I'm happy for the Hawk! Complete player, class act.
Posted on 01/06/2010 11:21:17 AM PST by Charles Henrickson
NEW YORK -- Andre Dawson is this year's sole electee to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, it was announced on Wednesday.
Dawson, an outfielder, made it on his ninth try. Robby Alomar, Barry Larkin and Bert Blyleven didn't make the cut. The right-handed pitcher Blyleven was shut out on his 13th. Alomar, a second baseman, was among 13 players on the ballot for the first time. Larkin, a shortstop, was also a first-timer.
Dawson will be inducted on July 25 in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, who were elected in December by a Veterans Committee.
Players only have 15 years of eligibility on the ballots sent to eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America each December. That's after a five-year waiting period upon retirement. It's the third time in the last five years that the BBWAA has elected only one player -- Bruce Sutter was chosen in 2006 and his fellow reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage followed him in '08.
Last year, Rickey Henderson, outfielder and lead-off hitter extraordinaire, was a first ballot electee with 94.8 percent of the vote. Jim Rice, an outfielder, who played his entire career for the Red Sox, was elected in his 15th and final year on the ballot, sneaking seven votes over the 75 percent threshold and garnering 76.4 percent.
Dawson had 438 homers and 1,591 RBIs for four teams. He played 21 seasons, his first 11 with the old Montreal Expos and his next six with the Cubs, but never was a member of a team that went to the World Series. Last year at this time he missed the cut with 67 percent of the vote.
Dawson could very well be the second player in history to don an Expos cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Catcher Gary Carter was the first when he was elected in 2003. Carter, like Dawson, played his first 11 years of a 19-year career in Montreal before moving to New York where he played his next five years with the Mets.
The Expos moved to Washington in 2005, ending a 36-year stint in Montreal.
Alomar was a 12-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove second baseman, who batted .300 with 2,724 hits during a 17-year career for seven teams. He came up in San Diego with the Padres in 1988 and played three seasons there before being traded to the Blue Jays where he played another five, winning the World Series in 1992 and '93.
He's the son of former big-league infielder and coach Sandy Alomar Sr. His brother, Sandy Alomar Jr., is a six-time All-Star catcher, who returned to the Indians during the offseason as a coach.
The Alomar family hails from Salinas, Puerto Rico, near the southern coast of the island, and Roberto Alomar would've been the first native of that Commonwealth to be elected by the eligible members of the BBWAA since Roberto Clemente was enshrined in a special 1973 election that came just shortly after his death in a New Year's Eve plane crash.
He could also have been the first Blue Jay to go into the Hall wearing that team's cap if that's the way officials deem it. Since 2001, Hall officials make that call rather than the player.
Blyleven also missed the cut last year with 62.7 percent of the vote. He won 287 games and recorded 3,701 strikeouts (fifth highest all-time) for five big league teams in 22 seasons. He had two stints with the Twins, coming up in that organization where he played his first six seasons. Blyleven later returned for a little longer than three more. During that second stint, he was a member of Minnesota's 1987 World Series-winning team.
Larkin, another first timer on the ballot and likely electee, didn't make it this time around, although he was a distinct possibility. Like Alomar, he also was a 12-time All-Star, who played on the Reds' 1990 World Series-winning team. He batted .295 and had 2,340 hits. Comparatively on offense, Ozzie Smith, the last pure shortstop elected (on the first ballot in 2002), batted .267 with 2,460 hits in 19 seasons for the Padres and Cardinals. Smith got in so quickly because of his defensive ability.
Ripken Jr. was also an All-Star shortstop, but finished his career at third base.
A player has to garner at least 5 percent of the vote to be carried over from year to year. He has 15 years of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot, beginning five years after he retires. BBWAA members with at least 10 consecutive years of membership are eligible to vote. The last time the BBWAA failed to elect anybody was 1996.
I'm happy for the Hawk! Complete player, class act.
Good news for Andre Dawson!
For Lee Smith, no movement upward, so it doesn't look too promising.
Ron Santo--next winter, let's hope!
Finally! Congratulations to The Hawk.
Next up, Ron Santo - we hope.
GO CUBS GO!
Not to take away anything from a deserving Andre Dawson, I am stunned to see that Roberto Alomar wasn’t a shoo in for the Hall. One incident aside, Alomar might be the most sensationally complete baseball player that I have had the privilege of watching these past 40 years. His play was so outstanding on both offensive and defensive side of the game, he should have been voted in just on the basis of either one quality, completely ignoring the other.
I have no doubt that Alomar will be voted in, and deservedly so. He and Blyleven, another deserving candidate, will likely go in next year. Barry Larkin will probably go in either next year or the year after. Jack Morris, Tim Raines, Lee Smith—I dunno. Any of those guys I would not object to being in the Hall.
Finally, those of us in “Andre’s Army” (still have the t-shirt)can celebrate his well deserved induction! I knew there was a reason I collected all his baseball cards.
Andre Dawson, Hall of Fame - nice ring to that one!
Congrats to the Hawk.
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