10 Best Moments from The Hawk’s Career

To honor Andre’s official induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame today, let’s revisit some of the best moments from his storied career.

10. October 25, 2003 – Wins first World Series championship. Yes, Andre was retired, but he played an important part in the Florida Marlins second appearance in the fall classic. After his retirement from baseball, Andre joined the organization’s front office and instantly became a mentor to many of the team’s young and upcoming talent. While all Hawk fans, especially Cubs fans, would have loved his WS ring to come as a player, I am happy that he got to experience that champion feel in some capacity.

9. July 13, 1987 – In the midst of his MVP season, Andre won the Home Run Derby at the Oakland Coliseum. Who did he beat? George Bell, Ozzie Virgil and Mark McGwire.

8. September 11 and 13, 1976 – At the age of 21, The Hawk begins his career making his MLB debut. How did he do? 0-2, 1 strikeout. Fortunately that wasn’t a sign of things to come. Two days later he got his first hit, off of who else, Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. The pitcher who Andre would have great success against in the future.

7. April 29, 1987 – The Hawk did one of the more difficult things to do in the big leagues and that is hit for the cycle. It came against the Giants at Wrigley Field with Andre going 5-5 in an 8-4 win for the Cubs. Home run in the first, double in the third, single in the fourth, triple in the sixth and topped it off with a second single in the 8th.

6. October 2, 1988 – Andre broke Bobby Bonds’ record of 11 consecutive seasons of at least 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases. Just a pre-cursor of what was to come for Andre in terms of recognition for his rare blend of power and speed.

5. September 24th, 1985 – Before he became a Cub, Andre punished his future team having the best game of his career. In 6 at bats, he had 4 hits, 3 of which were home runs, with 8 RBIs and three runs scored. What can be better than that? How about becoming only the 2nd player in Major League history to hit 2 home runs in the same inning, a pair of 3-run shots in the 5th inning. Expos won by the way 17-15.

4. July 9, 1991 – The Hawk made his last All-Star appearance (8 total) and went out with a bang. Andre hit a home run in a losing effort for the NL, 2-4,off of Roger Clemens in the Toronoto Skydome.

3. April 15, 1993 - Andre hit his 400th career home run with the Red Sox on April 15 at Fenway Park in the second inning. The Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3 that day. Sadly, the steroid era has diminished how special it is to reach such a plateau now, but I remember when it happened for The Hawk, how amazed I was.

2. September 22, 1990 – Andre joined two exclusive clubs by stealing his 300th base: the 300 home runs/300 stolen bases club and 300 home runs/300 stolen bases and 2,000 hits club (becoming just the second player to achieve this, Willie Mays first). It happened at Shea Stadium in a 5-11 Cubs' loss to the Mets. Other 300/300 members: Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Mays, Steve Finley, and Reggie Sanders. Other 300/300/2000 members: Barry Bonds, Mays and Finely.

1. July 25, 2010 – I know its cliché, but I saved the best for last…2010 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction. Today is your day Mr. Dawson. Today is the day you don’t have to be the humble superstar athlete that we all came to love. Today you become one of baseball’s immortals and unforgettable heroes. Enjoy your day, you’ve waited a long time for this, you’ve reached the pinnacle of an athelete’s career, a career that will always be special to this Hawk fan!

Please share your favorite Hawk moment below.

Sources: www.baseball-reference.com and www.wikipedia.org

Which Cap Does Andre Look Best In?

Since Andre's election to the Hall of Fame on January 6th, the question a foot has been will he be inducted wearing a Cubs or Expos cap.

What team should an elected player represent in the Hall of Fame has not been a prevailing debate for most of its history. Cal Ripken Jr., not a question, Tony Gwynn, not a question, Ryne Sandberg, not a question, etc. Gone are the days of a player playing majority of his career with one team thanks to free agency.

The reason it has been up for debate in Andre's case is that he spent more seasons (11) in Montreal while putting up majority of his statistics there. However as a Cub for six seasons, Andre rose to national prominence and became one of baseball's most well known ambassadors.

Here's a look at his numbers between the two clubs*:

Montreal Expos 1976-1986: 225 HRs, 838 RBIs, .280 Avg., 1575 Hits, 828 Runs, 253 SBs

Chicago Cubs 1987-1992: 174 HRs, 587 RBIs, .285 Avg., 929 Hits, 431 Runs, 57 SBs

As a Cubs fan I naturally want to see him don the Cubs cap on July 25th.

As an Andre Dawson fan I'm just glad he is a Hall of Famer regardless of the cap he will wear.

But as a blogger, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't share my opinion on this, so here it is.

Top Ten reasons Andre should be inducted as a Cub:

10. MVP trumps ROY. Andre's 1987 MVP award with the last-place Cubs is more impressive than this 1977 ROY award with the Expos. He was the first player to win the MVP on a last-place team, which in itself is true testament to the type of player he was. When most may have turned in a lack luster effort, Andre kicked it into higher gear.

9. 5-time All-Star with Cubs (1987-1991) versus 3 times as an Expo (1981-1983).

8. Career highs in Home Runs (49) and RBIs (137) as a Cub.

7. Joined the 300 HRs / 300 SBs club as a Cub.

6. The "C" logo on the Cubs cap makes sense. The logo on the Expo cap never looked like an "M." Amazing that franchise never changed the "JL" into a cleaner logo.

5. 3-100 RBI seasons as a Cub (1987, 1991 & 1992), only 1 as an Expo.

4. Hit more Home Runs at Wrigley Field (Cubs) than Olympic Stadium (Expos) (110 to 102)*. Even before he joined the Cubs in '87, he loved hitting in Wrigley.

3. Ryne Sandberg. While Hall of Famer Gary Carter was a teammate of Andre's in Montreal (1976-1984), Andre/Ryno was the Jordan/Pippen of Chicago baseball. The tandem should wear the same cap in the Hall. I'll let you decide which is Jordan in this equation.

2. The Cubs have stated that they'll retire his #8 if he enters the Hall as a Cub. First, let me say that I believe they should do this regardless of the cap he wears. Second, that statement is insane considering the cap he wears is ultimately the Hall's decision. Andre gets to share his input, but it's not his call. I think it would show a lot of class on the Cubs part to do it even if the Expos are chosen. If he is immortalized as an Expo in the Hall, then immortalize him as a Cub at Wrigley. But let's not take chances here; let's make the decision for the Cubs easy.

1. Cubs are forever. Expos are now the Nationals. 20, 30 years from now, kids won't even remember the Expos. Do you think kids today know who the Washington Senators were? I want the next generation of fans that visit the Hall of Fame to recognize the cap on his plaque and recognize him as one of the greatest Cubs ever!

* www.baseball-reference.com

Looking Forward to 2010

Now that the World Series is over -- I can't believe people were making a big deal out of the Yankees not winning one for the last nine years, one every nine years sounds good to a Cubs fan -- anyway I digress, the baseball world will now turn it's attention to free agent signings, the new Cubs owner and the Hall of Fame voting in January, the latter being what I am anticipating the most.

But first, I just want to mention that I don't know a whole lot about the Cubs new owner Tom Ricketts, but I do know that Andre Dawson was his favorite Cub. Mr. Ricketts on Andre in recent interviews, "When he was here, he set such a high standard for future players. He was just awesome, a great gentleman who played on some really average teams."* Not sure how he will be as an owner, but any fan of Andre's is alright by me.

So Hall of Fame voting is around three months away, it's time to buckle down and really start campaigning on Andre's behalf. I know I'm not the only one that feels that way. When I came across the online petition "Get Andre Dawson in the hall," and posted the link on my blog, it had 65 signatures. That petition has now grown into 105 signatures in just a few months!

What better way to demonstrate why Andre deserves to be in the Hall than to share some of the comments from those signatures.

"I grew up in Montreal and had the opportunity to watch him play many times. He was the best I ever saw..."

"No one gave up their body to baseball the way he did."

"He was a 5 tool player, how many players are in the 300/300 club? Only 5, and Dawson is one."

"Best right fielder of the eighties."

If you want to show your support and haven't signed the petition yet, it's under my Recommended Websites.


*www.dailyherald.com and www.nbcchicago.com

The 400HR/300SB Club

Andre finished his career with 438 home runs and 314 stolen bases. He is one of only six players in major league history to record over 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases in his career (300/300 Club). The other players to accomplish this feat are: Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley*.

Andre belongs to an even more elite group, the 400/300 Club (400 home runs and 300 stolen bases). What makes this group so amazing is that out of the 16,187** players in Major League Baseball history (1876-2007) only three have the statistics to belong to this exclusive club. Mays and Barry Bonds are of course the other two members.

This means only 1.85% of all players to don a MLB uniform belongs to this club. Mays is in the Hall of Fame and Barry is not eligible for the Hall yet. That leaves Andre. Don't you think a player that accomplishes something of this magnitude that 98% of other players couldn't, that it is a no-brainer that Andre should be elected?

* www.wikipedia.org
** www.wikianswers.com