Todd Allen was a useful 3B.
He has a strong rookie season in 1908 and then takes a few years to get his legs under him. But from 1911 through 1916–and especially 1913/1914–he would have been among the better 3B in the league, hitting for average, drawing some walks, and showing occasional power. Combine that with consistently strong defense, and you have a player who while perhaps never a star, held his value into his early 30s.
If anything, we’ve underestimated when Allen would become a full time starter, delaying that until 1913. But it’s possible he would have done so in 1911 or 1912, which would nudge his career stats up slightly. Some projections show him reaching double digit homeruns a few years, which we think is pretty ridiculous, but he did have some pop in his bat, especially for the era.
1913 is a potential all-star season, where he should show up on leaderboards for hits and doubles, but Allen never reaches those heights again, and his career really falls off in 1917, reducing him to a role player from 1917 on.
Defensively, Allen had good range and a strong arm at the hot corner. He only played a small handful of games elsewhere, as close to a one-position player as you’ll find in the NeL.
I just cannot fathom Todd Allen as a power hitter. Clearly, if that changes, the overall projections would shift significantly. I’m convinced this is a more accurate shape for his career, following a very common arc where a player has 3-6 years as a full time starter surrounded by a development and decline phase.
I do think his usage pattern remains a bit problematic–the challenge is that in 1911 his performance really warrants more time in 1912. But he struggled a lot in 1912, depressing that impulse. So we’ll stick with this until we can dig in a bit deeper in the next revision.
| Name | Todd Allen |
| ID / Status | allen01tod / Draft |
| Pos | 3B |
| DOB / i9s Career | 01/14/1885 / 1908 - 1919 |
| Birthplace | Wheatland, IN (USA) |
| Height / Weight | 5'9" / 155 |
| B / T | R / R |
Batting Projections
| Year | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1908 | 265 | 69 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 0.260 | 0.300 | 0.370 | 0.670 |
| 1909 | 236 | 50 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 0.212 | 0.247 | 0.335 | 0.582 |
| 1910 | 186 | 33 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0.177 | 0.211 | 0.258 | 0.469 |
| 1911 | 344 | 93 | 19 | 9 | 0 | 38 | 34 | 14 | 6 | 0.270 | 0.343 | 0.378 | 0.721 |
| 1912 | 349 | 77 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 33 | 33 | 11 | 5 | 0.221 | 0.288 | 0.324 | 0.612 |
| 1913 | 506 | 165 | 37 | 13 | 5 | 52 | 52 | 29 | 9 | 0.326 | 0.389 | 0.480 | 0.869 |
| 1914 | 541 | 162 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 49 | 53 | 22 | 8 | 0.299 | 0.358 | 0.386 | 0.744 |
| 1915 | 530 | 141 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 58 | 56 | 67 | 20 | 0.266 | 0.338 | 0.364 | 0.703 |
| 1916 | 502 | 138 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 59 | 63 | 20 | 7 | 0.275 | 0.351 | 0.347 | 0.698 |
| 1917 | 287 | 56 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 33 | 7 | 3 | 0.195 | 0.267 | 0.261 | 0.528 |
| 1918 | 203 | 47 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 0.232 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.601 |
| 1919 | 133 | 37 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 0.278 | 0.333 | 0.316 | 0.649 |