Andre Dawson is 33rd Sox player to enter Hall
Andre Dawson became the 33rd player to have worn a Red Sox uniform to be elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Dawson served as Sox DH for two seasons (1992-93). He becomes the second Sox player from the ‘92 team to enter the Hall, joining third baseman Wade Boggs.
Dawson had 12 knee operations during his career. Two of those surgeries came when he was with the Sox, giving fans only glimpses of his Hall-worthy skills. He played just 121 games in his first season with the Sox, 75 the second, and hit a total of just 29 home runs in that span.
“I hurt my knee in the beginning of my first season [with the Red Sox] in Texas,” Dawson told me in a 2006 interview. “I got caught between sliding and standing up on a passed ball. I was on second base, and I took a chop step between strides and hit the corner of the third-base bag.
“I had knee surgery and they decided to use me in the DH role. Then I had knee surgery the following year, too. I never got untracked the way I wanted to in Boston, which was disappointing because I was a free agent then and Boston had shown a lot of interest.”
Dawson was teammates with Terry Francona on the Montreal Expos, and was the first player to Francona’s side when the Sox manager blew out the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. Francona, after double-digit surgeries, underwent knee replacement surgery in 2006. Dawson has had replacement surgery on one knee, and has plans to have the same procedure on the other.
LaTroy Hawkins signs with Milwaukee Brewers
Free-agent setup man LaTroy Hawkins signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract Wednesday with the Milwaukee Brewers — Hawkins agency, Reynolds Sports Management, confirmed via Twitter.
Hawkins, 36, was 1-4 with a 2.13 ERA, including 11 saves in 65 appearances last season with the Houston Astros.
After intense negotiations with the Astros and a handful of other teams — believed to be the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays — Hawkins and his agent, Larry Reynolds, were disappointed that Astros general manager Ed Wade and the organization wouldn’t offer more than a one-year deal.
In the end, Hawkins believed Milwaukee presented him with the best opportunity.
Despite being a Type A free agent, the Brewers don’t have to surrender draft picks for signing Hawkins, since the Astros didn’t offer the right-handed reliever arbitration Dec. 1.
Peter Gammons Leave ESPN
Peter Gammons, who’s reported on baseball for ESPN since 1989, is leaving the network.
Gammons, 64, is expected to write a farewell espn.com column Friday. His future work plans have not been announced.
Gammons, who wrote for the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated before joining ESPN, was in the first wave of print reporters who got TV jobs. Says ESPN executive editor John Walsh: “Peter was the best and brightest in making the transition from print to video.”
Gammons, who in a statement says he is “conflicted” about leaving, adds that “ESPN gave me a great deal more than I gave it.”
Gammons survived a potentially life-threatening aneurysm in 2006. He appeared across ESPN’s media outlets and, occasionally, was involved in game coverage. ESPN executive vice president Norby Williamson says ESPN is “sad to see Peter go” but understands “his desire for new challenges and a less demanding schedule.”
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