Don Sutton

Here is a cool image of Dick Allen talking with future Hall of Famer Don Sutton at the 1972 All Star game. Allen started at first representing the Chicago White Sox. That night Allen faced Sutton in the 4th inning and grounded into a fielders choice. A few months before this picture was taken, Allen and Sutton were teammates on the Dodgers. In the background you can see Lee May, Willie Stargell, and Nate Colbert.

In his career, Dick Allen only hit one home run off of Don Sutton in 35 total at bats. It happened on June 1st 1969 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Dodgers still won the game.

Sutton was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 after a long 23 season career. One of the primary arguments against Allen going into the Hall of Fame is that his career was not long enough. Sutton on the other hand was a classic "hall of fame stats accumulator" -- never really dominating the league (he finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting in 1976) but gathering enough wins (324) and strikeouts (3574) over his career to ensure his eventual entry.