How's Andre doing in the All-Time 9 Voting?

The Wrigley faithful as of 9/25 have Andre second in voting for the Cubs All-Time 9 outfield.

Billy Williams - 30.7%
ANDRE DAWSON - 26%
Hack Wilson - 17.4%
Sammy Sosa - 6.1%
Kiki Cuyler - 4.5%

Other notable Cubs leading in their respectable position in votes are: Ryne Sandberg (2B), Derrek Lee (1B), Ernie Banks (SS), Ron Santo (3B), Gabby Harnett (C) and Fergie Jenkins (P).


Andre is tied with Adam Dunn for the third spot in the All-Time 9 Expos/Nationals outfield.

Vlad Guerrero - 17.7%
Alfonso Soriano - 17%
ANDRE DAWSON - 13.6%
Adam Dunn - 13.6%
Tim Raines - 7.7%

Really, Soriano and Dunn? Really? That's a crime. The rest of the leading vote getters for each position include: Gary Carter (C), Nick Johnson (1B), Jose Vidro (2B), Cristan Guzman (SS), Ryan Zimmerman (3B), and Livan Hernandez (P).


MLB still hasn't closed voting; The Hawk still needs your votes!

To vote again or to view voting results for all teams as of 9/25, click here.

And the 2009 Hawk Award goes to....

The baseball award season is almost upon us. And to celebrate that, I've decided to do it in a truly Andre Dawson for the Hall of Fame manner.

There will be no MVP or Cy Youngs handed out here. No, these are truly unique and distinguished awards. The first annual Hawk Awards are awarded to players whose 2009 performances were reminiscence to some of The Hawk's seasons.


And the first annual Hawk Awards go to...


Zack Greinke, P, Kansas City Royals - For dominating nearly every pitching statistic in the AL this year, while playing for a bottom dweller, similar to what Andre did batting wise with the last-place Cubs in 1987





Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays - For following up his Rookie of the Year honors in 2008 with an outstanding season, just as Andre did (ROY in 1977). No sophomore slump here





Raul Ibanez, OF, Philadelphia Phillies - For setting a career high in home runs after leaving Seattle, just as Andre did after leaving the Expos for the Cubs in 1987





Bobby Abreau, OF, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - For playing 2009 well under what he is worth ($5 Mil) to be with a team he is passionate about as Andre did in 1987 ($700,000)




Sam Fuld, OF, Chicago Cubs - For his outstanding catches running into outfield walls this summer, reminiscence of when Andre rammed his head into the Ivy brick wall of Wrigley to make a catch





Derrek Lee, 1B, Chicago Cubs - For proving he still got something in the tank when people were beginning to count him out, similar to Andre's difficulty getting signed in 1987 when GMs thought his best years were behind due to his knees





Pablo Sandoval, 1B, San Francisco Giants - For...having the best nickname in baseball, Kung Fu Panda, okay so that doesn't really constitute an award, but I like the guy and the nickname just as I do with Andre




And the life-time Hawk achievement award goes to...it's a tie!


Derek Jeter, SS, New York Yankees and Randy Johnson, P, San Francisco Giants - For reaching career milestones and well on their way to becoming Hall of Famers like the Hawk will.









And that's the 2009 Hawk Awards. Sorry Milton Bradley, better luck next year!

Andre is Extra Good...24th All-Time in Extra Base Hits

An important stat in a player's career is extra base hits. It's an important stat because it means the player is either knocking runs in or getting into scoring position to be knocked in. Andre not only excelled in this stat because of his unique blend of speed and power, but is 24th all-time in this category.*

The Hawk dominated this stat in the early 1980s, leading the NL in 1982 and 1983 and finishing second in 1980 and 1981. He also finished in the top 10 in 1979 (8th), 1987 (3rd), 1988 (4th) and 1990 (10th).*

His 1039 total extra base hits is better than several Hall of Fame players, including: Mike Schmidt (1015), Rogers Hornsby (1011), Mr. Cub Ernie Banks (1009), Honus Wagner (993), Robin Yount (960), Paul Molitor and Willie Stargell (953), Mickey Mantle (952), and Billy Williams (948). And that is just the Hall of Famers in the top 50 all-time that Andre's total number exceeds.*

Maybe even more impressive, almost 40% of Andre's hits in his career were for extra bases (37%). A better percentage than these notable Hall of Famers: Dave Winfield (35%), Eddie Murray (34%), Carl Yastrzemski (34%) and Ty Cobb (27%).*

Just one more reason Andre is due his recognition as one of the all-time greats by being enshrined into the Hall!

* - www.baseball-reference.com

Ask Not What Andre Can Do for You; Ask What You Can Do for Andre.

What can you do for Andre you ask? Show your appreciation for The Hawk by voting for him to be apart of the All-Time line-up for the Cubs and Expos/Nationals.

MLB.com is giving fans a chance to vote on The All-Time 9 for each Major League franchise. It's your opportunity to vote for your dream line-up consisting of the best seasons at each position in a franchise's history. I, of course, had to do my part and submit my votes for both the Cubs and Expos/Nationals.

Here were my selections:

Chicago Cubs
1B - Derrek Lee .335 AVG, 46 HR, 107 RBI, 120 R, 15 SB - 2005
2B - Rogers Hornsby .380 AVG, 39 HR, 149 RBI, 156 R, 2 SB - 1929
SS - Ernie Banks .313 AVG, 47 HR, 129 RBI, 119 R, 4 SB - 1958
3B - Ron Santo .313 AVG, 30 HR, 114 RBI, 94 R, 3 SB - 1964
C - Gabby Hartnett .344 AVG, 13 HR, 91 RBI, 67 R, 1 SB - 1935
OF - Andre Dawson .287 AVG, 49 HR, 137 RBI, 90 R, 11 SB - 1987
OF Sammy Sosa .308 AVG, 66 HR, 158 RBI, 134 R, 18 SB - 1998
OF Hack Wilson .356 AVG, 56 HR, 191 RBI, 146 R, 3 SB - 1930
P - Carlos Zambrano .337 AVG, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 9 R, 0 SB - 2008

I realized a couple of things after my vote. First, the Cubs have really lacked any long-term power threat at the 1B position compared to other franchises. Secondly, there were very few lead-off type hitters to choose from.

Third base was a tough pick, Aramis Ramirez and Santo's seasons were almost identical. Ryne Sandberg is arguably the best 2B in history, but there's no denying how great of a season Hornsby had in 1929. I really wanted to choose Kiki Cuyler for outfield to give the line-up some speed (41 SB), but you can't leave Andre, Sosa or Hack off. Maybe with this line-up the 101-year World Series drought would end...


Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals
1B - Al Oliver .331 AVG, 22 HR, 109 RBI, 90 R, 5 SB - 1982
2B - Jose Vidro .330 AVG, 24 HR, 97 RBI, 101 R, 5 SB - 2000
SS - Orlando Cabrera .297 AVG, 17 HR, 80 RBI, 95 R, 24 SB - 2003
3B - Tim Wallach .298 AVG, 26 HR, 123 RBI, 89 R, 9 SB - 1987
C - Gary Carter .294 AVG, 27 HR, 106 RBI, 75 R, 2 SB - 1984
OF - Andre Dawson .299 AVG, 32 HR, 113 RBI, 104 R, 25 SB - 1983
OF Vladimer Guerrero .336 AVG, 39 HR, 111 RBI, 106 R, 40 SB - 2002
OF Tim Raines .334 AVG, 9 HR, 62 RBI, 91 R, 70 SB - 1986
P - Steve Renko .278 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 1 SB - 1975

Okay, so I know there are no Nationals in this line-up, but not much to choose from in the DC years. I almost went with Alfonso Soriano in the outfield with his 40/40 season in 2006, but when it comes to my lead-off man, I rather have Raines' .334 AVG compared to Fonzie's .277.

To vote for Cubs' All-Time line-up, click here.

To vote for Expos/Nationals' All-Time line-up, click here.

Don't Judge Andre on His OBP%, that Wasn't His Job

Whenever Andre is mention in an article on who should or shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame I receive a Google alert. Majority of the time I'm pleased with the outcome of the article, probably 75% of those writing these articles, I would estimate say The Hawk should be in. Of the remaining 25% it often comes down to Andre's career On-Base Percentage (OBP) of .323. They feel that is too low to be in the Hall of Fame.

OBP hasn't really been a statistic that has had Hall of Fame merit until recent years. Since it has, I think that OBP is a stat that should be weighed more heavily on lead-off or two-hole type hitters, not players batting in the clean-up position. A large part of the formula that makes up OBP is the number of times a player walked.

If you were managing a baseball club and you had a runner in scoring position and down two runs, would you want Andre to swing for the fences or take a walk?

Andre didn't bat clean-up for the Cubs to get on base, he batted in that position to knock Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace in. (If the Cubs ever had a consistent lead-off hitter in the late 80s and early 90s, I would have mention him too!)

If Andre didn't knock them in more than likely no one would behind him. The Cubs didn't exactly support Andre with quality hitters in the 5 slot. Let's look at some of those players during his time with the Cubs: Dwight Smith, Luis Salazar, Lloyd McClellan, Hector Villanueva, etc. *

As a manager or a fan I want to see the big hitters trying to get a hit or sacrifice a fly to score runs. Yes, Andre didn't walk much in his career, but what the authors of these articles failed to mention is that Andre ranks 10th ALL-TIME in sacrifice flies with 118! **

So 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame voters, I ask you when considering Hall of Fame induction regarding OBP, leave it to Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin. For Andre, look at how many runs he knocked in over the years (34th ALL-TIME by the way with 1591). **

* www.baseball-almanac.com
** www.baseball-reference.com