The Hawk

When I say "The Hawk" I'm not speaking of Ken Harrelson, the former big leaguer and current homer in the White Sox broadcasting booth. I actually have come to enjoy Harrelson's calls. "He gone" for a strikeout is funny and I no longer cringe on a home run call, "Put it on the boarrrrrrrrd, yeah!"
Anyway, I'm here to talk about Andre Dawson who is going into the Hall of Fame Sunday. I'm at the age where every guy who is going in now from the writers ballot I've seen play. Some of the veteran's committee guys I haven't seen but that will change the longer I live.
Anyway, Dawson certainly deserves the honor although teammate Tim Raines also belongs in Cooperstown in my estimation.
One thing I really like about Dawson going in is that he'll wear the Montreal Expos cap on his plaque. Gary Carter is the only other player who has gone in as an Expo.
I kind of have a soft spot for the Expos for some reason and I'm glad the team will be remembered with Dawson and Carter's plaques.
Too bad Dawson's knees were so bad after playing so many years on the hard Artificial Turf (show plug!) surface at Olympic Stadium. I'm sure he would have added onto his numbers which were pretty impressive anyway, 2,774 hits, 438 homers, 1,591 RBI's and 314 stolen bases. Like Ernie Banks though, Dawson, who also played for the Cubs, never played in the World Series. He can thank Rick Monday for that.
Also going into the Hall will be manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey. Herzog had a memorable nickname but I'm not sure I would want to be called "The White Rat".
Should be a fun Sunday in Cooperstown.