Hank Allen

[Michael Trzinski]

Hank Allen grew up in a baseball family. Two of his brothers played in the major leagues, including Hall of Famer Dick Allen. Hank’s career wasn’t nearly as good, but he still played for seven years with three different ball clubs and was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in their inaugural season. But Allen was best known as a thoroughbred horse trainer/owner, having won 286 races in a 23-year career from 1976-1998.

Harold Andrew Allen was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960. In his third year in the organization, Allen won the Triple Crown (37/140/.346) for the Magic Valley (Twin Falls, Idaho) Cowboys in the Pioneer League. He was attacked by a drunk one night before the end of the season and ended up with a sore neck, which probably contributed to Allen going 0-for-12 in his last three games, nearly costing him the batting title. After two more seasons in the minors, Allen was purchased by the Washington Senators.

Allen, a right-handed batter who played in the outfield and infield, made his big-league debut for the Senators on September 9, 1966, going 1-for-2, getting his first major league hit off Chicago White Sox pitcher Gary Peters. Allen spent most of the next three-plus seasons in the majors for Washington, playing in a total of 324 games for the Senators, batting .251/.290/.326 with an OPS+ of 82. On May 11, 1970, Allen was traded along with infielder Ron Theobald to the Brewers for outfielder Wayne Comer.

Allen played almost every day for the Brewers over the next month, hitting .246/.317/.316 over 57 at-bats, including his best game as a Brewer on May 23 when he went 3-for-4 with a double and threw out two baserunners from center field in a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. In mid-June, he was involved in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles in which he was optioned to Triple-A Rochester.

The Wampum, Pennsylvania native would go on to play two seasons (1972-73) with the White Sox, re-united with brother Dick. Hank Allen also spent time as a scout in the Houston Astros organization, He passed away on May 29, 2024.   

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