Andre Dawson Elected To Baseball Hall of Fame

Andre Dawson, aka The Hawk, was finally elected to the Hall of Fame today:

Andre Dawson, a five-tool player who won eight Gold Glove and four Silver Slugger Awards in a career spanning 21 seasons with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in balloting verified by Ernst & Young. He will be inducted into the Hall July 25 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Dawson, whose fielding prowess earned him the nickname “The Hawk,” will be honored along with manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, who were elected last month by the Veterans Committee.

A .279 career hitter with 438 home runs, 1,591 runs batted in and 314 stolen bases, Dawson was the National League Rookie of the Year with the Expos in 1977 and the NL Most Valuable Player in 1987 with the Cubs. The eight-time All-Star underwent 12 knee surgeries during his career but ended up with more than 400 home runs and 300 stolen bases, a feat achieved by only two other players in history, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.

Glad to see Dawson finally get the call. I know a lot of people were against Dawson getting in, but I think his base running and defense was highly overlooked.

On the flip side, Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin did not make the Hall and I think both of them deserve to be there as much if not more than Dawson. It's really a shame the voters can't get this thing right. Roberto Alomar is one of the best second basemen in the history of the game and he was an outstanding fielder. Larkin was just as good in the field and would have won multiple Gold Gloves if he wasn't in the same league as Ozzie Smith. Alomar only fell a few votes short so he'll probably get inducted next season, but Larkin will probably take a few more season before he gets in.