Congrats To Andre Dawson

Here's hoping Andre Dawson's Hall of Fame induction speech is as interesting as the last Chicago athlete to get the call to the hall -- Michael Jordan.

Heck, if it lives up to Ryne Sandberg's induction speech I would be pleased.

438 home runs.

1,591 runs batted in.

314 stolen bases.

And that doesn't tell the whole story of the newest member of baseball's Hall of Fame.

He spent 11 years on astroturf in Montreal (yeah, they had a baseball team once upon a time) that devastated his knees.  He signed a blank check in 1987 and delivered a 49 homer, 137 RBI season for a Chicago Cubs team that went 76-85.  That season, he was age 32 and made $700,000.

Milton Bradley, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome combined to hit 43 homers and drive in 149 RBIs all while making $32.5 million.

Had he played for the Red Sox his entire career, rather than for two years at the end of it, he would have been in the Hall of Fame.  If the Hawk was a life-long Yankees great, he'd be in the ring of honor, have his number retired and would have been a Hall of Famer many moons ago.

It doesn't matter, now.  The Hawk is in The Hall.  And no one can take that away.  It's almost too bad I can't say the same about baseball in the city he spent 11 years playing in.


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