Andre Dawson To Be Celebrated By Cubs Tonight

a night under the lights. Should be a fun pre-game.

Dawson is on my short list of all time favorite Cubs since 1980. What a stud. My favorite thing about him was not the home runs, it was the laser beams he threw to home plate. What an arm. 5 tool player. Class act. Someone after the game yesterday on the tribute said it best, Dawson walked around and acted like a hall of fame player, he was special.

After the game yesterday I flipped over to the Sox-Yankees in time to see Kerry Wood pitch. Clean shaven and 95 MPH fastball, he looked like his Kid K days. Made me think now that he is in middle relief how well he could solidify our middle relievers next year with that experienced arm and could close on days Marmol is not available. If the price is right, our middle bullpen could use some experience for 2011.

There was no way he could end the home season with the long ball. But wouldn’t it be great! But that’s too much to ask, especially from a Cub game in 1987. There’s no way … but then he connected and the crowd jumped to their feet and we jumped up and cheered in our living room as if the Cubs had clinched something.

When our son started playing organized ball, he would stand at the plate, even in tee-ball, and try to imitate Dawson’s stance and scowl. Great memories.

We’re going tonight if at all possible.

They can’t offend the guy who is currently wearing that number.

My earliest Cubs memories are of watching that ‘89 team with my grandpa, I loved Sandberg and Dawson, and it was during the playoffs that I decided Mark Grace would be my favorite player. That was such a good team, too bad it didn’t work out in the end.

0% is not an option – the lowest the sliding bar lets you go is 10%. Given the recent uptick in play (however slight), perhaps 0% isn’t a valid assessment, but earlier this month it certainly was. Not sure what SB Nation does (if anything) with these poll results, but this revelation should call into question the validity and interpretation of said results.

I now return you to your Dawson Tribute post – and hope that Andre doesn’t fire a laser at me for daring to rant in his thread…

however Dawson is class.
 I remember his bat speed being quicker than I ever seen. Can’t imagine the numbers he would of put up if he wouldn’t have had so many knee surguries.
 The guy looks like he could play today. Have a great night Hawk!

I really wish I could’ve made it to Chicago for tonight’s game. Hawk is my favorite position player of all-time.

Would anyone who is reading this and attends the game tonight be willing to sell me their commemorative cap? I understand if you don’t want to (heck, I’d keep mine!), but I’d love that.
Thanks!
getfatweek {at} gmail [dot] com

But Dawson should get a statue at Wrigley Field. I’m envisioning a statue of a Hawk bird with Dawson’s face. It could be on the back fence of the right field bleachers, until some drunk kid jumps on it and knocks it over.

tried out for the Cubs.

(Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we were doing a caption contest.)

Astros visiting.
It was my first trip back to Chicago after my family moved to Texas in 1978. I was 14 years old. It was my mom’s birthday and we headed out to my first trip to Wrigley. Man, walking into Wrigley just never gets old to me but that first time….it’s just, wow.

Andre hit numbers 39 and 40 with 3 total RBI on the way to a 7-5 victory over the Astros. At that point, I’d been to a couple of baseball games in the Astrodome, but honestly couldn’t ever remember seeing a HR hit in real life before. Andre had already made a huge impression on me and became (and still is) my all-time favorite player.

Getting to see him jack 2 HRs out (Dernier hit one that day, too) on my first trip ever to Wrigley is a day that I’ll never forget.

…he should be made GM prior to tonight first pitch.

Maybe I’m thinking of someone else but wasn’t it Dawson that chucked about 15 bats on the field at once?

In some 27 or so years I’ll be watching a ceremony about Castro and how he led the Cubs to multiple World Series.

and I’ll cherish that memory forever. I can still see The Hawk chugging around the bases to score that winning run!

When you look at what Mark Grace did for the Cubs while he was here, I think he should have his number retired. I know that Gracie left on bad terms with Chicago, but that still doesn’t change the fact that he was one of the best first baseman we had.