Player Profile: Jamie Allen

I have one card of Jamie Allen, from 1984 Topps.

Playing Career: Jamie Allen played in 86 games for the 1983 Mariners as a third baseman, hitting .223 with 4 HR and 21 RBI. That ineffectiveness, combined with a rotator cuff injury, prevented him from returning to the major leagues.

Interesting stories: It’s a shame Allen didn’t make a bigger impact in pro ball, as he was a huge college star at Arizona State. Check out this 1977 Sports Illustrated story about the College World Series, written by Peter Gammons. He calls it “a nine-day orgy of ball girls, hidden ball tricks and metal bats.” Gammons, who had probably just seen Star Wars in the movie theater, calls Bob Horner C3PO, a hitting robot, compared to whom “R2-D2 is Handyman-Designated Hitter-Relief Pitcher Jamie Allen, a freshman who seems to be one part Al Hrabosky, one part Tasmanian Devil, one part Darryl Dawkins and two parts John-Boy. Or five parts Fidrych.” Read the article to get a sense of what kind of character Allen was.

My memories: He’s from before my time.

Where he is now: Anyone know where Jamie Allen is now?

Google Autocomplete results: He is seventh when you type Jamie Al, between Jamie Alderton, a bodybuilder, and Jamie All Over Mayday Parade – Mayday Parade is a band, Jamie All Over one of their songs. The ballplayer is ninth when you look up Jamie Allen. The Jamie Allens before him include a digital media designer, a painter, a photographer, and a fishing instructor.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Neil Allen.