Cubs To Retire Dawson's #8 If He Enters The Hall As A Cub

stats alone he should be an Expo, name recodnition and “fame” as you said as a Cub. Mostly, I believe the HOF should take into consideration what the player wishes, since it is a celebration of the players career.

Players like Dave Winfield going in as a San Diego Padre, or Carlton Fisk and Roger Clemens saying that if they go in as a certain team they would skip the ceremony has really made a mess of what should not be a problem.

FYI Fisk said he wanted a Red Sox not White Sox, Clemens wants NYY not Boston.

is a pretty clear sign they are saying he’ll go in as an Expo. My read is they are thinking: “Why rain on his Cubs parade at the convention and piss off thousands of Cubs fans with that news…”

Andre Dawson. Loved me some Andre Dawson. Still do. But I don’t think he deserves to have his number retired by the Cubs.

…If Dawson went in with a Cubs hat on. Unless the Cubs come out and say they will retire number 8 either way, this might actually hurt his chances of being in the Hall with a Cubs hat on. The hall might very well view this as a bribe…

I wonder…

Is there any chance of Ryne Sandberg bringing Dawson in as a coach if he ever manages the Cubs?

…involving Boggs and Tampa Bay just speculation or did it really happen? I remember hearing about it but I wasn’t sure if they proved it.

It seems TB would/should have been sanctioned had it been proven

I grew up watching the Hawk, him and Ryno were my favorites growing up. The hall is a better place for having someone like the Hawk in it. I think it should be up to the player and reguardless of weather he is in there as an expo or cub he deserves to have his number retired at wrigley among fellow great cub players

Is it just Santo, Ryno, Williams, and Banks? No offense to Hawk, but in terms of Cubs history it doesn’t seem he matches up. Aramis has more career HRs with the team. Not trying to bash the Hawk at all, I just think the number being retired should be reserved for very few

…and by legitmate, I don’t mean slam-dunk. Merely that the case has merit and can withstand criticism. In other words, better than 50-50 odds of being approved, but not overwhelming.

Anyway, so if the Cubs braintrust are close on this but not quite there, I’d like to think that even if he goes in as an Expo, the realization would set in that since the Expos aren’t around anymore to retire his number, we should.

Is he a HoF if he never played on the Cubs? Certainly his popularity in the city gave him national recognition

is for the HoF to stop including caps on their plaques. It made sense in 1936 when players were tied to their teams for eternity (potentially) by the system of indentured servitude otherwise known as the reserve clause.

BTW: if Pete Rose ever makes it, will his plaque feature him in an Expos cap?

…didn’t he once say when (now, it’s IF) he gets into the HOF, he wants to wear a Yankees hat and he doesnt care if the HOF board wants him to wear a BoSox hat. I thought he said something a long the lines of he would only accept it if it was with the Yank’s.

I just bring this up because I wonder if this is the beginning of a potential (yet, minor) player vs HOF board fued. Some upcoming HOF’ers played with so many different teams…

Our friends at Federal Baseball have discussed the idea of retiring the numbers for Carter, Dawson and Raines. It’s not an idea popular with many fans, so the Hall would be making a huge mistake inducting Dawson as an Expo. The Washington Nationals have connected themselves with Washington’s major league history rather than the team that was plundered from Montreal by Bud Selig.

The big difference when Carter was inducted is that the Montreal Expos still existed in 2003. There was a team to celebrate Carter’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Until the Washington Nationals actually acknowledge their team history is the Montreal Expos and not the Minnesota Twins or Texas Rangers. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the history of Washington baseball, but they’ve done it at the expense of their own history.

Dawson would be better suited going into Cooperstown as a Cub and not an Expo for all these reasons. If the Nationals had actually recognized their team history and kept the retired numbers, I’d be less inclined to say Dawson should go in as a Cub. Expos history shouldn’t be forgotten. That’s a message I give to the Washington Nationals.

… to issue a statement tomorrow saying either that they have not made any decisions regarding Dawson’s number being retired OR that they will retire his number regardless of which cap he wears into the Hall. Anything else would simply be stupid on the part of the Cubs and they need to get out ahead of this story. It makes them look petty and self serving and regardless of their motivation, its just plain wrong. Either the man deserves to have his number retired by the Cubs or he doesn’t and a decision by the HoF as far as the cap that is displaied on his plaque in Cooperstown should have zero impact here. With Bears season over, this will be good fodder for sports media.

Now beyond that, let me say that I am a huge Dawson fan and grew up watching him play. That aside, his number shouldn’t be retired by the Cubs. Part of this is that there are several other players more deserving and part of it is that this is the ultimate honor. The Cubs can honor Dawson the way they honor other greats who haven’t had their numbers retired.

Another 10-15 years or so and the Cubs can have a double ceremony for retiring #8 – Andre Dawson and Michael Barrett.

Z will come back and help raise the banner.

Which cap is worn at the induction does not change how or for whom Dawson played. One would hope that the person and not his clothing is of primary concern.

As much as I loved Andre I’m not sure about retiring his number. I wouldn’t be upset either way but am kind of meeh on it.

AS far as Sosa and the HOF as brought up above I think it will be interesting to see how his vote totals compare with McGwire. Sosa’s overall numbers are better than McGwires.