Back Hawk: Andre Dawson Reportedly Set to Rejoin Cubs Organization
Not long after the Marlins said “He gone,” the best Hawk in Chicago baseball history is returning to the Windy City. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale is reporting that Andre Dawson will be officially rejoining the Cubs organization here shortly.
Upon taking the helm in Miami, Derek Jeter set about remaking the organization in his image, which meant jettisoning pretty much everyone who was anyone with the Marlins. Among the casualties of the house-cleaning were Jack McKeon, Jeff Conine, Tony Perez, and Dawson, all of whom had played major roles in the team’s history and/or in current operations.
The Miami #Marlins loss is the Chicago #Cubs gain as #HOF Andre Dawson, one of classiest men in #MLB, about to officially rejoin organization
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 20, 2017
We should note that Nightengale is the same person who erroneously claimed the Cubs were over the salary cap and who left out the Cubs’ two trips to the playoffs in his piece on Dusty Baker, so you may want to take the above news with grain of salt. Then again, the Cubs do have a history of bringing beloved former players back into the fold.
Nightengale didn’t specify in what capacity Dawson would serve, but my guess is that he’ll fill the same ambassador role as other greats like Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, and Ryne Sandberg. Even as a Marlins employee, Hawk has been a regular at Wrigley, whether traveling to Chicago when the teams played or appearing at the World Series dressed as either Emperor Palpatine or Michael Phelps.
http://twitter.com/drwater9/status/792913988933726208?refsrc=email&s=11
In addition to the duties of showing up to the ballpark more frequently and representing the Cubs at various events, there’s also the possibility that Dawson serves in a platoon with Jason Heyward in right. Okay, not really, but the 63-year-old is a beast in the weight room (he reps 295 on the bench) and can still absolutely mash (two homers in celeb softball game on his 63rd b-day).
Regardless of his role, this is a great get for the Cubs and should more or less ensure Dawson’s presence at Cubs Convention in January.
Ed note: Our buddy Crawly actually tweeted out a teaser of the news Sunday night, well in advance of Nightengale’s report.
BREAKING- In the next 24-48 hours the #Cubs will be welcoming a legend back into the organization!
— Crawly's Cubs Kingdom (@crawlyscubs) November 20, 2017
