Читать книгу That's Great Advice - Matthew Pearlman - Страница 7

“No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He’s the best I’ve ever seen. I watched him win an MVP for a last-place team in 1987, and it was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way.”

Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson’s teammate on the Chicago Cubs in 1987

Andre Dawson was born July 10, 1954 in Miami, Florida. Andre’s nickname is “The Hawk,” which he got when he was 10 years old. Following his dream of playing major league baseball, Andre he worked out with a men’s baseball team that would hit him ground balls at practice. He tried as hard as he could to jump on the fast grounders. Watching him field the balls, his uncle said that most kids would shy away from a ball going that fast, but Andre attacked the ball “like a hawk.”

During his 21-year Major League Baseball career, Andre batted .300 five times, drove in 100 runs four times, and had 13 seasons of 20 home runs. Andre is one of only three MLB players with 400 career home runs and 300 career stolen bases. The other players at this level are Willie Mays and Barry Bonds. Andre achieved all of this even though playing on the artificial turf at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium damaged his knees, an injury that continued for the rest of his two-decade MLB career.

Andre’s message about perseverance to kids is:

“I persevered through 20 years of playing Major League Baseball with bad knees. I worked hard every day on my knees. Sometimes it was difficult, but with a lot of help from trainers and doctors, I was able to play 21 MLB seasons.”