New Hall of Famer Andre Dawson shows his love for Cubs fans

Reporting from Cooperstown, N.Y. — There are few better settings in baseball than the pastoral land near the Hall of Fame.

Each July, baseball fans gather there to worship, celebrate or just remember some of the game’s best players. Some arrive by bus; others park downtown and walk a mile south on Susquehanna Avenue to the Clark Sports Center. Ancient trees and stone walks line the route.

It’s a road that every fan should follow at least once. But for Sunday’s induction ceremony, it was only the second-best possible site.

How great would Andre Dawson’s induction have been at Wrigley Field, a stage set in right field, before legions of fans letting him know that they were not worthy?

Seldom has there been a more personal bond between a player and the fans who supported him than the one that bloomed between Dawson and Cubs fans in 1987 and grew throughout five more seasons in the ballpark at Clark and Addison.

Dawson acknowledged that love affair repeatedly during his speech, which came under bright skies after a light rain fell as umpire Doug Harvey and manager Whitey Herzog were inducted.

“I never knew what it felt like to be loved by a city until I arrived in Chicago,” Dawson told the crowd, estimated at 10,000. “You are the reason I kept playing the game. I can’t thank you enough for what you gave to me. You were the wind beneath the Hawk’s wings.”

Herzog guided the St. Louis Cardinals to the 1982 World Series title and led them to National League pennant in 1985 and 1987. He also managed the Kansas City Royals to three consecutive American League West titles from 1976 to 1978.

Harvey was an NL umpire for 31 seasons and was selected to work the World Series five times. He also umpired in six All-Star games.

Dawson, offered a pay cut after 10 years with the Montreal Expos, was disillusioned following the 1986 season. He was not being pursued by other teams — a development driven in part by collusion among owners — and thought about going to Japan to play. However, agent Dick Moss came up with the idea of letting the Cubs sign Dawson for whatever they felt he was worth — the so-called blank-check contract.

Despite frequent problems with his aching knees, Dawson played another 10 years after he worked out the deal with the Cubs, including two seasons in Boston and two with his hometown Florida Marlins before retiring after the 1996 season.

Dawson was voted the NL’s most valuable player in 1987 despite playing for a last-place team, and he ended his career with a .279 batting average, 438 home runs, 1,591 runs batted in, 314 stolen bases and eight Gold Gloves, the first four of which were earned playing center field.

“I almost gave up baseball or went to Japan,” Dawson said. “I knew there had to be a place where the game could be fun again. I found that place. It’s called Wrigley Field. It reminded that if you love the game, it will love you back.”

If Dawson’s speech had a theme, it was that if you love baseball, it will love you back. He followed the lead of former Cubs teammate Ryne Sandberg, who in his 2005 induction speech addressed the game’s steroid era without mentioning the names of substances or players.

“Individuals have chosen the wrong road,” Dawson said. “They’ve chosen [cheating] as their legacy. For those who still have a chance to choose theirs, don’t be lured to the dark side. It’s a stain on the game, a stain that is gradually being removed.”

With Cubs Hall of Famers Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins and Sandberg among the 47 Hall of Famers behind him, Dawson delivered a heartfelt speech that centered largely on his six seasons in Chicago.

“All I ever wanted growing up was to be like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays,” Dawson said. “Now I get to shake their hand and be treated like a friend.”

Sportswriter Bill Madden, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner, and Giants broadcaster Jon Miller, the Ford C. Frick Award recipient, also were honored Sunday.

progers@tribune.com

The Sports Network contributed to this report.