Andre Dawson by no means has let the percentages trouble him.
The former Chicago Cubs slugger overcame 12 knee surgical procedures throughout his 21-year, Hall of Fame profession, and he famously supplied the Cubs a clean contract as a free agent in spring coaching of 1987, telling the workforce to fill within the blanks with nevertheless a lot they felt snug paying him.
When Cubs President Dallas Green persuade his Tribune Co. bosses to offer Dawson a assured $500,000, with a possible $150,000 bonus, they received one among baseball’s greatest gamers at a bargain-basement value.
“Andre and (agent Dick Moss) were willing to sacrifice salary and principle in 1987 to play in Wrigley Field for the Cubs,” Green mentioned that day in an announcement. “He was keen to guess that his manufacturing on the sector would higher his wage for 1988 and the long run — one thing slightly uncommon in itself in these wild days of free company.
“Our baseball people were able to convince Tribune Co. that we as an organization could overcome the obstacles we had presented to signing him and perhaps improve the team in 1987. The rest is up to Andre and the Cubs players, who were so anxious to see this accomplished. Andre has proven once again that he is a class person.”
Dawson proceeded to win the National League Most Valuable Player award for a last-place Cubs workforce in ’87 and revived his profession by going from the AstroTurf of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium to the grass of Wrigley Field. He performed in 5 All-Star video games throughout his six seasons on the North Side, hitting 174 of his 438 profession dwelling runs.
But when Dawson was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010, he was compelled to simply accept the Hall’s resolution to show him carrying an Expos cap on his plaque. The resolution was made with out consulting him, which caught in his craw.
“When I think about them immortalizing a cap, it would be the Chicago Cubs for a lot of personal reasons,” Dawson mentioned on the time. “When the announcement was made last night, it was a little gut-wrenching.”
The Hall of Fame had taken the choice away from inductees in 2001, reportedly after a rumor that Wade Boggs had a clause in his Tampa Bay contract to decide on a Devil Rays cap over the Boston Red Sox when he received in. Boggs, who was inducted with a Red Sox cap on his plaque in 2005, denied the rumor, saying: “I did not make a decision or accept money from any other team in exchange for saying what team I would represent in the Hall.”
Nevertheless, the change had been made. The Hall of Fame had the ultimate say over the caps.
While Dawson was disillusioned, getting elected into the Hall was one of many largest moments of his life, so he didn’t make a stink.
But greater than 13 years after his induction, Dawson has had a change of coronary heart. He’s taking yet one more gamble, asking the Hall to rethink and alter the cap on his Cooperstown plaque from the Expos to the Cubs. He lately despatched a letter to Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the Hall of Fame board of administrators, and the Hall committee requesting a gathering about probably altering his plaque.
As of Monday evening, Dawson hadn’t heard again, and he wasn’t certain whether or not the Hall would reply.
“I don’t expect them to jump on something like this,” he informed me Monday in a cellphone dialog. “If they elect to respond, they’ll take their time. And it wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t respond.”
Dawson mentioned he understands the “logic” behind the Hall selecting the participant’s cap. He got here up with the Expos and performed 11 seasons in Montreal — 5 greater than he performed in Chicago. But he believes he’s extra related to the Cubs than a defunct workforce from a metropolis that misplaced baseball after the 2004 season, when MLB purchased the Expos and moved the franchise to Washington, D.C.
Dawson was the runner-up for the NL MVP award in Montreal in 1981 and ’83 however mentioned, “Obviously you’re not going to get the recognition playing across the border as you would in the States.” He has nothing in opposition to the town of Montreal or Expos followers.
“I just felt my preference all along was as a Cub, despite playing (11) years in Montreal,” he mentioned. “I had my causes, and I feel that ought to’ve been one thing we sat down and mentioned.
“It’s onerous for stuff to trouble me, to a level. But this has toyed with me through the years for the easy cause that I used to be approached with the (announcement) that was going to be launched to the press that I used to be going to put on an Expos emblem. I didn’t agree with it on the time. But for me, moving into the Hall was an important factor.
“Over time, I’ve thought about it more and came to the (conclusion) I should have had some say-so … I personally feel my mission, for the rest of my life going forward if that’s what it takes, is to right a wrong.”
Why is that this so vital to him now?
Dawson felt his signing in Chicago modified the whole lot about how he was perceived as a participant.
“It was an eye-opening experience for me,” he mentioned. “The adoration of the fan base, the welcoming from the town itself and the enjoyment of with the ability to expertise that feeling within the second half of my profession. … I used to be one of many extra well-liked gamers in Montreal, however I wouldn’t think about myself an organizational icon or the most well-liked.
“That didn’t affect me because I was there to do a job, and I tried to do it to the best of my ability. When push came to shove and I became a free agent, I think it was handled poorly and in a sense I was really forced out. The change of scenery in Chicago rejuvenated me because of how warmly I was received.”
Cap controversies are nothing new with the Hall of Fame. Manager Tony La Russa, pitcher Greg Maddux and first baseman Fred McGriff are amongst these whose Hall of Fame careers spanned a number of groups and whose plaques have caps with out a brand.
La Russa mentioned after his election that “in no way do I want to disrespect Chicago, Oakland or St. Louis” within the cap choice. Maddux mentioned earlier than his induction in 2014 that he beloved each the Cubs and Atlanta Braves and couldn’t select between the 2 organizations.
“Obviously I feel like I had more success as a Brave,” Maddux mentioned. “We did get a World Series there. But I came up as a Cub. For me, I couldn’t pick. I really couldn’t. Both places mean too much to me personally and my family.”
Dawson, who was Maddux’s teammate on the Cubs, would’ve preferred to have had a alternative. He is aware of that the possibilities are slim of getting the Hall to budge on this — altering plaques has been extraordinarily uncommon through the years — and that some, together with Expos followers, would possibly criticize him for wanting to change.
“I realize there will probably be some backlash, but at this point I’m 70 years old,” he mentioned with amusing. “Do you think I really care?”
Baseball modifications its guidelines so usually today, our heads are spinning, so I’m undecided why the Hall of Fame couldn’t honor Dawson’s request and let him have a Cubs cap on his plaque.
Do the proper factor.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com