“The Hawk” flies into Cooperstown

The Hawk has finally landed, and his destination is Cooperstown.

After a career that spanned over two decades, Andre Dawson finally earns what many feel is his rightful place in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. The Baseball Hall of Fame announced today that he, along with manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey would be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Taken during his ROY winning season, a good start to a HOF career.

Arguably one of the Expos best players in their history, and one of the best players for the Cubs in the 80′s, the Hawk had a lot of impressive achievements to fall back on for his career. Over 2700 hits, 438 home runs, 314 stolen bases, and eight All-Star appearances is a pretty strong resume to bring to the table. His trophy room would have a few impressive items as well, such as the Rookie of the Year award for 1977, and the MVP award in 1987 (and finishing second in ’81 and ’83), but for Andre, his favorite awards would be his Gold Gloves for his play in centre and right field. “Eight Gold Gloves are what stand out more for me because of defensive excellence and skills,” he said. “I always felt that you could win a ballgame with a play late in the game or early in the game just the same way you could win a game in the ninth inning with a key hit.”

While we have the luxury of seeing Dawson’s career with 20/20 hindsight, he wasn’t always considered to be a Hall of Fame bound prospect. In fact he was not chosen in the 1975 amateur draft until the eleventh round, being passed over for such household names as Art Miles, Dale McMullen, and Mitch Cipola due to concerns of a knee injury that occurred while he was in high school. The two scouts that were high on him though, oddly had a linkage with the two teams that “The Hawk” would be a star for. “This young man has as quick of a bat as Hank Aaron, who I had known with the Milwaukee Braves when he came up,” wrote Mel Didier, who was working for the Expos at the time, wrote in his scouting report. “Aaron had the quickest bat I’ve ever seen. Andre Dawson has a bat like that, and he can run and he can throw. He’s going to be an outstanding player.”. Buck O’Neil, a scout with the Chicago Cubs, would recommend that the Cubs get Dawson in the draft in one of the first few picks, but Cubs scouting director Vedie Himsl didn’t’ agree, and felt having already decided to take Buck recommend Lee Smith in the second round, decided not to give Buck another high pick selection.

Stars of the late 70's Expos: Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, ???, Tim Raines, Ron Leflore

For Montreal however, he would quickly prove that he should have been their first priority in that draft. He would live up to his nickname, flying up quickly through the minors and arriving in Montreal in late ’76 to a flurry of hype and promise that would prove to be justified as the years progressed. He quickly became the Expos leader and star, leading the Expos to their golden age in the late 70′s and early 80′s with fellow Hall of Famer Gary Carter and Tim Raines, and would fit that mantle again upon arriving in Chicago alongside Ryan Sandberg. And he a multitude of talents to call upon to earn such standing. With his explosive swing and menacing stare, many pitchers loathed to have to pitch to him, especially with runners on board. Lou Piniella, when managing the Reds, stated that he intentionally walked Dawson five times during a sixteen inning contest, only to have them lose the game with a Dave Clark single after loading the bases with Dawson’s fifth of the night. As Lou later stated, “We played 16 innings and we lost. Maybe I shouldn’t have walked him so many times. If I hadn’t done that, we would have lost a whole lot sooner.”. And during his younger years, his ability to swoop across the outfield to catch any ball hit in his general direction fit his moniker, and for those runners that felt adventurous, a cannon of an arm that in center field was devastating, and in right a perfect fit. However it was his drive and leading by example, not words that would win over many of his teammates and fans. “For teammates, seeing a guy that wanted to play that much was inspirational,” said former teammate and Hall of Fame first baseman Tony Perez. “He never backed off, especially running the bases. After the game he may have looked like he was 80, but in the game he was always in his 20s.”. Ryan Sandberg, when elected to the Hall in 2005, had a ringing endorsement for the Hawk as part of his speech, stating “No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He’s the best I’ve ever seen. I watched him win an MVP for a last-place team in 1987 [with the Cubs], and it was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday.”

Andre Dawson heading to the field for the Chicago Cubs

Most injuries to an athletes knees never truly heal, and Dawson’s was a textbook example. Perez’s statement of looking like he was eighty was not unfounded, as his knees would demand to be iced down after every game. They were also not helped by the constant exposure to Olympic stadium’s unforgiving Astroturf, which was no better then green coloured concrete. So when the Expos, who were one of the willing participants in the collusion plot to keep salaries low in the mid 80′s, came to him with a lowball offer for his services, his knees and his head had decided to say au revoir to Montreal, and be yet another in a long list of poor moves by the Expos front office. He would eventually land in the cozy, and real grass carpeted, confines of Wrigley Field, which for some with bum knees was probably the best fit in the majors with real grass and small outfield to patrol. And he would prove to Dallas Green that his offer of signing with the Cubs for “whatever they’d pay me” wasn’t a “dog and pony show”, by delivering an MVP season in his first year, and would reach the playoffs for the first time since 1981 when the Cubs would beat out his former squad before losing to the Giants and endearing him to the Chicago faithful just as much as he had to fans in Montreal.

Andre Dawson is all smiles at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

There are those out there that feel that Dawson isn’t a Hall of Famer, and while he’ doesn’t cause the white frothing reaction that Jim Rice’s election seems to with some in the press and blogosphere (probably because he was ignored by almost all of the writers that elect such players for most of his career), some would argue that his election is just part of a trend of lowering the bar of entry for the Hall. However, I’d join others in disagreeing that this is the case. While some would argue that his failure to meet such guaranteed entry points such as three thousand hits, or five hundred home runs should exclude him from Cooperstown, there never has been, and indeed never should be a hard statistical exclusion measurement to be considered to be one of the best that the game has ever seen. To follow that logic would mean that such greats, through no fault of their own, would have been denied entry but had proven that they were one of the best the game had seen (Addie Joss springs to mind). Plus the statistical argument doesn’t hold much water, considering that he was in the top ten in many statistical categories throughout much of his prime, such as hits, home runs, slugging percentage, RBI’s, plus defensive statistics such as putouts, assists, and Gold Glove Awards. He is also one of six members of the 300-300 club (three hundred home runs and stolen bases), and one of
four to achieve that feat plus two thousand hits in a career (the only other player that is currently Hall eligible, Willie Mays, was elected in 1979. Barry Bonds and Steve Finley are not eligible yet). He also stacks up well compared to others that have played the game, according the Bill James’s similarity score index. Of the top ten players that are the most similar, half of them are currently in the Hall, and for most of his career, the player he paralleled the closest was Dave Winfield, another Hall of Famer and a star in his own right. And there’s the opinion of those that played with him and faced against him during his career, and who have a closer and more intimate knowledge of the player then most of us that cheered or jeered him (depending on our team allegiance) from the bleachers and at home watching the game. From the multiple accolades of his ability, his desire to perform to the best of his ability at all times, and his willingness to help others become the best they could be both on and off the field, he has a lot of support for being considered one of the best that has played the game.

In the end, when you look back at his career like we can now that it is finished, the question shouldn’t have been if he was a Hall of Famer. The question is why wasn’t he in the Hall yet. Finally that question has an answer.

Popularity: 19%

Related posts: