Today in Cubs history: Andre Dawson homers in the All-Star Game

Andre Dawson was an All-Star in five of his six seasons with the Cubs, elected to the starting team each year from 1987-91.

In 1991, the game was in Toronto, in the stadium then known as Skydome. The National League had taken a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Bobby Bonilla in the first inning, but the American League responded with a three-run homer by Cal Ripken Jr. to take a 3-1 lead in the third.

In the top of the fourth, Dawson led off against Roger Clemens.

Andre sent Clemens’ first pitch way out of the yard:

While there’s no Statcast data from back then, announcer Jack Buck noted that was probably a 450-foot blast, and I think he was probably pretty close. It banged off the windows of the restaurant that was above the hitters’ background at Skydome.

The score thus became 3-2, but that’s as close as the NL got. The AL added a run in the seventh and won the game 4-2, their fourth of what would be six straight American League wins in the Midsummer Classic.

Ryne Sandberg was also elected as an All-Star starter that year and went 1-for-3.

Including his time in Montreal, Dawson was an eight-time All-Star and overall, went 5-for-21 in All-Star competition with a double and a home run. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010; here is his induction speech given that year in Cooperstown:

Andre Dawson’s moonshot home run in the All-Star Game happened 31 years ago today, Tuesday, July 9, 1991.