Baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson asked to have his Expos cap replaced with a Cubs cap

(Chicago) Andre Dawson said he sent a letter to Baseball Hall of Fame President Jane Forbes Clark asking her to replace his Montreal Expos cap on his commemorative plaque with the Chicago Cubs, a decision that displeased him as soon as it was announced by the institution 13 years ago.

“I don’t expect them to be surprised by this request,” Dawson told the Chicago Tribune on Monday. If they respond, I know it will take them some time to do so. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t respond. »

Players could choose the team they wanted to enter the Hall of Fame with until 2001, but the institution changed its rules at the start of voting for the 2002 vintage. That decision was made after newspaper articles reported in 1999 that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays offered financial compensation to Wade Boggs, who had just announced his retirement, to use the Florida team’s logo on his commemorative plaque. Boggs was finally inducted in 2005 with a Boston Red Sox cap.

“We plan to speak with Andre, but have not yet received his letter,” Hall of Fame spokesman Jon Shestakofsky said Wednesday.

Three weeks after the Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected him in 2010, the Hall of Fame decided he would wear an Expos cap on his commemorative plaque.

“I respect Temple’s decision to place the Expos logo on my cap and understand that they need to make sure to place the logo of the team that has had the greatest impact on my career,” Dawson said via press release issued by the Hall of Fame. Cubs fans will always have a special place in my heart, and I owe them a huge debt for allowing me to have a memorable time in Chicago, as do fans in Montreal, Boston and South Florida, where I live. Obviously, the most important thing is that I’m part of the big Hall of Fame family, because it’s the highest honor anyone can aspire to. »

However, on the day the Hall of Fame decision was announced, Dawson told Chicago radio station WMVP-AM, “I’m disappointed. I can say without embarrassment that I would have preferred to use the Cubs logo.”

At the time of the decision, then-Temple president Jeff Idelson said, “You want the logo of the team where the player had the greatest impact.” He had a huge impact in Montreal. He had a big impact in Chicago, and a little less so in Boston and Florida, and it was obviously a case where we had to sit down and think before making a decision. »

The institution recalled that Dawson had 1,575 of his 2,774 career hits with the Expos, that he won six of his eight Gold Gloves in Montreal and that he led the Expos to their only victory in the playoffs — they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in five games in the Series of the National League Division in 1981. Idelson also added that it is the institution’s responsibility to “correctly interpret the history of the sport.”

Dawson played his first 11 seasons with the Expos, posting a .285 batting average with 225 home runs and 838 RBIs. He was elected to the All-Star Game three times and won the National League’s Most Outstanding Rookie award in 1977. He played six seasons with the Cubs, where he won the National League’s Most Outstanding Player award in 1987 after hitting .287 with 49 home runs and 137 RBIs. He also played two seasons with the Boston Red Sox and two more with the Florida Marlins, before announcing his retirement in 1996.