. If I stick to composing posts five times a week, and I'm already slipping off that pace a little, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!
The Card / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
The cartoon on the back highlights his bonus baby status with the Twins. The write-up is a good summary of Allen's standing in the league as a reliable second baseman with decent numbers. The trade summary doesn't mention that Camilo Pascual (#513) also went from the Twins to the Senators in the deal for Ron Kline (#243) on December 3, 1966. Allen's status as an offensive team leader for the Senators in 1968 is also a little overstated. The RBI leaders for the club were Frank Howard (#170) with 106, Ken McMullen (#319) with 62 and Allen with 40. Doubles leaders were Howard with 28, Del Unser (#338) with 13 and Allen with 12. He came closest in triples, as the team leaders were Ed Stroud (#272) with 10, Unser with seven and Allen with four.
Accuracy Index: The photo here might be a few years' old, but it's accurate and hadn't been used before by Topps. That's a solid score of 5 for Allen.
1969 Season
As the team's most used second baseman again, Allen appeared in 122 games and batted .247 with 17 doubles. He lost some playing time to back-up Tim Cullen (#586), but still managed nine home runs and 45 RBIs - his highest totals since his 1962 rookie season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #596
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1962-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #293
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 57 in the Beckett online database as of 5/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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