If you ever spent time in Montreal cheering Les Expos, you were happy to hear that The Hawk--Andre Dawson--was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame today. Dawson began his career in Montreal, and played there for ten full seasons after coming up for 24 games in 1976.
Dawson, an outfielder for the Montreal Expos, the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox and the Florida Marlins, received 420 votes among the 539 ballots cast in his ninth season of eligibility. Blyleven had 400 votes, and Roberto Alomar had 397 in his first appearance on the ballot. Candidates needed 405 to be elected.
A combination of power, speed and defense made Dawson an eight-time All-Star and the 1987 National League Most Valuable Player. He is one of only three players to exceed 400 homers and 300 stolen bases, with Barry Bonds andWillie Mays, and he won eight Gold Gloves.
Dawson’s on-base percentage was just .323, the lowest among Hall of Fame outfielders, and he never played in the World Series. But his performance in the bedrock statistics — home runs and runs batted in — elevated his candidacy.
There are 22 players eligible for the Hall of Fame who had at least 400 homers and 1,500 runs batted in, as Dawson did. All are now enshrined except Fred McGriff, a first-time candidate who got just 21.5 percent of the vote on Wednesday.
After Dawson, Blyleven and Alomar, Jack Morris was next with 52.3 percent, followed by Barry Larkin (51.6 percent), Lee Smith (47.3 percent), Edgar Martinez (36.2 percent) and Tim Raines (30.4 percent).
Mark McGwire, whose 583 career homers are obscured by his role in the steroids scandal, received just 23.7 percent. McGwire’s totals have been virtually unchanged over his four years on the ballot. He reached 23.5 percent in 2007, 23.6 percent in 2008 and 21.9 percent last year
Dawson said today he wasn't sure which team's cap will accompany him into the Hall. I'm hoping it will be the red, white and blue Expos lid, but he also won the 1987 National League MVP award in a Cubs uniform, and spent six seasons with the club.
Bienvenue, Andre...
More here from the Montreal Gazette.
No comments:
Post a Comment