The Way You Wear Your Hat

So the Hall of Fame announced that Andre Dawson will be going in with an Expos hat on his plaque instead of a Cubs cap. To this, Cubs fans, I say to you--so freakin' what. I'll let you in on a little secret--immediately under the pseudo bust with the famous cap will be an engraved listing of all the teams Andre played on, and the Cubs will be there. Nowadays, players move around so much does it really matter what cap is shown on the Hall of Fame plaque? So few players make the Hall, let's just be happy one of our favs is finally being recognized. Does it make sense for the cap to have the logo of a team that no longer exists? Marketingwise, no. Still, the Hawk played almost twice as many seasons in Montreal than he did in Chi-town. The weekend after he was inducted I had the pleasure of having a baseball signed by Andre at a prescheduled event. The fact that his Hall of Fame cap is from Montreal doesn't make that any less awesome to me.

Peace

Andre! Andre! Andre!

The Doc. had a number of baseball heroes growing up in the era before steroids. My number one guy--Ryne Sandberg--had already been enshrined in the Hall of Fame after an unjustified wait. One of those arguably fighting it out for the number two slot in my favs (not necessarily the best mind you, just my favs) is Mr. Andre Dawson who finally got the call yesterday after nine years. I don't agree with the selection process. This whole waiting to get in thing makes no sense as a person's statistics don't change over time. I can see maybe in a historical light a person's impact on the game is seen differently--but they don't remove people from the Hall in the light of history, so that argument is weak.

The "Hawk" had over 400 home runs and 300 steals in his career. If you put that in perspective, he's only the third guy in the entire history of baseball to do that--Willie Mays being one and (ugh) Barry Bonds the other. That feat alone puts him in rare climates. He suffered the fate of Montreal for many of the most productive days of his career. If Dawson had been a Yankee--he'd have been a first ballot guy. I remember in 1987 watching Dawson hit 49 home runs back when that was a ridiculous amount. I watched the last week of the season in hope that he would make that magic number of 50 hrs. Seems funny, now. I also watched in awe as Dawson fired throws from right field all over the park--one of the best defensive arms I've seen in watching many a baseball game. I could go on and on--others have done better. Here's to you, Hawk.

As for Roberto Alomar ...well, he should be in. I never liked him but he was a hell of a player. If it makes him feel any better, Joe DiMaggio didn't make it on his first try either.

I also continue to make the case for Bert Blyleven--287 wins and 3701 strikes out for a mega load of crappy teams. Those who say he was never truly dominant lost their argument once Don Sutton was let in with only one 20 win season because he has 300 wins.

Peace.