The Hawk Has Landed in Cooperstown

The Hawk Has Landed in Cooperstown

Andre Dawson enjoyed a tremendous major league baseball career. “The Hawk” is one of the greatest Chicago Cubs of all-time and now he can also be considered one of the greatest baseball players of all-time. Despite dealing with a number of injuries, Dawson finished his career with 438 home runs and also stole over 300 bases as well and the numbers get even better when you consider he put them up in the pre-steroid era in baseball.His name has appeared on the Hall Of Fame ballot for the past nine years, he has been passed up a number of times, and has continued to wait and wait and wait for his time to come. Dawson no longer has to wait. I’m not sure what has changed because his numbers remain the same, but Dawson’s time has finally come. Five years ago, his former teammate Ryne Sandberg was inducted into Cooperstown and lobbied for Dawson to one day join him.

Well the Baseball Writers of America have listened and now the Hawk’s name will be forever etched in history and he can always carry the title of “Hall Of Famer.Andre Dawson joined WSCR in Chicago with Mully and Hanley to talk about being inducted into the Hall of Fame, why he conducted his speech the way he did, and gives his thoughts on who could be a good replacement for Lou Piniella in Chicago.

On his speech thanking Cubs fans:

“I most definitely had to acknowledge the Cubs fans and the impact that they had on my career especially the second half of my career. They were a motivating force day in and day out and did some things for me personally that will always stand out when I think about and reflect on my career itself. They all knew my preference going into the Hall of Fame. My speech just wouldn’t have been complete had I not acknowledged what they meant to my career.”

On how long the speech took to write:

“Not really a lot of work. Started on it right after I left New York when I went up to the National Press Conference and it took a good month. I had a lot of ideas in my head, I had a direction I wanted to go with it, and it was tough to encapsulate 20 years into 15 or 20 minutes. I took the following five and half months tweaking it and adding things here and there. I didn’t make it the end result until probably about a week ago because I kept tinkering with it.”

On what he said about Ryne Sandberg:

“Ryno has always been one of my favorite teammates and for him to endorse me during his ceremony was a huge gesture. I just didn’t feel I had to reciprocate, but there were some players that were my favorites. Goose Gossage, who I ribbed a little bit, Shawon Dunston, Tim Raines, and Ryne Sandberg was one of them. The thing about Ryno was what he brought to the field every day was no nonsense. He played the game and his work ethic was not short in any respect. He was just one of the individuals I enjoyed being alongside.”

On whether or not he wants to be a manager:

“I don’t think I want to put the uniform on full-time. I know I definitely don’t want to manage. bench coach I’m not sure. I’ve really enjoyed my role as a special assistant. To me, it’s all about where I’m at in my life right now. My kids, one is at home still in college and one is about to attend the University of Florida so your mind could change at any given date, but right now I’m very comfortable with the special assistant role.”

Listen to Andre Dawson on WSCR in Chicago here