New York Mets

The New York Mets drafted Allen out of Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City, Kansas, in the eleventh round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. He went 10–2 with a 2.79 earned run average and led the Carolina League with 126 strikeouts with the Lynchburg Mets in his second professional season.

Allen came up with the Mets as a starting pitcher in 1979, and he made his major league debut on April 15 against the Philadelphia Phillies and former Met Nino Espinosa, giving up three runs in six innings and taking the loss.^[1] Allen was 0-5 as a starter when the Mets moved him to the bullpen. He won his next four decisions in a row as a reliever, and on July 28, he earned his first major league save.^[2]

Soon Allen emerged as the club's closer, earning eight saves by the end of the season and 69 total in his Mets career. In May 1981, the Mets reached a deal to acquire Ellis Valentine from the Montreal Expos for Dan Norman and either Allen or Jeff Reardon. Unwilling to part with their closer, the Mets sent Reardon to the Expos.^[3]

Allen got off to a rough start to the 1983 season. With Allen's record standing at 0–4 with a 5.68 ERA and a .301 batting average against, the Mets made the unusual decision to converted Allen back into a starter. As unconventional as this move was, it seemed to work. Allen won his first two decisions, including a shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[4] Two weeks later, on June 15, he and Rick Ownbey were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Keith Hernandez.^[5]

St. Louis Cardinals

Allen's first start as a Cardinal came against the Mets at Shea Stadium. He held the Mets to four hits with six strikeouts (2 of Hernandez) over eight innings, and drove in one of the Cardinals' six runs.^[6] His second win for the Cards also came against his former club. This time, he held them to one run over seven innings. He also had an RBI double, and scored a run in the second inning.^[7] All told, he went 3–0 with a 0.87 ERA against the Mets in 1983.^[8] Against the rest of the National League, he was 9–13 with a 4.76 ERA.

In 1984, he was returned to the bullpen, making only one emergency start.^[9] Allen was 1–4 with a 5.59 earned run average, and began incurring the wrath of Cardinals fans.^[10] On July 16, he was sold to the New York Yankees. Allen was 1–0 with one save and a 2.76 ERA out of the Yankees' bullpen.^[11]

Chicago White Sox

Following the '85 season, Allen was traded to the Chicago White Sox with Scott Bradley and Glenn Braxton for Ron Hassey, Matt Winters, Chris Alvarez and Eric Schmidt. The White Sox converted him back to a starter, and he earned his first win of the season against Ron Guidry at Yankee Stadium on May 15. Allen gave up only one earned run, four hits and two walks in seven innings for the first White Sox victory over Guidry at Yankee Stadium since August 13, 1980.^[12]

His next start at Yankee Stadium was even better. On July 20, Allen pitched a complete game two hitter to lead the White Sox to an 8–0 victory over the Yankees.^[13] For the season, Allen went 7–2 with a 3.82 ERA.

1987–1990

The White Sox released Allen during the 1987 season after he posted an 0–7 record and 7.07 ERA. He signed with the Yankees for the remainder of the season, and returned again for 1988. He signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians in 1989, making three appearances for the big league club. He pitched for the Cincinnati Reds' AAA affiliate, the Nashville Sounds in 1990 before retiring.