* Congratulations, Andre Dawson

“The Hawk” was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame today. Now get gets to add that to his autograph.

Dawson released an autobio in 1994 (with Tom Bird) that was published by Zondervan, a religious house, ostensibly for kids. Look for a new title soon.

From the Hall of Fame press release (with my annotations in parenthesis):

Andre Dawson, a five-tool player who won eight Gold Glove and four Silver Slugger Awards in a career spanning 21 seasons with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in balloting verified by Ernst & Young. He will be inducted into the Hall July 25 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Dawson, whose fielding prowess earned him the nickname “The Hawk,” will be honored along with manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, who were elected last month by the Veterans Committee, at the ceremony that will include the presentation of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. The Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting will be announced February 1.

In the BBWAA election, 539 ballots, including five blanks (which kind of speaks to the lack of HoF caliber players this year), were cast by members with 10 or more consecutive years’ service. Players must be named on 75 percent of ballots submitted to be elected. This year, 405 votes were required.

Dawson was listed on 420 ballots (77.9%) to win election in his ninth year on the ballot. His election brings to 292 the number of elected members of the Hall. Of that total, 203 are former major-league players, of which 109 have been through the BBWAA ballot. Dawson is the 68th outfielder overall elected to the Hall.

A .279 career hitter with 438 home runs, 1,591 runs batted in and 314 stolen bases, Dawson was the National League Rookie of the Year with the Expos in 1977 and the NL Most Valuable Player in 1987 with the Cubs. The eight-time All-Star underwent 12 knee surgeries (a testament to his fortitude) during his career but ended up with more than 400 home runs and 300 stolen bases, a feat achieved by only two other players in history, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.

For the first time in BBWAA balloting, two candidates failed to gain election by fewer than 10 votes. Pitcher Bert Blyleven, on the ballot for the 13th time, got 400 votes (74.2%). Second baseman Roberto Alomar, on the ballot for the first time, had 397 (73.7%), the most for a first-year candidate without being elected. (Sorry, but I never thought of Blyleven as a HoF candidate. Perhaps he just wasn’t flashy enough, but rather one of those players who quietly went about his business year after year, compiling the numbers that would merit consideration. The same for Alomar. Should that be relative to the eras in which they played? That’s a whole ‘nother argument.)

Blyleven’s five-vote margin was the fifth fewest in history, trailing only Nellie Fox (1985) and Pie Traynor (1947), who each missed by two votes, and Billy Williams (1986) and Jim Bunning (1988), who each missed by four. All were eventually elected, Traynor in 1948 and Williams in 1987 by the BBWAA and Bunning in 1996 and Fox in 1997 by the Veterans Committee.

Players may remain on the ballot for up to 15 years provided they receive five percent of the vote in any year. There were 11 candidates who failed to make the cut this year, all among the 15 players who were on the ballot for the first time.

The first-year candidates who received sufficient support to remain other than Alomar were shortstop Barry Larkin with 278 (51.6%), designated hitter-third baseman Edgar Martinez with 195 (36.2%) and first baseman Fred McGriff with 116 (21.5%).

Other holdovers who will remain on the ballot are pitchers Jack Morris and Lee Smith, first basemen Don Mattingly and Mark McGwire (kind of surprised he’s still on the ballot, given the PED climate), shortstop Alan Trammell, outfielder-DH Harold Baines (see, Blyleven) and outfielders Tim Raines, Dave Parker and Dale Murphy.

The vote: Andre Dawson 420 (77.9%), Bert Blyleven 400 (74.2%), Roberto Alomar 397 (73.7%), Jack Morris 282 (52.3%), Barry Larkin 278 (51.6%), Lee Smith 255 (47.3%), Edgar Martinez 195 (36.2%), Tim Raines 164 (30.4%), Mark McGwire 128 (23.7%), Alan Trammell 121 (22.4%), Fred McGriff 116 (21.5%), Don Mattingly 87 (16.1%), Dave Parker 82 (15.2%), Dale Murphy 63 (11.7%), Harold Baines 33 (6.1%), Andres Galarraga 22 (4.1%), Robin Ventura 7 (1.3%), Ellis Burks 2 (0.4%), Eric Karros 2 (0.4%), Kevin Appier 1 (0.2%), Pat Hentgen 1 (0.2%), David Segui 1 (0.2%), Mike Jackson 0, Ray Lankford 0, Shane Reynolds 0, Todd Zeile 0. (I wonder about the writers to give votes to guys like Appier, Hentgen, and Segui. On the other hand, it’s nice that the players got at least that one vote. Thought Zeile would have been in that category.)