Tuesday, June 9, 2015

#420 - Andre Dawson


What a card: Andre Dawson was coming off a disappointing season when this card was issued. After leading the league with 189 hits in 1983, he batted just .248 in 1984. This was the point when fans started to hear how much the turf at Olympic Stadium in Montreal was affecting Dawson's knees.

My observation on the front: What a wonderful card. The Expos red jerseys are a delight.

More opinion from me: Dawson does not noticeably smile on a card from 1978 until his 1983 Fleer card. Dammit, Fleer, we had a good thing going.

Something you might know: Dawson is a Hall of Famer who won the 1987 NL MVP in his first year with the Cubs after hitting 49 home runs for the last-place team.

Something you might not know: Dawson hit a miserable .186 in 59 postseason at-bats, fairing particularly poorly against the Dodgers in the '81 NLCS (.150) and the Giants in the '89 NLCS (.105).


My observation on the back: Ron Davis still holds the record for consecutive strikeouts by a relief pitcher. Since Davis' feat in May 1981, he was matched by the Royals' Blake Stein, who struck out eight straight in 2001, and exceeded by the Tigers' Doug Fister, who fanned nine straight in 2012. But both Stein and Fister started those games.

The blog wants to speak now: The News category is updated.

2 comments:

The Lost Collector said...

I feel like a nowadays that would be a stat that could help keep guys out of the HOF.

zman40 said...

I didn't realize Blake Stein did much of anything as a Royal. Good stuff!