Dick Allen, Charlie Manuel Among Phillies Honored by Museum

By Matt Albertson, Historical Columnist 

The Ted Williams Museum & Hitters Hall of Fame's "Night at the Ballpark" will have a decidedly Philadelphia feel when honors are bestowed Saturday, February 10, 2018. Dick Allen and Tony Perez are this years' Hitters Hall of Fame inductees while Charlie Manuel will be presented with the Ted Williams Lifetime Achievement Award. Additionally, the Pitching Wall of Great Achievement will be renamed in honor of former Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay. According to Tampa Bay Times staff writer Marc Topkin, this years' festivities will take place at the Phillies' Spectrum Field in Clearwater instead of the usual Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. 

Dick Allen arrived on the major league scene near the end of the 1963 season and won the N.L. Rookie of the Year award with the Phillies in 1964. His trade to the Cardinals in 1969 sparked a baseball revolution when fellow trade-e Curt Flood refused to play for the Phillies, given the organization's and city's relationship with Dick Allen and black players. The seven-time All-Star both rejuvenated his career when he joined the White Sox in 1972 and won that year's A.L. MVP and, what many Sox fans believe, helped save the franchise with his infectious offense. In 2014, Allen fell one vote short of induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tony Perez, a member of the 1983 Wheeze Kids, will be inducted alongside Allen. Perez, a seven-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000. 

Charlie Manuel will be awarded the Ted Williams Lifetime Achievement Award. Manuel dedicated his life to baseball, first as a player in the major leagues and in Japan, and later as a coach and now as the senior adviser to Phillies GM Matt Klentak.  In 12 seasons as a manager with the Indians and Phillies, Manuel posted a 1000-826 record (plus 29-22 in the post-season) and led the Phillies to the 2008 World Series championship. Last year, former Phillie Octavio "Cookie" Rojas was presented with the award. 

Numerous current and former players will attend the event and be included in the free autograph session. Confirmed are Tony Perez, Steve Carlton, and Charlie Manuel among several others. 

Tickets to the event are limited are $125 and are available on the Tampa Bay Rays website. Stadium style food will be served. Additionally, a post-awards fireworks show and auction and autograph signing will also take place.