He's a Hero Andre Dawson - 1987 NL MVP

it was almost too perfect to appropriate to really hath bet it was the stuff dreams Merrill and here's on by Dawson in his final trip to the plate and home this year and looked at the frame the most strongly no although the last day of the season in Chicago when I hit their homeroom I lasted bet I literally got goosebumps well if there would be any party justice it would call for Dawson him went out right now the last appearance at home this year after a spectacular season the first thing probably that comes to mind is of course stepping up there and his last at-bat and given the fans and the players what they wanted they wanted to see him finish the year at Wrigley with the homerun standing ovation on his final home apparently we and accountants three-to-one and he comes in the ball is gone and I go no he did not do it I can't I can't believe it and then I started jumping up in my seat and everybody's going MVP MVP MVP bill Dahle a big right-hander these silver look at them each job though gonna have to come out and take a bow everybody's on this here I come naturally the fans and the right-field bleachers on Gray's armory gave him one final salaam when he took the field in the top of the ninth they were in for the surprise of their lives the stoic intense hero allowed himself an emotional moment I vowed to one of the players that when I went back out if they were Salaam and I'd do him a favor because it was in a season and salon bag but that was a touching and actually thrilling moment for me Andre Dawson Chicago cops 1987 what a season what a story the good guys do win sometimes Andre Dawson is not only a great player but he's probably one of the greatest human beings that ever put on a baseball uniform and he's the kindest person you'd ever want to meet without ever saying to everybody I'm the kindest person that that you should meet of course it's easy to find people who will praise Andre Dawson he doesn't seem to have an enemy in the world but there is a contradiction that menacing intimidating scowl that he has it is an illusion but it can seem very real well it took a while for me to really get to know Andre Dawson when he used to come down when he was a Montreal and he used to come down the first base line he never smelled her it was the way the way you hated it you wanted to say hello Andre how you doing he never has had an expression to where it was a friendly tight but you know it was always the type where I mean oh man you know if you say something to me there's gonna be the last thing you say Durham has learned since that he got a false impression of Dawson he's not really like that it's just it's just Andre you know you have to really get to know Andre and know the sea and all the get used to that expression that he shows every day he's like that I mean he could be in this a cub uniform he could be in a three-piece suit he'd been swimming trunks that's the expression that he carries all the time in in a long relaxed conversation at Dawson's Miami home the interviewer John Calloway went to the source all right so you don't smile until after the home runs are hit and after the game is over but what are you feeling when we see that scowl on your face that that almost mean look on your face well some people say a debt has been a form of intimidation some say that it's a form of concentration I like to think it's a form of concentration I'm very serious when I'm out on the field and I don't think it's a time for relaxation letting other thinking enter your mind that's that's my form of concentration I do believe and I'm very intense when I'm out on the playing field I play the game just about as hard as I'm Milou playing and try not to let her teammate and friend Rick Sutcliffe will second that motion but I think the one thing that I remember most about Andre Dawson was on a foul fly ball down the right-field line he dives over the warm-up mounds in the bullpen catches the ball and rolls into a concrete fence and a ballgame that not I'm not wrong I think we were leading 10 or 12 to 1 or 2 I mean it was a game that was out of hand we had two game one and there was no need to do that but that was probably the thing it stuck out most of my mind and this man plays hard from the first pitch of the first thing to the last pitch of whatever inning the game away swung on the high fly ball in the right field Austin on the road hurt my baby yeah what a fancy man ever used to pull fast on the gun run I was afraid he might get hurt right at the right thing I was thinking the same thing I didn't want him diving for the ball Dawson's entire 1987 season was well awesome and on April 22nd you step up to the plate against the cards you were 0 for 10 going into that appearance at the plate and you hit a grand slam home run do you remember that moment yes I do and the pitcher was a Cardinals top reliever Todd Worrell and I knew he was a basically a fastball power type pitcher he likes to get ahead of you very early and my thinking at the time was I was going to look first ball fastball and just try and hit the ball hard not try to hit a home run I think a score was 3 to 1 at the time and now he threw my fastball right down the middle of the plate and I just threw it in my wheelhouse Lorrell goes into the stretch here's the pitch on the first pitch from todd worrell Andre Johnson picks up his first hit of the series as he drills it over the fence in lap a grand slam home run and the Cubs lead 5 to 3 the clubs then traveled to Montreal where Dawson had played his first 11 years in the big leagues Dawson drives this one back into centerfield Nicholls a long way to go and that ball is gone home run for Andre Dawson a two-run home run and the Cubs are on top six to nothing was hit by a pitch ball popped up you were 7 for 12 in that series two homers six RBIs three doubles six runs you got booed by the fans how did you feel about that well that's a normal reaction especially coming from the fans of Montreal when they read so many negative and distracting things during the winter I think they were born out of frustration in the sense that I didn't return I rejected Montreal's 2-year offer I had a few cheers mixed in with the board but it's easier to accept on the opposition now and it's a lot easier accepting boos from the opposition and your own hometown fans then comes April 29th your 5 for 5 against the Giants well I think I needed a triple laughter I got the first four hits and that's always the toughest hit to get when you're hitting for the cycle because you just got to hit the ball in the right places on a 2 2 pitch and the right-center by Maldonado all the way back to the wall and Andre Dawson has a long B homered in the first double in the third single in the fourth and he's well here in the six if I'm the Haze's did it last for the Cubs the one thing that might have stood out a little bit more in that game was a play at first base where I was cheating in on the pitcher and I get away with that a lot I try and take away a line drive from the pitcher and hit a line drive one hop to him in right field and I was able to throw him out at first and the pitch swung on and the liner into right on what hop in front of Dalton is going to throw to first undred often to Leon Durham - Harvey June 2nd an incredible day at Wrigley Field 3rd inning just before the rain team the three Oh let's believable Andre 17 home run after a rain delay of almost three hours Dawson really launched a rocket in the seventh you missed oh I missed the cycle what is going on that's unbelievable this was the game Rick Sutcliffe talked about in the 6th inning with the Cubs leading 9 to 1 Dawson had crashed into the bullpen wall to make a spectacular catch for the cub now it was the seventh inning and the lead was 11 to 1 Jackson ready here's a pitch swung on a line drive right field Dawson coming in he dies what more could one do he made a diving catch after going into the bullpen for a foul ball blasphemy don't get hurt man his wife Vanessa Dawson was watching during the long rain delay game we had this past season the Cubs were so far ahead and it was like almost not really worth watching and all of a sudden a guy hits a line drive and my husband is diving for the ball and I go are you crazy I mean I'm talking back to television are you really crazy I mean we were too far ahead and there was no way we could have lost at that point yeah and people questioned why I would attempt those plays when we're leading by the margin that we were and the field conditions men that that they were in this just me I played a game I feel that I can get my glove on it and I'm gonna try and make a play on July 7th the Padres Eric shall you remember I remember it real well at the hitting a home run and San Diego to knock him out of a game and then they come to Chicago and I hit a home run off of him my first at-bat the pitch thank God is 76 lat Wilson totals foul I was sitting there after the home run and we were just talking about you know things are going really good and really great and I could see this ball coming in two wars his head and him trying to get out of the way all of a sudden he is down on the ground and when I was up at the plate and I think I think it was either the bottom of the fourth or bottom of the third inning Eric threw a pitch breaking ball down and away and his next pitch hit me just above the left lip up and near the cheek area coming into this year Dawson just had not done much at all against this fellow a lifetime average of Oh 91 3 out of 33 look they got it don't yeah he did I think he was being by that ball and now quit the company he great food right Johnson at the place how'd you feel about the fact that that big tough colleague of your Sutcliffe went after Shou people don't understand as a player are you aware of when things are intentional and when they're not and Rick is one of those guys that you respect for not only what he does but he knows the game and you can't convince any of those players that that I wasn't a purposely knock down pitch Dawson is still down down boy this looks terrible yes it does look it didn't appear as if it got the helmet it appeared as if it didn't get the helmet get that helmet yo here's something I hate to say that but there's some swinging going on in that pileup Dalton and I had a deep laceration and I was pretty calm I was out of it for a while I was pretty calm when I got on my feet and Leon Durham made the comment that it's a shame we should have to go through stuff like this we're supposed to be out here and join the game but look at the guy's face and that's when I saw it I lost it you know my main concern was revenge at the time he hasn't moved a muscle either gentlemen yet another hallway up here we go even Cisco and it flares up again lukovitch were there for him there I'm fired telling him to get out of there go to the clubhouse yes for the dugout being pushed back out up the runway Charlie Williams was pushing him off and Dalton went after him Vicky father's gone through the recent development with Nicki fine from personal experience I saw Mike Torres at 55 and it's want to play with not at all only talking about a baseball game but you're talking about a life up there and the ability the player not to play and make a living and then he didn't move for a long period of time and that's when I really really got afraid and all of a sudden when he did he's somewhat collapse but then when he got up and all of a sudden I see him take off the air shell I mean I was still very sad about the fact I said but he must be doing pretty good right now because he has the guts to get up after being being to take off and catch a guy so I was convinced that he was purposely trying to knock me down but when you throw up and then there's a fine line between area where you're trying to throw in someone's head so I was uh I was sort of tied between mixed emotions I was angered at first and I got a letter from him I didn't respond to the letter but again it goes back to my background I was taught to forgive it's hard to forget how many stitches I had I think 21 stitches most of the work was done by a plastic surgeon that did a good job he did work from the inside mainly and most of the stitching was done inside he was able to pull the scar down into the mustache all right so on July 7th you're hit by a ball traveling 90 miles an hour you miss a few games and on August 1st the Phills come into town you're at Wrigley Field you remember that day well if that's the three homerun day I remember that one quite well that was one of the hottest days that I've ever had to play and I didn't even think that I was going to make it past the fifth inning we've won one loss to this year hire and run have it oh ho three to nothing Club and I didn't I hit the home run my next time up and then I hit another home run Dawson sends one deep to left centerfield James back and he'll watch this one sail out Dawson as it is sick and home run of the day a tremendous blast over the back fence and the Cubs now lead 4 to 2 Andre Dawson's 30 of home run of the year then you start hearing things about you you haven't done anything if you don't hit three and the fans start getting into the act and I hit a third home run and I say Jesus it's just unbelievable you know to go out there under the circumstances knowing that you you know you can barely make it from the dugout to the outfield and on every pitch you're just trying to reach back for something extra the only time in retire was retired and one unassisted double play there's a drive in the mouth going Oh this starting first home third of the game 501 world one thousand dollars three home run day the tribe as world three home runs in the road look about rain what a day there he comes in think about the day that Davey Johnson wanted to check his back Andre brought all the bats out he handed them all to him two pitches later he hit that pitch in the park so Durham is out and here's Andre Dawson Dawson having his bat check by Charlie Williams screaming the check now Dawson is motioning for all the rest of the bats I guess to come out a LAN Williams check every bad Dalton says here's another one check this one and he's motioning for the rest of his pants to come out Hitler will have something to say to Davey Johnson well they can carry it to an extreme that makes it a little silly and Johnson is really getting upset now now the pitch there's a fly ball back into left-center field Dykstra back on the track and that ball is gone so Andre Dawson has just hit his second home run of the year our second home run of the night that's his 34th home run of the year and we'll see what happens with a bat this time Andre Dawson on a one two pitch hit it out to left-center field and it's a three to two ball game how about that the season came to an end and there was only one mystery left even with his amazing numbers could Dawson be named most valuable player in the National League playing on a last-place team you know I've seen a lot of ball players in the big leagues I started in 1950 plates around 1968 a lot of great players like Al Kaline Clemente I saw I played with Williams I played against DiMaggio Dawson last year had the kind of year of these players head now overall you'd have to say - Dawson fits in with the top 20 players of all time because he had a year where he carried the Cubs he carried him single-handed Dawson's season last year was the most unbelievable thing I've seen in baseball for a prolonged period I've seen no-hitters and guys hit three homers in a game but to come to the ballpark every day watch the way Dawson went about his business watch him just hit Homer after Homer when pitchers knew he was swinging for homeruns Dawson was named MVP finishing far ahead of runner-up Ozzie Smith of the Cardinals you just couldn't ignore 49 homers in 137 runs batted in Plus 16 game-winning hits most valuable player you were runner-up twice how does it feel finally to win it feels it feels good I said in a banquet that guess the only way I'll ever win an MVP award as if I got out of Canada I never you know really doubted my ability I felt that I was still capable of forming the way that I expected myself to perform and it was a dream type year I probably won't ever have a year like that again but I do feel and I felt before last season started that my better years were ahead of me the MVP award is now an Andres trophy room it has joined quite a collection seven Golden Gloves that means for seven seasons he was judged the best fielder at his position ordinary baseball players do not pile up honors like this and yet after the 1986 season at Montreal Dawson was a free agent with apparently no interested parties he wanted to get away from the Expos he wanted to play on natural grass he wanted to play day games that all spelled Wrigley Field but the Cubs under Dallas Green didn't seem interested in a negotiation that's when Andre and his agent dick Moss did something astounding they gave the Cubs a contract and said you fill in the salary this is this blank put in whatever you want faces the blank contract and I was saying all along I know it's a gamble on my part and I just hope that I'm not too embarrassed by the figure that they put in the one thing that the club had in their favor was that they could have put in the minimum and still said well we made him an offer but there would have been highly criticized by media fans whatever so they didn't want to embarrass themselves that would have been sixty two thousand five hundred right so I said well if they're respectively fair I'm going to just honor the proposal I'll be man enough and stand up to it and I was a little bit disturbed I guess when they said five hundred thousand because it meant I guess cut and pay which would have been in excess of about seven hundred thousand dollars but I was glad that was behind me and monetary matters you know wasn't the issue I just needed to have peace of mind I wanted to enjoy the game again I just need a change in scenery so it paid off didn't it it paid off tremendously even before that Rick Sutcliffe had indicated he would offer a hundred thousand of his own money if it would help bring you to Chicago well I'm still looking for that check I always tell Rick you know if you want my bank account number you can have it anytime it's in the mail Dawson really wanted to get away from that artificial turf in Montreal he tore up his left knee playing high school football in Miami I was first examined by the school officials and the trainer's and they said that I probably had strained ligaments and I knew it probably was a little bit more serious even though I didn't know what strain ligaments was at the time I left the school after returning from the game and I had to walk home and I could barely put weight on it and that night my brother would sleep with me and I just you know had this agonizing pain until I couldn't sleep in the following morning my mother took me to the hospital and I was examined by an orthopedic surgeon who informed us that I had torn college torn leg a mention that I would immediately have to have surgery it did change my life drastically I think I didn't have to Serge herself I was so harsh I was so angered that I didn't go to school I said I wasn't going to go to school with a cast on my leg I wasn't going to go to school until I was able to have that cast remove and walk on my own two feet the injury was devastating Andre was a slim teenaged athlete with no discernable future in sports after high school he took a student alone to attend Florida A&M he made the baseball team and finally ended up with a full scholarship he also exploded physically by his junior season at A&M he was a big strong power hitter the Montreal Expos drafted him not as a glamorous first rounder the knee made him a chancy late round selection his family advised him to take the offer till you signed wasn't a big signing bonus was it looking back no it was uh $2,000 and you were what draft you were I was draft at any eleventh round Levin's round we're talking to the most valuable player in the looking back on how do you feel about that now that kind of money in that kind of position given that you're the number one player in the game well it wasn't a lot of money I knew that I said I talked to John one of my uncle's before the draft and then after the draft also and I told him what had happened and I said well you know it's always been a childhood dream of mine to be a professional baseball player I said that opportunity doesn't doesn't come around but once in a lifetime I said I've been drafted says well Montreal is willing to give you a try so if you feel you should accept that proposal I'll make and he said just go for it after two spectacular minor-league seasons Andre was a full fledged big-league star in Montreal he had a brilliant run there but as his wife Anessa remembers the end was bitter I would say the toughest time for our relationship was after the 1986 baseball season in Montreal and he was going to be a free agent that following season and he really didn't have an idea of where he would go but if he wasn't really happy with the offer that Montreal had shown us that it would not be Canada and we talked about well if you are not given a contract that you really want there what will you do and one moment I can remember him saying that I'll play ball in Japan and I was like Japan the Japan and then at one moment he goes well maybe I'll retire maybe I'll do this and maybe he'll do that but when he put on that cub uniform things brightened up for the entire Dawson family and family is very important and Andres life he grew up in southwest Miami the oldest of eight children in a fatherless home his mother worked at two jobs that left a lot of character molding to his grandmother Eunice Taylor she did an exceptional job what kind of a personality did your grandmother have she was quiet very open very friendly and from everyone that I ever hear talk about us she was always the one type of person that was look - in the community my grandmother just always said the right things always did the right things and as a child at that time I you know had open years and I've always listened she put a foot down she set the rules she said this is how you do something and no offends and buts about it you say your grandmother made the rules what were some of the rules when you were growing up the one thing that sticks out in my mind is that I was not gonna be a kid that was in the street I was not going to be out after respectable hours I had a certain time and I had to be in the house myself the recent lingering death of his grandmother was one of the toughest times in Andres life it was tough but I I sat beside her and I just prayed at that time I said God I wish you'd just come and take her I said you know and I know that she'll be better off with you and it really hurts to see a go through this at this time Andres dream season with the Cubs had a special purpose it was a memorial to Eunice Taylor I dedicated it to my grandmother I didn't set any goals the first time in my career I wouldn't set any goals I said I'm just going to pray and you know let things happen as they may my main priority is to stay healthy and go out and just try and play every day and I'm dedicating the season to my grandmother and herb on her behalf I just hope it's a productive one Andres mother Mattie Lou Brown lives in southwest Miami on the street named for her son well really when he grew up he was a very sensitive young kid well he's always been very quiet I never had into trouble at him and he always tried to lead and guide the other kids my mother Maddie you know god bless her soul she is the one person that I can always turn to regardless of you know any Isis or anything that is going on in my life and I respect her and my own way because you know I didn't grow up with the father and she had the responsibility of raising eight kids without a father in the house and I think she did a tremendous job and you know I pray and thinking law that I've had a mother that has been inspiration and bringing me this for what kind of a kid were you I think basically I was a shy quiet wasn't always the one kid that I guess in the neighborhood you stand out more so over the other kids it took awhile I was the type that steadily developed and I'm still I think basically the same quiet shy person that I was maybe 25 or 30 years ago even as a young boy Andre took on a lot of responsibility is the oldest child so at a very early age you're almost kind of like a father figure I think so that's what I understand now anyway I they look at me not only as a brother but a father figure kind of a caretaker you're a helper yeah how did you feel about taking that responsibility on at that age well they were my brothers and sisters and being the type of person that I was I want to make sure that they didn't get into anything kids can get into all kind of problems I had a brother that almost overdosed on iron pills and he was I guess about four or five years old and he thought they were M&Ms and I got in a lot of trouble because of that you you used the term being the type of person you were you oversaw them what type of person were you then or now I mean what do you mean when you say that I think I was uh in my own way very close to them and you said in your own way what do you mean in your own way is that a special way no not really a special way it's just I guess might the makeup of me the way I am I'm very humble I think I like to do more for others than I do for myself I sort of put myself secondary Andre has two nicknames he picked both them up in his childhood around baseball he's known as the hawk one of his uncle's John Taylor explains how that got started I first decided I would be a good athlete was about nine years old when we start our baseball team and Andre uh played third base better than the older kids he had please shortstop and also pitched and I guess when he grew up about I guess about 15 or when he would senior high and went on to college he came back he played baseball in the summertime and I had uncle was I guess one of the better one of the better pitchers around him to my area and uh he tried to throw fastball encouraged by Andre and he could never cook to a fastball by him so he gave one to the name hawk because he had a Hawkeye and that's how I got a name before you know his family nickname is pudgy something he definitely is not his mother has that story he got the nickname fuzzy from a friend of ours we live behind each other and when he was a little boy he would come in get him and put him on his shoulder and he thought Carla help budget this quiet shy young boy had a dream about what he wanted to do with his life Andre can you go back and recall for us when you first had the notion that you wanted to be a baseball player I think it started at a very early age I started playing when I was nine years old and I guess the only thing I can never recall was wanting to be a professional baseball player but I think I started to seriously get that notion when I was in junior high school is it true that you were batting rocks at some point in your early life well I did that I guess as late as a couple of years ago that was something I think that helped my hand-eye coordination I would use Bruma mop handles in I would break the other end off and use it as a as a bat or as a what we call back at that time a stick that we use for stigma and I would toss rocks in the air and hit them did you actually hit rocks into people's houses and things like that I think I broke a few windows I actually broke someone's windshield one time and again I was a kid naive about it the only thing I wanted to do was play baseball another uncle Curtis Taylor saw the talent early I finally realized that Andre was an exceptional athlete when he was about 8 years old I had set up established a couple of teams and the boys were 10 12 years old Andre was only 8 and he stood us on he played as well as most of the boys who were 12 years old Andre was a teenager during the racially turbulent 60s he remembers major events and emotional reactions but he also remembers making his own judgments I was in junior high school and we had the Martin Luther King assassination I think a lot of kids were doing things that they saw on television we saw the riots what not as a result of his tragedy on television and it carried over you know to us and into the school system and you you know I think we were reacting we what we have reacted the way that we did because of the influence of television and it was it was a tough time growing up but I think at that time you know everyone had to be done individually everyone wasn't involved there were a lot of kids that didn't participate that sort of stayed back and watch what was going on were you one of those I would I was sort of in between I gradually realized what I was doing and in my own way tried to back away from it what do you mean back away from what back away from being a nice actual participant I think as a kid at that age I had to visualize why I was doing what I was doing and it was because of influence and I didn't have to go out and be a participant in this just that he were being urged on by your peers this is what has to be done and are you with us are you not you've always been able to resist it seems to me peer pressure you don't smoke you don't drink weren't you terribly pressured to do that I've been around people that have had drug problems I've been around people that have had drinking problems I've been around people that were very violent that would breaking in or other folks property you know I as a kid I witnessed it all but you know I just never really got up got over with me I never really was in a position where something like that just take control of me I've always been the one to try and adapt to today in and day out make the adapt ation as to what I'm doing or what has to be done as he grew into a young man Andre found a girl he liked her name was Vanessa Turner well I don't really remember how we really made we sort of grew up together so we sort of knew each other somewhat and he decided to ask me out on a date and it went on from there next thing we're engaging all of a sudden dun dun tada I was invited to the opening of the Coconut Grove Playhouse and I invited Vanessa out we talked for a while and things just started to happen but it was a slow process I'd have to say I have a pretty good husband a very loving husband during certain times during his season he'll go on road trips and he'll come back with gifts for me and it doesn't even have to be my birthday or a special day I'll just say oh I just thought I'd bring you something I thought this was really cute and then I'll go what did I do to deserve this what does she mean to you well you know without her I I don't really know where I'd be today she she means the world to me you know I put my family first and I put a baseball second there because that's something I've been blessed with that's something that I've achieved a lot of success in being in that game over the years but there's a saying that you know you're only as successful as the people that stand behind you and she's she stood behind me she's my third leg that's why I think she's the world to me Vanessa does wonder sometimes what might have happened to her if Andre had not come along if I wasn't married to Andre today I think I would have a career in broadcasting always wanted to be a sports announcer or a television person I just wanted some attention myself so all of a sudden we kind of switch feet and it's Andre Dawson and I am mrs. Dawson but I did go ahead and you know I went to college and I graduated in communications ready on television and then maybe something that I can fall back on and maybe he's open a few doors for me despite his unusual 1987 contract with the Cubs Andre Dawson has made a lot of money playing baseball but wealth and fame do not seem to have much effect on him Andres Fame has not changed him and I guess I can sort of go back to his upbringing because we were sort of like an extended family we still live like normal people we could have some of the nicer things in life having a housekeeper who lives in and a chauffeur to drive us around but my husband is very average he thinks that I should do all these things myself and still look very pretty and be very accommodating to him and I think sometimes that he's a little bit abnormal it's clear that Dawson likes to stay with the basics that includes a punishing offseason physical regimen this is a public batting cage at a park in Miami he goes there often but unlike most of the customers he revs the pitching machine up to 90 miles an hour he isn't interested in putting on a power show for the onlookers he wants to sharpen his reflexes and get ready for the real thing I think you got to work even harder during the offseason than you do during the season my fall workouts exercise consists of some aerobic work stretching trim classes that is I try to stay away from the running part of it I'll take Nautilus training some free weights with my forearms wrists biceps and triceps and you got to do a lot of stretching though the lower part of my body I usually sort of concentrate more or less with the Nautilus to strengthen the hamstrings the quadriceps to try and protect strengthen the area around the joints before leaving for spring training Andre visited his old high school in Miami he was honored when they named the baseball field after him the school was honored several years ago when he donated a batting cage to the athletic department get quick look at the ball with camera do for you coach Dawson seems to enjoy himself most in a baseball environment it's his theater it's where he's appreciated by his peers one of them is Rick Sutcliffe when I think of Andre Dawson I'd have to say the the very first thing that comes to mind is his respect I played this game for a long time I've played with a lot of tremendous baseball players and tremendous people but there's very few people in this game that I respect both on the field and off the field and really as far as Rick Sutcliffe concern that's the ultimate compliment I can give anyone dawson's best friend in baseball is Tim Raines of the Expos Raines named his second son after Andre a few years ago Raines had a drug problem an Andre stuck by him well I didn't really want to get into his personal life too much I felt if he wanted to talk to it he knew I was always available and I just tried to be to shoulder that he could lean on my main source of comfort was that I didn't want the media to get to him I didn't want him to put any undue pressure on himself and I think you handled it real well he was the one player that admit it that he had a problem and was willing to go in and have something done about it so in my opinion he was a man there are a lot of players that do have problems and man enough to come forward timmy was in town the Expos were in town to play the Cubbies and we decided to have Timmy over one evening and we were on our way out to one of the local restaurants we were just having a conversation driving along and Tim we call him Rocco so he says um homey that's what he prefers ondrea's who do you love her me my husband looks at Timmy and he looks at Vanessa and he couldn't really give him an answer Andre is a pretty lovable person the fans at Wrigley Field poured out their admiration and respect all last season the feeling was mutual I just like to personally thank the fans of Chicago especially for this past season and in your own way you were great impact on the production that came out of last season it's enjoyable it's much easier to go out and perform when you you got fans that are very much in supportive of you and I do sincerely feel and I've said all along this without a doubt is the greatest fans if I fail to ever come in contact with take gosh whoa window okay Hey did you die I wish another it's come to this through the bottom of the ninth two out two on on regular to play he's digging in the clouds behind him the windup as we've heard from many experts and seen for ourselves Andre Dawson is one of the best baseball players ever here in his own words and actions are the fundamentals of how he plays the game when I step into the batter's box I assume a comfortable stance my feet are slightly spread apart my hands held away from my body and I have a very light to firm grip on the bat as the pitch approaches the plate I have a short stride toward the pitcher himself my weight is transferred once my hips come through the strikes on the bat head goes all the way through the strike zone before I swing I have a short backswing that allows me to generate my power and I throw the bat head through the strike zone I'm a firm believer that quickness is what generates power should always keep your head still and have your eyes focused in the strike zone itself comfortable stance weight transfer that quickness head still as I feel that when I'm on defense I assume a comfortable stance with the weight on my toes you should always be prepared to be to break in break back I either break to your left or right you should always think ahead and know what you're going to do once the ball is hit to you weight balance rake any direction think ahead with a runner or base and a ground ball hit to me in right field I'll charge the ball as hard as I can and break down about ten feet or so from the ball itself with my body under control and take to crow hops with my weight distributed back and try and get as much thrust behind the ball going back to the infield charged ball body control thrust on throw with the runner on third and less than two outs I make sure I circle the ball get behind it keep my weight behind the ball I'll catch the ball on the throwing hand side I'm always alert that my hand is near the glove get behind ball keep weight back favor throwing side we're almost through now but the Dawson story is not over by a long shot it's going to continue Dawson will remain a totally dedicated athlete and a quiet down-to-earth model citizen we all know that Andre Dawson is a great player why is he a great player I'll tell you why his work habits are outstanding you have to be around a guy all the time to realize how hard you have to work to be a great player he does great work in the clubhouse with the players he also has to take care of his knees the problems that he had injuries he goes out on the field and practice and works twice as hard as any other outfielder which means for me as an outfield coach makes it easy than the rest of the young players great example to them his work habits he's not any different this year than he was last year he's too old to change now he's over 30 years old he is a nice person he's always going to be a nice person well at this point I know that I can't change him because he's the same person that I met 10 years ago we hope you have a wonderful career and a wonderful life how do you want to be remembered well how do I want to be remember when I messed up that question I have several things that sort of go through my mind but I'm an avid individual when it comes to working with kids I like to be a part of the development of their upbringing I want to be you know remembered as a baseball player as the one who I take the game very seriously and I don't look at it as a job do I look at it as something I enjoy doing and I just get paid for doing it I'm not you know the smartest player living are the smartest individual living but I'm smart when I'm out there on the playing field and I get a big kick you know out of winning winning isn't everything but winning is very important to me and I love the game already I'm just warming up they're shooting the booth three balls one strike the feds Andre god on three one fifth it is another standing ovation for number 47 unbelievable constantly with all browsers I wanna call from Andre out of the batter's box Bobby no steps take off his hands for a simple decamp run a great moment for Andre's office every person here will even though they are Cardinal fan also for that great performance

Channel: rickic32

Views: 21,688

Keywords: Andre Dawson, Chicago Cubs (Baseball Team), Don Zimmer (Baseball Player), Rick Sutcliffe (Baseball Player), John Callaway, MVP, 1987, Harry Caray, Steve Stone (Baseball Player)

Id: tzcnX920mRE

Length: 60min 4sec (3604 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 17 2013