Andre Dawson's Top 5 Best Ever Games

In January of this year, Andre Dawson's long awaited call to the Hall of Fame finally came as he was the lone inductee voted into this year's class. Although it has been disputed by many of his worthiness to be inducted, he was one of the game's best in the 1980s.

After years of struggling with knees that deteriorated from playing on turf at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Dawson signed a blank contract with the Chicago Cubs before the 1987 season. The move proved very beneficial as he won the MVP award that year and the natural grass of Wrigley allowed him to extend his career. He finished his career playing for the Boston Red Sox as well as Florida Marlins. He had 438 home runs, 1,591 RBI, and was the second player in the league history to become a member of the 300 home run/300 stolen base club to go along with being an 8-time All-Star.

For those fans that followed Dawson throughout his career, we'll now take a look at what I think were the best game performances in his career starting with No. 5:

5. September 4, 1992: The Hawk has his last career 5-hit game with the Cubs.

Against the San Diego Padres, Dawson recorded five hits in seven at-bats in a 7-5 extra inning loss. After Dawson had an RBI-single in the 4th inning, he later tied the game with an RBI-double in the bottom of the 12th inning off Padres closer Randy Myers. In the 14th inning, Dawson recorded his 5th hit before the game ended when he was out on a double play. He would go on to play the remainder of what turned out to be his last year as a Chicago Cub as he signed with Boston in December 1992.

4. June 5, 1983: Dawson records his second 5-hit game of the season for Montreal.

This was Dawson's third 5-hit game in what was his best year in terms of power statistics in Montreal. Against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, Dawson went a perfect 5-for-5 which would increase his batting average for the season to .347 after the day was done as Montreal won 12-9. During the game, Dawson recorded two doubles and two singles before hitting a home run in the 8th inning as he scored four runs in the contest. His batting average cooled off to .299 by season's end, but he would lead the league in hits with 189 while finishing second in MVP voting behind Atlanta's Dale Murphy. He would play three more injury-filled years with Montreal before signing with the Cubs in 1987.

3. August 1, 1987: Dawson homers three times against Philadelphia

For the second time in his career, Dawson hit three home runs in a game which turned out to the last time he accomplished the feat. After lining into a double play in his first at-bat, Dawson immediately redeemed himself by hitting a 3-run homer off of Tom Hume in the 3rd inning to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Dawson homered off Hume again in the 5th inning. His third of the game came off of reliever Mike Jackson in the 7th inning as Dawson drove in all five runs in a 5-3 win at Wrigley Field. Dawson had 31 home runs on the season after the game as he went on to have a league-leading 49 in route to winning the MVP award in 1987.

2. April 29, 1987: Dawson hits for the cycle against San Francisco

Even though he won the MVP award in 1987, Dawson was only hitting .236 coming into this game at home against the Giants. By day's end, he was hitting .286 after going a perfect 5-for-5. Dawson's get off to a great start after hitting a home run in the first inning off of Roger Mason to tie the game 1-1. He had an RBI double in his next at-bat in the 3rd inning as the Cubs took the lead back 3-2. Dawson singled in the 4th inning, and tripled off of Mike LaCoss in the 6th inning to complete the cycle. He added another single in the 8th inning as the Cubs won 8-4. The Cubs finished last in the NL East standings, but that didn't stop voters from naming him MVP that year. Oddly enough, future 300-game winner Greg Maddux got the win for the Cubs which was the first for him on that season and only the third in his career up to that point.

1. September 24, 1985: Dawson homers twice in one inning in Chicago

It is only fitting that the game I listed as his best came at Wrigley Field playing for the Montreal Expos. In a literal slugfest that had seen the Expos win 17-15 over the Cubs, it was Dawson who was the star of the day going 4-for-6 with his first career 3-homer game to go along with a game-high eight RBI. Dawson hit a 2-run homer off Ray Fontenot in the first inning of the game to put Montreal back in front. Montreal exploded for 12 runs in the 5th inning, but it was Dawson that hit two 3-run home runs as the Expos took a commanding lead in the game. The Cubs made the game interesting by scoring five runs in the 9th inning before the Expos held on for the win. Dawson had always hit well at Wrigley Field, and he would play his home games there two seasons later as he resurrected his career in Chicago.

Sources:
Andre Dawson Official site
Dawson's stats at Baseball-reference.com