Andre Dawson

Infobox MLB retired
name=Andre Dawson
position=Outfielder
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1954|7|10
Miami, Florida
debutdate=September 11
debutyear=by|1976
debutteam=Montreal Expos
finaldate=September 29
finalyear=by|1996
finalteam=Florida Marlins
stat1label=Batting Average
stat1value=.279
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=2,774
stat3label=Home runs
stat3value=438
teams=
* Montreal Expos (by|1976-by|1986)
* Chicago Cubs (by|1987-by|1992)
* Boston Red Sox (by|1993-by|1994)
* Florida Marlins (by|1995-by|1996)
highlights=
* 8x All-Star selection (1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
* 8x Gold Glove Award winner (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988)
* 4x Silver Slugger Award winner (1980, 1981, 1983, 1987)
* 1987 NL MVP
* 1977 NL Rookie of the Year
* 1994 Hutch Award
* 1987 Home Run Derby winner
* Montreal Expos #10 retired

Andre Nolan Dawson (born July 10, 1954, Miami, Florida) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. In 1975, he was drafted by the Montreal Expos and made his major-league debut on September 11, 1976. In 1977, Dawson hit .282, with 19 homers and 65 RBI, and was named NL Rookie of the Year.

Dawson, whose nickname was "The Hawk," played 1443 games with the Expos, 4th highest in franchise history. As an Expo, Dawson set single-season club records for home runs (32, now 7th), RBI (113, now 4th), extra base hits (78, now 7th), and sacrifice flies (18, still 1st). He still holds the Expos' career record for sacrifice flies (71), and is the only player to hit 200 home runs and steal 200 bases with Montreal.

Career

Montreal years

Dawson was drafted in 1975, and played in 24 major league games in 1976. His stardom rose in 1977 when he became an everyday outfielder for the Expos, and batted .282 with 19 home runs and 21 stolen bases. He was awarded the 1977 Rookie of the Year in the National League, narrowly beating out Steve Henderson of the New York Mets. Dawson had a blend of power and speed, hitting at least 20 home runs in his seven seasons with the Expos, and stealing at least 20 bases in seven seasons. Dawson, playing primarily center field for the Expos, also became an excellent defensive player, gaining his first of eight Gold Glove awards in by|1980. Based on his all-around excellence, Dawson was second in the National League MVP voting in 1981 (winner was Mike Schmidt) and second again in 1983 (winner was Dale Murphy).

Chicago years

He played for the Expos until after the 1986 season, when he took a pay cut to sign with the Chicago Cubs. Dawson's knee injuries were aggravated by playing on artificial turf in Montreal, and he hoped playing home games on grass at Wrigley Field would prolong his career. Dawson had campaigned for the Cubs to sign him during the offseason, but general manager Dallas Green resisted, insisting that the Cubs would start Brian Dayett in right field (Dawson had moved from center field to right field in his final two seasons as an Expo, due to the condition of his knees), and that one player could not make a 71-91 team a 91-71 team. When the Cubs opened camp in Mesa, Arizona that spring, Dawson and his agent Dick Moss arrived in an attempt to secure a contract with the Cubs. Dawson and Moss' stunt was derided as a "dog and pony show" by Green, who still wouldn't make an offer to Dawson. Two weeks into spring training, Dawson turned the tables on Green and the Cubs, presenting Green with a blank contract. Green filled in the contract with lean figures: a $500,000 base salary with $250,000 in incentives if Dawson made the All-Star team, started the All-Star Game, or won the National League MVP award.

He did all three, enjoying one of his finest seasons in 1987 in terms of raw statistics. [Note that Bill James considers Dawson's best years to be from 1979-1983, with his higher Chicago numbers being due to Wrigley Field's advantageous environment for hitters (James 2001). He became the Cubs' starting right-fielder, and hit 49 home runs and was named NL MVP. With Chicago, Dawson had finally won the MVP award, after the two runner-up years, 1981 and 1983, in Montreal. Sadly, Dawson wasn't able to turn around the Cubs' fortunes: although the Cubs contended for the first half of the season and were even in first place in early May, they finished the 1987 season at 76-85, last in the National League East.

Dawson played five more seasons with the Cubs, and was one of the franchise's most popular players during that time. Unfortunately, his worst individual season came in 1989, when the Cubs won the National League East title. Then, during the National League Championship Series, Dawson slumped terribly, hitting .105 as the San Francisco Giants beat the Cubs 4 games to 1.

Overall, Dawson's .507 career slugging percentage with the Cubs is 4th highest in Cubs history.

Post-Chicago career

Dawson also played for the Boston Red Sox, and the Florida Marlins before retiring at the end of the 1996 season, after 21 years of major league service. He received his first World Series ring in 2003 as a member of the Florida Marlins front office. Dawson is currently a special assistant to Marlins president David P. Samson.

Accomplishments

Dawson finished his career with 2774 hits, 438 home runs, 314 stolen bases, and 1591 RBI. He is 29th on the all-time home run list, and 28th on the all-time RBI list. He is one of only six players in major league history to record over 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases in his career (300-300 club). The other players to accomplish this are Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley. Dawson is also one of only 3 members of the 400 HR-300 SB club, joining Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.

The Hawk was an eight time Gold Glove winner and an eight time All-Star. Along with his NL Rookie of the Year award in 1977, he won the NL MVP in 1987 and was runner-up for MVP twice.

Hall of Fame candidacy

In the 2008 BBWAA Hall of Fame balloting, Dawson received 65.9% of the vote, falling short of the required 75%. [ [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/voting_year.jsp?year=2008 National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Hall of Fame Vote Totals ] ] In the 2007 vote, Dawson's name appeared on 56.7% of the ballots [cite web
author = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
title = Hall of Fame Vote Totals: 2007 Election
publisher = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
date = 2007
url = http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/voting_year.jsp?year=2007
format = HTML
accessdate = 2007-09-01 ] . In 2006, Dawson received 61% of the votes, [cite web
author = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
title = Hall of Fame Vote Totals: 2006 Election
publisher = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
date = 2007
url = http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/voting_year.jsp?year=2006
format = HTML
accessdate = 2007-09-01 ] and in 2005, 52.3%. [cite web
author = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
title = Hall of Fame Vote Totals: 2005 Election
publisher = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
date = 2007
url = http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/voting_year.jsp?year=2005
format = HTML
accessdate = 2007-09-01 ]

The major impediments to Dawson's election to the Hall of Fame are his career .323 OBP, merely average for MLB players, and the fact that his raw statistics are less impressive after accounting for his playing time in Wrigley Field, a favorable hitter's environment.

Former teammate Ryne Sandberg campaigned for Dawson's induction during his speech at his own Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson," Sandberg said of the rifle-armed outfielder known as "The Hawk." Sandberg continued, "He's the best I've ever seen. I watched him win an MVP for a last-place team in 1987 [with the Cubs] , and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball." Sandberg concluded, "He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday."

Career statistics

small|Roll over stat abbreviations for definitions..cite web| url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dawsoan01.shtml | title=Andre Dawson Statistics| work=Baseball-Reference| accessdate=2008-09-12]

ee also

* Top 500 home run hitters of all time
* 300-300 club
* List of major league players with 2,000 hits
* List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
* List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
* List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
* Hitting for the cycle
* List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
* List of Major League Baseball home run champions
* Montreal Expos all-time roster
* Florida Marlins all-time roster

References

*cite book | first=James | last=Bill | year=1988 | title=The Bill James Baseball Abstract | publisher=Ballantine Books / Random House
*cite book | first=James | last=Bill | year=2001 | title=The new Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract | publisher=The Free Press / Simon & Shuster

External links

*baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=d/dawsoan01 |fangraphs=1003091 |cube=D/andre-dawson
* [http://www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/dawsonandre/ The Baseball Page]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/D/Dawson_Andre.stm Baseball Library]
* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/news/2006/060110b.htm Baseball Hall of Fame website; results of 2006 BBWAA vote]
* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/history/hof%5Fvoting/alpha/D.htm#Andre%20Dawson Baseball Hall of Fame website; annual voting results for André Dawson]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=rogers_phil&id=2274444 ESPN website; Phil Rogers, December 30, 2005]
* [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061222&content_id=1766912&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb MLB website; Dawson's skills were rare combination - Credentials, teammates speak favorably toward Hall induction]

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