By Alex

The baseball Hall of Fame recently inducted Rich “Goose” Gossage.

Meanwhile back at the Hall of Justice, Jim Rice and Andre Dawson discuss what to do with the Wonder Twins as the news hit that they were overlooked – again.

It is time to revisit these odd omissions – again.

Specifically, the case of Andre Dawson. Let’s begin with comparing Dawson’s career to players with comparable numbers who are in the hall: Dave Winfield, Al Kaline and Billy Williams. Excuse me for one moment. “No, ma! This is my real job!”

Sorry about that.

Andre Dawson (Montreal Expos; Chicago Cubs):

In 21 seasons Hawk - his nickname - compiled: 2774 hits, 1373 runs, 503 doubles, 98 triples, 438 home runs, 314 stolen bases, 589 walks, .279 average, .323 on-base percentage, and a .482 slugging percentage.

The only glaring flaws in Dawson’s game were his bad knees and his OBP. Awful. Just plain awful. I remember when I was a kid watching the Expos it always seemed as though Dawson was striking out in key clutch situations. If my memory serves me correctly, he swung at a lot of bad pitches. Then I would scream like a hawk in heat. Still, is this enough to keep him out?

I say no way. Na-ah.

Dawson won eight gold gloves and was a career .983 fielding percentage, so that mostly makes up for the low OBP. I said “mostly” didn’t I? An eight time All-Star, Dawson was Rookie of the Year in 1977 with the Montreal Expos and won the MVP in 1987 with the Chicago Cubs. Dawson was on the MVP ballot nine times in his career and was second on two occasions in 1981 and 1983 for the Expos. He earned four Silver Sluggers in 1980, 1981, 1983, and 1987. Other than that, Dawson was pretty much a top-five-to-ten player in most categories including home runs and slugging.

So how does this compare with the three mentioned earlier?

Batter up Dave Winfield (San Diego Padres; New York Yankees; California Angels; Toronto Blue Jays; Minnesota Twins; Cleveland Indians):

22 seasons; 3110 H, 1669 R, 540 2B, 88 3B, 465 HR, 223 SB, 1216 BB, .283 BA, .353 OBP, .475 SLG.

A deserved Famer, Dave the Big Smile was a 12 time All-Star who never won an MVP. Winfield won six Silver Sluggers and seven gold gloves with a career .982 fielding percentage.

Overall, Winfield’s numbers are better – but not that much better. Winnie and Dawsie have similar stats in batting average, home runs, slugging and fielding.

Batter up Al Kaline (Detroit Tigers):

22 seasons; 3007 H, 1622 R, 407 2B, 90 3B, 512 HR, 50 SB, 763 BB, .274 BA, .330 OBP, .500 SLG.

I know. Al fricken Kaline. Kept in context, Kaline is the classic shoe-in case for the Hall. He was no borderliner. Still, he’s a good example to cite here.

Kaline was made an All-Star an impressive 18 times and won 10 Gold Gloves with a lifetime .986 fielding. Though he never won MVP, he was on the ballot 14 times twice coming runner up. He was top 10 in batting average 11 times, winning a title in 1955. His .330 OBP is not that much higher than Dawson’s .323; though he was top 10 in this category on nine occasions.

As I said, he screams pure Hall of Fame.

Batter up Billy Williams (Chicago Cubs; Oakland A’s):

18 seasons; 2711 H, 1410 R, 434 2B, 88 3B, 426 HR, 1045 BB, .290 BA, .361 OBP, .492 SLG.

Who? Did you say Billy Williams? The guy who played Lando Calrissian? No, no dumb, dumbs. That was Billy Dee Williams.

The Williams I’m talking about won Rookie of the Year in 1961 and was a six time All-Star. He never won MVP, but he finished runner up in 1970 and 1972. Overall, he led the league more often in various offensive categories than any of the aforementioned players. Defensively, Williams was not as prolific as any of the players selected here.

Bonus!Jim Rice (Boston Red Sox):If the case for Dawson seems compelling if not obvious, Jim Rice also has a case to present.

16 seasons; 2452 H, 1249 R, 373 2B, 79 3B, 382 HR, 670 BB, .298 BA, .352 OBP, .502 SLG.

Ironically, Rice is the only player cited here other than Dawson to have won an MVP. Rice — who apparently had the personality of one angry piece of rice. The image of angry rice continues to haunt me — was an eight time all-star and won the Silver Slugger twice. He led the league in various categories more time than any player considered here.

I’m beginning to wonder if Dawson and Rice are inadvertently considered to be the cut-off point for baseball writers who have a vote.

Yet, in light of these facts, a player like Dale Murphy seems to fit the borderliner bill better.

Here’s one last thing to consider by way of Bill James’s Black and Gray Ink measures. Black ink measures the amount of times a player led the league in a category, the Gray ink considers top 10 finishes.

Black Ink – Hall of Fame standard is 27. All-time rank in parenthesis.

Rice 33 (49)
Williams 18 (123)
Kaline 12 (190)
Dawson 11 (206)
Winfield 4 (403)

Gray Ink – Hall of Fame standard: 144

Kaline 228 (26)
Williams 208 (35)
Rice 176 (57)
Dawson 164 (67)
Winfield 152 (84)

Hmpf. Seems to me just by looking at the above figures, is it enough to conclude that if Winfield, Kaline and Williams are in, then Dawson and Rice should be too?

What’s that old saying? If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…