Major League Baseball

Dallas Green: dealer of the century

Published Jul. 25, 2010 8:33 p.m. ET

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As general manager of the Chicago Cubs, Dallas Green pulled off one of the great deals in modern baseball when he signed Andre Dawson as a free agent.

And March 9, 1987, still seemed almost like yesterday on Sunday when Dawson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

''There was no question bringing anybody like Andre to Chicago was really special,'' Green said before the induction ceremony. ''We were kind of in limbo. We had won in 1984 but had struggled in '85 and '86, and Andre gave us a new shot in the arm, gave our guys a chance to compete.''

The deal is the stuff of legend. Dawson, a free agent after a decade with the Montreal Expos, offered Green a blank one-year deal and Green filled in the numbers: $500,000 for the season, an extra $150,000 if Dawson stayed off the disabled list before the All-Star break, and another $50,000 for making the All-Star team.

''The Hawk'' responded by hitting 49 home runs, netting a career-high 353 total bases, driving in 137 runs, and winning a Gold Glove in right field. He also beat Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith for MVP honors that year to become the first member of a last-place team to win the award.

''We had been battling back and forth with Dick Moss, his agent,'' Green said. ''Dick and I were pretty compatible, even though he was a big part of the union at that time. I felt very comfortable. I just told him beforehand that we didn't think we could free up the money to get Andre done, and I knew he wanted desperately to come to a grass field because he wanted to get off that astroturf (in Montreal's old Olympic Stadium).''

Green said he tried three or four times to talk the Tribune Co., which owned the team, into completing a deal but had to keep going back to Moss to tell him he didn't have the money.

''Finally, he came to spring training, which kind of upset me a little bit, and told the media that Andre was willing to sign a blank contract,'' Green said. ''We arranged a meeting and Andre honored his word. He signed a contract and it was blank. All I had to do was fill it in.

''I went to the Tribune and said, 'Hey, look. We're not paying the guy top dollar. We're probably not playing market value. But at least we got a great player and have an opportunity to sign the guy.' They gave me the OK.''

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HARVEY'S HORDE: Former major league umpire Doug Harvey had his own cheering section when he was inducted Sunday into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Five current or former umpires - Joe West, Jerry Crawford, Ed Montague, Randy Marsh, and Bruce Froemming - made the trip to Cooperstown to honor the 80-year-old Harvey, who's suffering from throat cancer.

''Doug had a lot of different things that were his innovations,'' Crawford said. ''For the younger guys, it's harder today because of all the electronic stuff. People are always checking on what you're doing. You saw the clubs more often (when Harvey umpired in the National League from 1962-92).''

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RAINES DAY: Tim Raines played more than a decade for the Montreal Expos, patrolling the outfield with Andre Dawson.

Now 50, Raines has been retired for eight years and wonders if he has the numbers to be considered for the Hall of Fame. Dawson was inducted Sunday after a nine-year wait and mentioned Raines as deserving of the honor in his speech.

''I hope so,'' said Raines, who made just his third trip to Cooperstown to see Dawson get honored. ''I spent 23 years in the major leagues, but I'm not going to dwell on it. It's out of my hands. If it doesn't (happen), I won't be bitter.''

In a career from 1979-2002, Raines had 2,605 hits, 170 home runs, 980 RBIs, and 808 stolen bases and was a career .294 hitter.

Dawson is wearing an Expos cap on his plaque and Raines said he would embrace going into the Hall as an Expo.

''I spent 12 years in Montreal,'' Raines said. ''That's where I learned to play the game.''

Dawson, who waited nine years for his special day, also made a pitch for former Cubs reliever Lee Smith.

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DIDIER'S FIND: Former Montreal Expos scouting director Mel Didier sure had an eye for talent.

After watching Andre Dawson in a practice game for Florida A&M, Didier encouraged the Expos to sign him in 1975, even though he didn't even know much about him and wasn't deterred by the knee brace Dawson was wearing as he recuperated from a football injury.

''There was Andre in center field,'' Didier said Sunday prior to Dawson's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. ''I found out he was listed as a sopohomore, which you couldn't sign, but he was really a junior because he had hurt his knee in football and they had redshirted him.

''In my report, and he didn't have a great day that day, but I really liked him, I said 'He could be another Hank Aaron.' And I was right.''

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