Career
This is about the baseball player. Bernard Keith "Bernie" Allen (born April 16, 1939) is a former Major League Baseball player for the Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators, New York Yankees, and Montreal Expos. At 6" 0" and 185 lbs, Allen was a second-baseman for most of his career.
Playing over 900 games at the position.
By the 1971 season, he was splitting his time between second and third base. Allen played college baseball for the Boilermakers, where he twice named Team Most Valuable Player. He platooned at quarterback in 1959, leading the Boilermakers to a 5-2-2 record and six weeks in the Top 15.
Purdue spent 5 weeks in the Top 15 and finished the season at #19. Allen was selected for the Blue-Gray Game.
Throwing 3 touchdowns and led the Blue squad to a 35-7 victory over the Gray squad, quarterbacked by Fran Tarkenton.
Allen was the leading passer for Purdue during the 1959 and 1960 seasons and was also the team leader in total offense. He was selected as an All-American shortstop in 1961, he signed with the Twins and played 80 games for Class A Charlotte before being promoted to Major League Baseball. He spent the 1963 off-season as an assistant football coach under Jack Mollenkopf, where he tutored a young Bob Griese.
In 1999, he was selected for induction in the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.
On Opening Day, April 10, 1962, Allen made his debut for the Minnesota Twins at second base. He was put into a position vacated by Billy Martin a week earlier.
Allen had one hit (a triple) in four at-bats on opening day. Allen played five seasons for the Twins and was traded to the Washington Senators with pitcher Camilo Pascual for pitcher Ron Kline.
After five seasons in Washington, the Senators moved to Texas and traded him to the New York Yankees.
Allen played for New York in 1972, backing up second and third base. He played 17 games for the Yankees in 1973 before being purchased by Montreal. The Expos released him two months later.