FINALLY: Andre Dawson elected to Hall of Fame

Posted on January 6, 2010

Andre Dawson of the Florida Marlins in action during a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals in Baseball City, Florida in 1996. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Former Chicago Cubs great Andre Dawson was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame this afternoon all by himself in one of the closest votes in years. Dawson received 77.9 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America, just above the 75 percent needed for enshrinement. Bert Blyleven got 74.2 percent, Roberto Alomar finished third with 73.7 percent and Jack Morris and Barry Larkin were the only other players to top 50 percent. Throughout his career Dawson was known as a classy guy and a great teammate. There are many baseball fans and writers who are very happy he finally got in on this, his 9th time on the ballot.

Unfortunately for me and my archive, the bulk of Dawson’s career was spent before I started shooting baseball heavily in the 1990’s. Dawson broke into the big leagues with the Expos way back in 1977 (I was 12-years-old and pitching for the Centerville American Little League Orioles back then) when he was the National League Rookie of the Year. He had his big year in 1987 with the Cubs when he won the National league MVP Award with numbers so staggering (.287 batting average, 49 homers, 137 RBI’s) that he won the award despite playing for a last-place team. He made eight All-Star teams and won eight Gold Glove awards in his 21-year career spent that also saw him play for the Red Sox and Marlins.

Dawson finished his career with 438 home runs and 1,591 RBIs. He joins Barry Bonds and Willie Mays as the only players with 400 home runs and 300 stolen bases. Dawson will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 25 in Cooperstown, N.Y. along with former manager Whitey Herzog and long-time umpire Doug Harvey who were elected by the Veteran’s Committee last month.

I have a much better appreciation of what the Hall of Fame is all about after making my first trip to Cooperstown last April. Fellow photographer Robert Seale and I were invited back to the Museum to lecture about baseball photography and spent an amazing three days in the village of Cooperstown being shown around by local kid Paul Cunningham, maker of handsome leather baseballs and footballs. Besides giving three lectures on one of the days Seale and I were given an exclusive tour of the library by Librarian Jim Gates, as well as a breathtaking white-glove tour of the collections in the basement of the museum (see below). This is where all the cool stuff lives and is cared for by the wonderful museum staff.

 

Today is undoubtedly on the the biggest days in Andre Dawson’s life. I always knew that getting into the Hall of Fame was a big deal, but after spending some time there last April I have a much better appreciation of how special it must be for a ballplayer to be included into one of the most select groups in the world. Last year Dawson missed the cut with 67 percent of the vote. This year he got in. The Hawk will be blowing into Cooperstown on July 25th of this year and walking on air when he makes his speech. Good for you Hawk- I just wish I would have had more of an opportunity to photograph you during your prime as a Hall of Fame ballplayer.