The Robert R. McCormick House at Cantigny Park resumed its Headlines from History series with a presentation by the authors of “Chili Dog MVP: Dick Allen, the ’72 White Sox, and a Transforming Chicago.”
Co-Author Dr. David Fletcher talked about a unique time and place in baseball and Chicago history, when the arrival of a controversial slugger electrified Chicago and the White Sox stayed in town. The program weaved a narrative of Allen, his teammates, broadcaster Harry Caray, and organist Nancy Faust bringing pride to a franchise that had one foot out of town to Milwaukee just 2½ years previously. The “Chili Dog MVP” program brought to life a more innocent time in baseball intertwining with the hard truths of a hyper-political city like Chicago. In both baseball and life, for which the game is often a metaphor, past is prologue.
