Andre Dawson To Enter Cooperstown As An Expo.

From the Montreal Gazette:

Andre Dawson will enter the Baseball Hall of Fame
this summer as a member of the Montreal Expos.

Dawson spent the first 11 years of his career with
the franchise that currently resides in Washington and is known as the
Nationals. He also played six years with the Chicago Cubs and spent time with
the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins.

The Hawk had expressed a desire to have a Cubs
logo on his plaque, and while a player's wishes are considered, the Hall makes
the final decision and says the logo should be "emblematic of where the player
made his greatest impact." Every team an inductee played for is listed on the
plaque.

"I respect the Hall of Fame's decision to put an
Expos logo on my cap, and I understand their responsibility to make sure the
logo represents the greatest impact in my career," Dawson said. "Cubs fans will
always be incredibly important in my heart, and I owe them so much for making my
time in Chicago memorable, as did the fans in Montreal, Boston and South
Florida, my home. But knowing that I'm on the Hall of Fame team is what's most
important, as it is the highest honor I could imagine."

Dawson was named the 1977 National League Rookie
of the Year in Montreal and led the Expos to their only postseason series win
with a five-game victory over the Phillies in the 1981 NL Division Series. He
won his lone MVP award in 1987 with the Cubs.

Dawson will join Gary Carter as the Hall of Fame's only two inductees sporting the Expos logo.

Buy Me Some Peanuts & Cracker Jack, Eh?

Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this week. The first major league game I attended was at Jarry Park in Montreal during the Expos maiden season in 1969, when Rusty Staub was La Grande Orange and owned that town. Their red, white and blue beanie-like hats with the odd logo seemed to cry out for a propellor on top.
The New York Times has a fine piece about what was, at times, a great organization. I would go on to split my allegiance to Les Expos with the New York Yankees, but I'll always hold a warm place for that long-gone team from the north deep within my border boy, baseball heart.

(UPDATE: More bittersweet Expos news. This report says Dawson wants to be inducted as a Cub, although the final decision on which team an inductee will represent rests with the Hall.)

Andre Dawson Is A Hall Of Famer.

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.

Trés bien!

From the New York Times:

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.