Look, Dawson was great. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the guy — and the summer of ’87 was awesome. My favorite memory of him from that year was Dawson throwing out some pitcher AT FIRST BASE on a hard single right to him. I don’t think I’ve seen that before or since.

That said, I don’t think you can write about his Cubs’ career without touching on the ’89 playoffs: Dawson just about killed the Cubs, going 2-for-19. Ok, sometimes players have a bad streak. Fair enough. But worse, Dawson had criticized Mark Grace, essentially saying the Cubs had traded the wrong guy when they got rid of Palmeiro instead of Grace. Meanwhile, Grace batted .647 in the playoffs — Grace vs. Will Clark was like Bird vs. Dominique in the ’88 playoffs.

By Game 4, the Giants were pitching around Grace to get to Dawson, and the Cubs didn’t have the huevos to sit Hawk. And, if I remember correctly, Hawk’s pride wouldn’t let him realize what everyone else could see: He was murdering the team, and should have been on the bench.

@Joel – There was no way in hell Zimmer was going to sit Dawson in the ’89 playoffs unless his legs had actually fallen off. His other options for right field were Lloyd McClendon, Mitch Webster and Marvel Wynne. And before you tell me that McClendon was having an awesome year, his OPS in Sept/Oct was .675.

Dawson could barely get on the field and he was still their best option to continue the season of drastic overachievement. There is no doubt his performance was disappointing, but he was hurt and I’m not going to hold it against him.

Mariotti and the 4 d-bags get the privilege to do something we would all kill to do and they piss it away. The PTI guys should call Mariotti out on his unbelievable stupidity.

@Bad Kermit –

you’re right

Originally Posted By ChrisDI’m sorry but he played 21 seasons. Things like that happen to athletes, especially as they get older. I’m sure playing in Montreal for 11 years didn’t help but it’s not like it cost him 100 homers in his career.

It easily could have cost him 40 HRs. He missed about 130 games due to injury between 1976 and 1994 (and that’s not counting the games lost to the strikes in 81 and 94).

When you then consider that he couldn’t play many games in a row on Astroturf necessitating a day here and there off, you’re talking a full lost season from Dawson.

“Now, on to some things I�d like to have happen to the five dipshits who didn�t write a SINGLE NAME on their Hall of Fame ballots.”

I think the 5 should automatically have their votes counted as if they were cast for every player eligible. Simple rule, vote for no one in protest = voted for everyone.

That would give Bert 5 more votes and the 405 needed to be elected!

I’m pretty sure it was Roger Mason whom Dawson threw out at first on what should have been a single, on that day when the Hawk also went 5-5 and, apparently, some dude from the internet sat with a hot blonde. Great day indeed. Re: “He wouldn’t have been the next Willie Mays with or without bum knees,” that’s probably true (although I don’t think people who never saw him play appreciate just what a phenom Hawk was, even late in his career) but let me just add another semi-relevant thought experiment–Imagine how much love he’d have gotten if he’d played for the Mets and the Yankees instead of the Expos and the mid 80s Cubs. He was no Willie Mays (who was?) but bad knees or not he was a Duke Snider and a half. Plus, I’ve heard enough Yankees fans kvetch about how Mantle would have hit 900 homers if not for *his* knees so, you know, what’s good forthe ( drunken speed freak) goose is good for the Hawk. One last note, I always loved the fact that Dawson took like a 50% pay cut because he wanted to play in Wrigley.

How about the moron who gave David Segui a vote?

@ Kerm

“…who think that Lost is terrible because �the time travel is too hard to follow.�

It has nothing to do with time travel. It’s just fucking awful.

waaaayy off topic, but…

greatest shirt ever?

http://andrewfalconer.com/neifi/

I’m happy Dawson got in. While there are those who don’t think he deserves it, and they have reasonable arguments, it’s still a voting exercise, andhe legitimately earned his votes. Statistically, he compares favorably with others who have also been elected to the Hall. It’s been fun seeing the old pictures of Andre and reliving old memories.

I remember thinking when he played, back in my impressionable youth, that he had the most impressive physique I had ever seen on a baseball player. It was the classic v-shape–broad shoulders, narrow waist and hips, and not an ounce of extra body fat. All lean muscle mass. Eliminating those who I know or suspect to be artificially enhanced, I still think he had the most ideal baseball body I’ve ever seen, and if you got the chance to stand up close to him, you really appreciated how huge a man he was.

That’s why I recall how sad I was during the ’89 playoffs. Not just because the Cubs absolutely got hammered (Dawson wasn’t the only Cub future Hall of Famer who sucked–Maddux got lit up), but because Dawson, who had been so great for the Cubs when they were a pile of crap two years before was so obviously unable to perform. Joel above is right, the Giants started pitching around Grace to get to Dawson, which should have been unthinkable, but Dawson was clearly playing on one leg. Just to make things even sadder, was watching the Cubs tee off on Rick Reuschel in game 2 (it kind of sucked that it had to be him).

All that said, aren’t Halls of Fame kind of dumb, anyway? Why does it matter whether the likes of Jay Mariotti thinks that a given player deserves enshrinement or not? My memories of Dawson or Ron Santo are just as fond one way or the other, and that would be true Hall of Fame or no. I don’t need a bunch of sportswriters to validate that opinion. And as time goes on, and more players get elected, doesn’t the value of election get watered down anyway? Dawson’s the 232nd player elected. At some point, doesn’t the Hall get so crowded that the original purpose of recognizing the truly great get lost in the sheer numbers of players? What’s your favorite Ted Lyons memory? Do Joe Cronin’s .301 average, 2285 hits, and 170 homers excite you?

Anyway, I’m glad for one of my favorite players ever, and hope he gives a good speech.

@Bad Kermit – Maybe they would have pitched around Grace no matter what, but what was so damned depressing was that Dawson couldn’t do anything to make them pay. I always hate to see a former stud who can’t live up to his former standard of performance.

@Sman – That’s not the point. If you saw it, you know how awful he looked doing it. He had no legs left, and got surgery right after the season. Who knows what would have happened had he been healthy during that series?