The Arkansas Travelers will retire jersey number 6 in honor of former Travelers player and Baseball Hall of Famer Dick Allen. The official jersey retirement will take place on Saturday, September 5, prior to the Travs' game against Northwest Arkansas. Allen’s son, Richard “Doobie” Allen, Jr. is expected to be in attendance for the ceremony on September 5.
Allen wore number 6 while playing for the Travs in the 1963 season when he was the club’s first Black player. He was voted the team’s MVP that season while batting .289/.341/.550 in 145 games with an International League leading 33 home runs, 97 RBI, 12 triples & 299 TB. He also led the team with 93 runs & 157 hits. Arkansas was the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A club that season. Allen then made his Major League debut with the Phillies in September of 1963.
Allen was a feared power hitter over his 15 year MLB career. He won the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year Award and was named American League Most Valuable Player in 1972. He was a seven-time All-Star selection and finished his career with 351 homers, a .292 batting average and a .534 slugging percentage.
Allen was posthumously inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025. He is the sixth former-Traveler player to be enshrined in Cooperstown, joining Tris Speaker, Bill Dickey, Travis Jackson, Fergie Jenkins, and Jim Bunning.
Allen’s number 6 is the first jersey number officially retired by the Travelers franchise in its 125 years of play. Other retired numbers that the Travs honor include #42 (retired by MLB for Jackie Robinson) as well as the Seattle Mariners' retired numbers of #11 (Edgar Martinez), #24 (Ken Griffey Jr.) and #51 (both Ichiro Suzuki and Randy Johnson).
The jersey retirement ceremony will also coincide with the Travelers' final giveaway of the season. The first 1,000 early-arriving fans on September 5 will receive a Dick Allen bobblehead courtesy of First Arkansas Bank & Trust. Tickets for that game and all remaining home contests are available at travs.com/tickets and in-person at the WinChoice Box Office.
Founded in 1901, the Arkansas Travelers are the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and call CHI St. Vincent Field at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock home. The Travs’ 125th anniversary regular season home schedule runs through September 6th. For all the latest information with the club and events at the ballpark, log on to travs.com or follow the Travelers on Facebook (/ArkansasTravelers), Instagram (@artravs), Threads (@artravs) and Twitter/X (@artravs). Dickey-Stephens Park is a cashless facility, and the Travelers have a clear bag policy for all events.