The Hawk landed... we get it

Anyone surfing through MLB.com today learned two things.

First, Andre Dawson was elected to the Hall of Fame with 77.9 percent of the votes and second, MLB.com's writers and editors are really married to that "Hawk has landed" headline. So much so, they went back to the well for the embedded video.

I can only imagine how the Chicago media will handle it tonight at 10 p.m. I'm sure it will be reserved and pun-free.

Two things stick out in my mind regarding Dawson and his career with the Cubs. I now know the back story of the blank contract gamble - one of the ballsiest moves he could have made that offseason and a story that lives on as example of how players of yesterday were somehow playing for the game. Honestly, I think the truth lies somewhere between "players are just looking for the cash grab" and "players before 1990 would have played for free, they just loved baseball that much."

It's a bit strange to look back now and see this as one of the last times that I was totally unaware of the politics and economics of professional sports. I knew that Keith Moreland was no longer the starting right fielder, knew that Dawson was really, really good, but still had no real idea of what had just happened.

While that's pretty insignificant in the bigger picture of Dawson's career and election to the hall, it's a major piece of this puzzle for me. This is where I oversimplify in the name of nostalgia and sepia-hued memories of summers past.

It was only a few years after the Dawson deal that I started getting an expanded world view, saw Greg Maddux leave for contractual reasons (a landmark, "Wait, what???" moment in my young life) and started to quietly resent any front office of my chosen teams unless they had delivered a championship in the past 365 days.

I love picking apart deals, debating how much of a role Mark Teixeiras' wife had in landing him in the Bronx and playfully picking fights with Frank over what role a Kenny Williams man-crush has in his judgement from year to year.

On the other hand, there's quite a bit to be said for being ignorant to the process and just watching new players appear in the field on Opening Day. I imagine this is much like enjoying sausage because you never have to see it made.

Finally, I can't shake the image of Dawson at Ryne Sandberg's induction a few years ago, moving so gingerly because his knees have really given out on him. It was a little hard to watch, but incredibly powerful to see Sandberg recognize Dawson from the podium. Because of this, of course there is no video available to link here. I'll keep looking.

Instead, here's a transcript from the day:

Andre Dawson, the Hawk. No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen. Stand up Hawk. The Hawk. I watched him win MVP for a last place team in 1987 and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday. We didn't get to a World Series together but we almost got there, Hawk. That's my regret, that we didn't get to a World Series for Cub fans. I was in the post season twice and I'm thankful for that. Twice we came close.

I'll be looking foward to the statues of both players popping up outside of Wrigley in the next year or two.

Under the fold on this story are the players who didn't make the cut this year. Bert Blyleven missed yet again, but by only five votes this time around. Keeping in mind that players need 75 percent of the vote or better, here were the players who gained a majority of the votes this time around:

Bert Blyleven - 74.2%
Roberto Alomar - 73.7%
Jack Morris - 52.3%
Barry Larkin - 51.6%

Bringing up the rear with 0% of the votes were Todd Zeile, Shane Reynolds, Ray Lankford and Mike Jackson (the former pitcher for the Phillies, Mariners, Giants, Reds, Indians, Astros, Twins and White Sox, not the deceased King of Pop. That would be weird.)

(Image from: CNNSI.com)

Hall of the Future

After the Hall of Fame results were announced Monday, I got an e-mail from Frank the Tank that had a very brief message and links to the respective career numbers of Jim Rice and Andre Dawson.

It also came with intentions of a full blog post on his site to dig deeper into the issue of this specific vote.

When a White Sox fan writes to alert me to the injustice done to Dawson, it tends to perk my ears up a bit. From a personal standpoint, it was win-win for me - I like Rice and have a feeling that Dawson's time will come soon, so it was a minor sigh of relief and a feeling that the Hawk's time will come.

Frank rightly calls into question why any voter would pick one over the other and why Rice would be that one in any case. At the risk of stealing his thunder, I'll quote directly from his e-mail, because he uses pretty words:

Their offensive stats are pretty much the same over time (with Dawson having higher career totals due to a longer career). They both made 7 All-Star Games and won 1 MVP Award.

The key difference for me, though, is that Dawson also won 8 Gold Gloves (while Rice didn’t win any). Dawson, at his peak, had the best arm I had ever seen – the way he could nail guys at third base with cannon shots from right field without even a hop was unbelievable.

It seems as though Dawson was every bit the offensive player that Rice was (at the very least) while Dawson also was the best fielding right fielder of his generation (with Rice not making much of a difference as a fielder).

Am I missing something here (other than the preponderance of pro-Red Sox writers out there)?

With all due respect to the preponderance of pro-Red Sox writers, it's worth noting that Dawson eventually ended up in Boston as well, but I wonder how much his time in Montreal hurt him in this case.

Completely setting aside the fact that the man can barely stand at this point because his knees are shot from playing on the painted concrete that the Expos called a field, what else did playing in Montreal do to hinder Dawson's chances?

My immediate reaction to the e-mail was that years spent hidden north of the border couldn't have helped Dawson in this case. More to the point, this year's crop had two pitchers - Bert Blylevel and Jack Morris - who are constantly on the lists of guys the Hall missed compiled by bitter fans and heartbroken writers.

It's easy to lock in on the stars of the league, regardless of where they played - Kirby Puckett, Paul Molitor and George Brett come to mind here - but it's worth considering that if Morris had pitched for the Yankees or Blyleven for the Dodgers, they'd be in the Hall already.

Compounding these possible problems and the meat of what I've been kicking around since Monday is what impact the modern media coverage will have on future Hall votes.

There was a time in my memory where instant access to sports scores - much less video highlights or even entire games - was impossible. Unless you had a buddy who worked overnights at the local TV station, chances were that you didn't have up to the minute scoring.

Today, I can get all of this and more on the bus with my phone.

Granted, it wasn't a total media blackout in those dark days of the early 80's, but aside from a listing of scores and a video of someone falling into the dugout on a pop fly, most of the attention in the specific markets was focused on the home team and division rivals and teams with playoff aspirations if there was time.

Not so much these days.

No longer are good players lost in the shuffle by playing in small markets. If someone is playing well, ESPN will have the highlights for you to catch with your morning coffee. If a rookie starts knocking the cover off the ball, you can go back and pick things apart pitch by pitch on the league's main site and see why.

While Frank is right to question the Red Sox Nation push to put Rice in the Hall on his final ballot, keep in mind that regardless of the WGN flagship games for Dawson, it was much more likely to see Rice highlights on the east coast when the two were playing. That has to have some sort of impact.

I can see this going one of two ways with the change in how and when we get our information.

1.) Flashy players will be overvalued to a point that it will produce a lot of borderline inductees - I'll call this the Juan Pierre prototype - whose numbers won't look so hot when compared to other players. Just because a guy was always on Web Gems or always killed in your roto league doesn't mean he should be in the Hall.

2.) More attention being paid to players who would have traditionally toiled away and done really well without exposure to a national audience - I'll call this the Johan Santana in Minnesota prototype. On top of that, there are always players who do very well, but never really have a breakout season. In extreme cases, these can be great Hall candidates, but without a little flash to draw the eye, they tend to get skipped over pretty quickly.

In addition, better, more accessible stats will also help break up old logjams as voters go back to the drawing board to decide if someone is a late-ballot inductee.

Regardless, I can't see the jump in coverage failing to have some sort of effect on the way Hall ballots are cast for better or for worse. I just hope it doesn't open the floodgates for every jackass who ever ran through a wall or drilled the peanut guy, just because it got a million hits on YouTube.

As long as technology doesn't rapidly reach the voters, who are mainly old print guys, we shouldn't see much deviation for the next 15 to 20 years at least.

I think we'll be safe.

(Image from: MinorLeagueBaseball.com)

Rickey just wanted to play ball

So, let's be honest. The only real suspense regarding Rickey Henderson's quest for the Hall of Fame will be whether or not he'll break Tom Seaver's record for overall vote percentage - Seaver got 98.84 percent of the vote - and whether or not he'll refer to himself in the third person when he is inducted.

I'm betting he does.

The San Francisco Chronicle does a great job of wrapping Henderson's career up in a neat little bow and separating the myth of Rickey from the actual numbers that will put him in the Hall. It's gotten pretty easy to view him as a human cartoon, given the urban legends that surround him and the Chronicle helps put those numbers back on the front page.

First all time in stolen bases (by a wide, wide margin). First in runs scored. Second in walks.

It makes Bill James' commentary seem pretty spot on and less a work of hyperbole.

According to Baseball Reference, James is on record in his 2008 Handbook as saying, "Some people have asked me whether or not Rickey Henderson belonged in the Hall of Fame. I've replied, 'If you could somehow split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers.'"

One of the fun things about Henderson is that stories that circulate about him have started to resemble the cottage industry of Chuck Norris sites - Rickey Henderson has counted to infinity... twice... - and, to be honest, you really never know.

At the end of his career, Henderson had been shorthand for the stupid, self-obsessed ballplayer. He was viewed as hanging on to a dead career for far too long and being a self-promoting fool. Don't feel bad for thinking this, it's probably a pretty fair assessment of how the last years of Rickey played out.

(For the record, I lump Henderson in the same category as Yogi Berra, Ozzie Guillen and others who are known for being a little nuts or stupid, but are always entertaining. I think Henderson is clever enough to know that the myth of Rickey is better served by never correcting any of the funny, but somewhat inaccurate stories. Good for him.)

Regardless, consider this story (which is totally unverified):

He called San Diego GM Kevin Towers and left the following message: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

When viewed through that prism, Rickey is pretty much all you could ask for in a ballplayer.

(Image from: SI.com)

Catching up with old friends

Of note to Cubs fans today are two major stories - Greg Maddux has said it's time to head home and Ron Santo was not allowed into the Hall of Fame again.

I'll point you to this feature on Maddux and wish him well. He was always one of those players where it was difficult to separate fact from fiction, in fact, I challenge you to make up a story about the man's control over his pitches and not get your friends to believe it.

The great thing about Maddux was that he wasn't some hulking monster waiting to clobber home runs to straightaway center - which is funny because he was the original "chicks dig the long ball" guy - but rather, a quiet man who got by on his intelligence and preparation.

In short, he's the player we all assume we could be if we worked that hard.

If only it was that easy.

Santo was kept out yet again in a tale that has long since being surprising. Sorry, Ron. Better luck next year. If you could keep a lid on bemoaning the fact all season, we'd all really appreciate it.

Last call for the Hall

OK maybe not the last last call, but the Veterans Committee is considering 10 former players who have seen their ship sail on induction to date.

I'll give you a tip - don't try and untangle who played when and how they're eligible in the final few graphs. I'm sure that it is all pretty simple, but not the way the Hall of Fame outlines it in this release. Pre-War, Post-War, starting their careers prior to such and such a date? Some are up every other year, others every 5 years... It's like reading stereo instructions in German.

Still the lucky 10 are:

Dick Allen, Gil Hodges (note: I know someone's dad must be happy today), Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills will be considered for election by the Veterans Committee for enshrinement in 2009, with votes to be cast by Hall of Fame members this fall. Any candidate to receive 75 percent of the vote among all ballots cast will earn election to the Hall of Fame and will be enshrined on July 26, 2009. There are 64 living Hall of Famers.

Santo, huh? Never would have guessed he wasn't in the Hall. I have to think by this point, the committee is doing it just to spite the poor guy.

For what it's worth, I'm going Hodges, Oliva, Tiant if I had to pick three off the top of my head. I'd add Wills, too, but I'd like another look at his numbers before committing to that.

For those who are curious, the big list of those for consideration are:

The 21 candidates considered by the Screening Committee: Allen, Ken Boyer, Bert Campaneris, Rocky Colavito, Mike Cuellar, Steve Garvey, Hodges, Kaat, Ted Kluszewski, Mickey Lolich, Roger Maris, Lee May, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Oliva, Oliver, Pinson, Santo, Tiant, Torre and Wills.

(Image from: MLB.com)

Just let him in, already

The Sun-Times has picked up the scent of another story about how this might be the year for former Cubs third baseman, Ron Santo, to enter the Hall of Fame.

Wait, were you aware that Santo wasn't in the Hall yet? No, OK, well he's not and he's more than willing to shoehorn that into all sorts of situations. I'll be honest, I rarely have the stomach opportunity to catch WGN radio broadcasts because I rarely drive these days and if I'm going to catch a game now, it'll be on TV or in person. Still, when I do, it's the Santo factor that sours the experience for me.

I know he's a loveable, heart on his sleeve kind of guy and I still don't care. Save your defense of Santo in the comments section - I'm a disciple of Vin Scully and his style of calling a game where you're unaware of the score based on his game calls.

What Hawk Harrelson is to the White Sox, Santo is to the Northsiders - a polarizing figure who is generally seen as a liability by the other team's fans and is mocked when the two groups meet.

Now thanks to Joe Morgan - this just keeps getting better - it appears that Santo might have an easier road to get to the Hall when the veterans meet to vote. The ballots will be collected in a two part process now, with the top 10 vote-getters making it to the lightning round to compete for the final spots.

Personally, I have nothing against the guy and agree his numbers should have put him in the Hall years ago - I'm just tired of hearing about it, especially from Santo himself. It comes off as whining whenever I hear him speak about it and just want a decision one way or another. It seems that letting him in is the easiest way to bring some sort of resolution to the situation.

In addition to throwing down the double jinx - thanks, Ron - Santo would be more than happy to celebrate entrance to the hall but would trade it for a championship:

'This year, win the World Series and I get in the Hall of Fame -- what is there left? It would be wonderful,'' he said. ''I'm just afraid to feel like this is the year because I'd be too disappointed if it isn't. But if we win the World Series, I can overcome that.''

I'd be tempted to trade a championship to never have to hear another fan defend Santo's stats, veiled (and not so veiled) references made by former players speaking to the great injustice of Santo's exclusion and the endless speculation when the Hall prepares to announce its new inductees.

For that kind of peace, I could be talked into not only forfeiting a championship, but for handing it personally to a Yankee of your choice.

(Image from: FireRonSanto.com)

Ripken, Gwynn to the Hall

The votes are cast, the chads are hung and the Baseball Hall of Fame has two new members - no-brainers, really - in Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.

Ripken led the voting with 537 of the 545 possible votes with Gwynn pulling in 532. I'd have thought that might have gone the other way, but five votes are five votes.

Obviously, more players didn't make it in with the requisite 409 votes.

Highlighting the have-nots was the Associated Press via the Chicago Tribune:

Rich Gossage with 388, Jim Rice 346, Andre Dawson 309, Bert Blyleven 260 and Lee Smith with 217.

The big news will be Marck McGwire's 128 votes (just under a quarter of voters pulling for Big Mac) and the steroid rumors and questions about modern sports morality as well as the deterioration of the nuclear family and the lack of respect for our elders. McGwire is pretty much the scapegoat for all the things that we remember being better when we were kids.

Another wrinkle is the under five-percent club which wipes the following players off the boards until the veterans committee can pick them up.

Top dogs there were:
Orel Hershiser 24, Albert Belle 19, Paul O'Neill 12, Chicago Heights native Bret Saberhagen 7, Jose Canseco 6, Tony Fernandez 4, Dante Bichette 3, Eric Davis 3, Bobby Bonilla 2, Ken Caminiti 2 and Jay Buhner with 1 vote.

Scott Brosius, Wally Joyner, Devon White and Bobby Witt all pulled down goose eggs.

Sorry guys.

Update
ESPN.com listed how its voters cast their ballots and I think the biggest shock is that Pedro Gomez was in on this. I always imagine Hall voters being closer to Peter Gammons' age, but I do have a spot in my heart for Gomez.

Highlights of this ballot update are:

* Five (of a possible 12) votes for McGwire from Buster Olney, Jim Caple, Jayson Stark, Gammons and Tim Kurkjian.

* Gammons full ballot of: Gwynn, Ripken, Gossage, Dawson, Rice, Jack Morris, Blyleven and McGwire.

* The ESPN crew would have inducted: Gwynn, Ripken, Gossage, Dawson and Rice.

* Albert Belle and Smith each received one vote. That was pretty shocking to me.

Oh, and for the record, my votes would have been for Gwynn, Ripken (with reservations), Dawson, Rice, Gossage and Smith. That's just me, though.

(Image from Southwest.com) Ding!