The Hawk

A lot of discussion goes into Hall of Fame ballots. Who should go in? Who should stay out? The consensus opinion from sports writers who get to vote players in, says that unless a guy is a clear-cut Hall of Famer, he shouldn't be inducted. 'If you have to think about it, then the answer is he isn't a Hall of Famer', the adage goes. But that theory is somewhat flawed, because there are great players out there who fall through the cracks, with great achievements simply forgotten by time. They linger on the HOF ballot for years and years, constantly being passed over, until finally they get in, or are snubbed for the final time. Andre Dawson is a prime example of this. And although most of you already know that he was inducted into the Hall just a few weeks ago, there is still some debate about whether he and others of his ilk, should be there or not. This is something that can only be analyzed on a case-to-case basis, however. So I'd like to take a deeper look at Andre's case in particular, and see if this is a debate we can settle.

For those of you who don't know, Andre "Hawk" Dawson was a tremendous talent that exploded onto the National League scene during the 1977 season with the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). In that year, he batted .282, hit 19 homers, drove in 65 runs while scoring 64 himself, and stole 21 bags, eventually picking up a National League Rookie of the Year award for his efforts. Over the next few years he proved to be a very adept center/right-fielder and a consistent threat to bash around 25 HRs and have around 25-30 SBs. He was also a great leader and mentor to the players around him. Baseball-reference.com has a great segment on Dawson in its Bullpen link that says, "He tried to keep 2B Rodney Scott from the temptations of drugs, and was successful in rescuing (Tim) Raines from a potential downward spiral when he became addicted to cocaine in 1982. In gratitude for the help given, Raines named his second son Andre Darrell Raines." This goes to show that he was not only a great player on the field, but a beloved character in the clubhouse as well.

Unfortunately for Andre the front office didn't appreciate his roles both on the field and off, even in the slightest. The BR Bullpen goes on to say that after his contract ran out in 1986, management gave him "an insulting offer to sign again. Dawson wanted to leave Montreal because of his knees (a result of the terrible Olympic Stadium turf), but management played the collusion card, discouraging every other team from making an offer to Dawson, with the aim of giving him no other choice but to come back and sign a below-market contract with the Expos." These are the kinds of shady deals that aren't as frequent in today's game thanks to the efforts of the MLB Players Union. Dawson was so insulted by this, he took a pay cut to instead play for the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs GM was given a blank check by Dawson, to which he signed Hawk to a mere $500K plus incentives. But Dawson fulfilled each one of those incentives, making and starting in the 1987 All-Star game, as well as winning the MVP award that year by walloping 49 homeruns and 137 RBIs. He ended up playing 5 more years in Chicago and was a beloved institution there.

Dawson eventually played out his years with short two-year stints in Boston and Florida. He finished his career with 8 Gold Glove awards for his outstanding defense in both center and right. He also collected five Silver Slugger awards and was an 8-time All-Star. But while these achievements are well and good and present a fine case for his Hall of Fame induction, what goes missing here is the character behind the man. And that is something that is often forgotten when it comes to HOF voting. Let's go back to that quote about his time in Montreal where he helped teammates get off drugs. It easy for a player to come to the ballpark, get in his stretching and hitting, play a game, and go home. There are plenty of guys in today's game that do just that. But it takes a special personality to draw others to you and to be a leader. Success is too often measured by numbers and stats, and while they are important, a man's character must also be taken into account. I can remember no player more beloved by the fanbase, commentators and fellow players while I was growing up, than Andre Dawson. He was even one of my favorite players and I didn't even like the Cubs. He just had that great big smile in his pictures that drew people to him. But he could switch on that Hawk stare he was so famous for, on the field.

Now it's a fact that Andre Dawson was not the greatest player ever. He didn't have 3,000 hits, nor did he hit 500 HRs. But he is good company when you can say that he is one of only three players in the history of the game to have over 400 homeruns and 300 stolen bases. The other two players? Oh, only Barry Bonds, the disputed homerun champion and Willie Mays, possibly the great baseball player of all-time. And he was able to accomplish all of this while on bad knees for almost the entirety of his career. His numbers might not smack you in the face, but when you look at them with a wide view, and consider them (not make excuses with) his injuries, you can compare his stats to other HOFers, and he is right there with the best of the best.

But like I've said, the numbers aren't everything. One radio DJ I heard on my old college radio station WTSR complained that Dawson's induction was a result of a "dumbing-down of the Hall of Fame". Too many guys were getting in that didn't belong, he thought. But if you think about it, there are literally hundreds of guys that play each year in both the major and minor, plus the independent leagues, all of whom are trying to prove that they are worthy of greatness. When you take that into consideration, and you think that in 2010 only one, solitary man was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his efforts over a career that spanned 21 great seasons, can you honestly say that the Hall of Fame is too easy to get into? Can you look that man in the eye and say, 'Sorry Hawk, if you had only hit 50 more homers, or swipe a dozen more bases, then maybe I could vote you in.' I say Andre Dawson is as deserving as any man to ever play the game of having his bust forever residing in the Hall of Fame. Not just because of a wonderful accumulation of stats, but because of the quality of the man behind those stats.

Should that count? Is that too subjective to judge? I don't know. I can't speak for others, and more importantly, I don't have a vote for who gets in and who doesn't. But I do know that when I finally visit Cooperstown and I walk down the aisles of the Hall of Fame, I can say about Andre Dawson; I remember him, he was an inspiration, a leader, a purist, a good person. Maybe that doesn't matter to some people, but I still regard those things with respect and awe. And for me, nothing says the Hall of Fame like The Hawk. But let me know what you think.