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On the evening of March 31, 2008, Kosuke Fukudome was the toast of the Chicago baseball world. The Cubs stood at 0-1 after a heart-breaking loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Fukudome, however, had overwhelmed in his American debut: he went three-for-three, with a walk, a double, and a game-tying three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
One game into his four-year, $48 million contract, Fukudome seemed poised to become a star. The 323 games since have not gone nearly so well.
Fukudome has a career batting line of .258/.367/.400, making him a dead-on average hitter in the National League over the ...
While the Cubs starting eight appear to be set, there is one pressing need in the bullpen left to be filled. Ah, but is that a set-up man, as we've been led to believe, or a true closer?
For if the Cubs can somehow pull off a trade for the San Diego Padres' Heath Bell, they could move Carlos Marmol back where he belongs, as the Cubs' set-up man.
I know it may be somewhat farfetched, but bear with me for a minute. First of all, the Padres know they aren't going anywhere in 2010, so Bell's name has come up as ...
Andre Nolan Dawson was the only player on the 2010 Hall of Fame Ballot that was announced to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which was announced yesterday. Dawson has been waiting over a decade to receive the prestigious call to the hall and for over 20 years Dawson had done nothing but earn what he’s become, a legend.
Dawson was selected in the 11th round of the MLB First Year Player Draft by the Montreal Expos. He played 24 games in 1976 but rose to stardom the following year. In 1977, Dawson beat out New York Mets ...
There was a time not so long ago when the baseball world only thought it revolved around numbers. Players made an average of slightly less than $500,000 a year. The superstars made somewhere around $2.5 million. These figures were considered untenably exorbitant.
Walks remained a sign of weakness; only the enlightened had even begun to appreciate the value of on-base percentage. Visionaries like Bill James had started asking serious questions about the game and its numbers, but in 1987, the answers were still a long way from clear.
In this world of grit and guts, Andre Dawson was king. Dawson did all ...
"When he's hot there's no stopping him—he'll even hit a ball over his head." - Nolan Ryan in Nolan Ryan's Pitchers Bible. (1991)
The man known as "The Hawk" has finally made it to Cooperstown. Andre Dawson will soon have a plaque and a place in baseballs hall of fame. My only question is, what took so long? He should have been in years ago, and I think it's only fitting he will enter the hall alone. No one will be able to steal his thunder or overshadow him in anyway. It will be the Hawk's day. A day that is ...
Congratulations to Andre Dawson on his razor thin selection to the baseball Hall of Fame.
After years of being on the ballot, Dawson finally found himself as the biggest name available outside of Mark McGwire, and the writers graciously punched his ticket for a trip to Cooperstown this summer.
But is this the best way to select baseball immortality?
Dawson received just 14 percent of the vote in his second year of eligibility and the prospects of Hall of Fame admission seemed slim.
But like Jim Rice last year, Andre Dawson has been able to hang around for more than a decade because baseball writers refuse to up the ...
On Wednesday the Baseball Writers Association of America voted to make Andre Dawson the only member of the first Hall of Fame class of the new decade.
With that decision, the BBWA continued to march the Hall away from its namesake of “fame” and toward another moniker that, while it is still praiseworthy in its own right, is not of the same meaning and prestige. Indeed, over the last decade or so, a good number of the selections by the BBWA for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown have done more to highlight the need for a ...
The writers did a poor job this year in the elections for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Andre Dawson drew enough votes to gain election, while other, far more deserving candidates, were left to linger. Dawson pulled in 77.9 percent of the votes, testimony to the idea that a veteran baseball writer will not let a complicated thing like the facts stand in the way of a good story.
For generations, sportswriters have pushed the idea that sports are a “contest of wills” and that certain teams have the “heart of a champion” and that certain batters are “clutch hitters” while ...
Perhaps one of the benefits of being unemployed, is that I get to see things happen live right before my eyes during the day.
Take today for example.
Today, it was announced who the Baseball Writer’s Association of America voted into the 2010 class of Baseball’s Hall of Fame. The announcement was made at 2:00 pm ET.
Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I was around to watch the announcement as it happened. And what I heard was extremely shocking.
When it was announced that only one player was elected for 2010, I was positive it was Roberto Alomar. ...
What must a player do to enter the Hall of Fame? Let’s look at a player’s resume without the name attached.
He must have won awards; they tell us he was among the best in his era.
Rookie of the Year in 1977. National League Most Valuable Player in 1987—on a last place team. Eight-time All Star, eight-time Gold Glove winner, four-time Silver Slugger.
His offensive numbers must be superior; baseball is a statistical game, and without big-time stats you can’t get into the Hall of Fame.
He hit 434 home runs, which ranks 36th all-time. Cal Ripken, Billy Williams, Al Kaline, Duke Snider, ...
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