* Congratulations, Andre Dawson

“The Hawk” was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame today. Now get gets to add that to his autograph.

Dawson released an autobio in 1994 (with Tom Bird) that was published by Zondervan, a religious house, ostensibly for kids. Look for a new title soon.

From the Hall of Fame press release (with my annotations in parenthesis):

Andre Dawson, a five-tool player who won eight Gold Glove and four Silver Slugger Awards in a career spanning 21 seasons with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in balloting verified by Ernst & Young. He will be inducted into the Hall July 25 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Dawson, whose fielding prowess earned him the nickname “The Hawk,” will be honored along with manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, who were elected last month by the Veterans Committee, at the ceremony that will include the presentation of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. The Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting will be announced February 1.

In the BBWAA election, 539 ballots, including five blanks (which kind of speaks to the lack of HoF caliber players this year), were cast by members with 10 or more consecutive years’ service. Players must be named on 75 percent of ballots submitted to be elected. This year, 405 votes were required.

Dawson was listed on 420 ballots (77.9%) to win election in his ninth year on the ballot. His election brings to 292 the number of elected members of the Hall. Of that total, 203 are former major-league players, of which 109 have been through the BBWAA ballot. Dawson is the 68th outfielder overall elected to the Hall.

A .279 career hitter with 438 home runs, 1,591 runs batted in and 314 stolen bases, Dawson was the National League Rookie of the Year with the Expos in 1977 and the NL Most Valuable Player in 1987 with the Cubs. The eight-time All-Star underwent 12 knee surgeries (a testament to his fortitude) during his career but ended up with more than 400 home runs and 300 stolen bases, a feat achieved by only two other players in history, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.

For the first time in BBWAA balloting, two candidates failed to gain election by fewer than 10 votes. Pitcher Bert Blyleven, on the ballot for the 13th time, got 400 votes (74.2%). Second baseman Roberto Alomar, on the ballot for the first time, had 397 (73.7%), the most for a first-year candidate without being elected. (Sorry, but I never thought of Blyleven as a HoF candidate. Perhaps he just wasn’t flashy enough, but rather one of those players who quietly went about his business year after year, compiling the numbers that would merit consideration. The same for Alomar. Should that be relative to the eras in which they played? That’s a whole ‘nother argument.)

Blyleven’s five-vote margin was the fifth fewest in history, trailing only Nellie Fox (1985) and Pie Traynor (1947), who each missed by two votes, and Billy Williams (1986) and Jim Bunning (1988), who each missed by four. All were eventually elected, Traynor in 1948 and Williams in 1987 by the BBWAA and Bunning in 1996 and Fox in 1997 by the Veterans Committee.

Players may remain on the ballot for up to 15 years provided they receive five percent of the vote in any year. There were 11 candidates who failed to make the cut this year, all among the 15 players who were on the ballot for the first time.

The first-year candidates who received sufficient support to remain other than Alomar were shortstop Barry Larkin with 278 (51.6%), designated hitter-third baseman Edgar Martinez with 195 (36.2%) and first baseman Fred McGriff with 116 (21.5%).

Other holdovers who will remain on the ballot are pitchers Jack Morris and Lee Smith, first basemen Don Mattingly and Mark McGwire (kind of surprised he’s still on the ballot, given the PED climate), shortstop Alan Trammell, outfielder-DH Harold Baines (see, Blyleven) and outfielders Tim Raines, Dave Parker and Dale Murphy.

The vote: Andre Dawson 420 (77.9%), Bert Blyleven 400 (74.2%), Roberto Alomar 397 (73.7%), Jack Morris 282 (52.3%), Barry Larkin 278 (51.6%), Lee Smith 255 (47.3%), Edgar Martinez 195 (36.2%), Tim Raines 164 (30.4%), Mark McGwire 128 (23.7%), Alan Trammell 121 (22.4%), Fred McGriff 116 (21.5%), Don Mattingly 87 (16.1%), Dave Parker 82 (15.2%), Dale Murphy 63 (11.7%), Harold Baines 33 (6.1%), Andres Galarraga 22 (4.1%), Robin Ventura 7 (1.3%), Ellis Burks 2 (0.4%), Eric Karros 2 (0.4%), Kevin Appier 1 (0.2%), Pat Hentgen 1 (0.2%), David Segui 1 (0.2%), Mike Jackson 0, Ray Lankford 0, Shane Reynolds 0, Todd Zeile 0. (I wonder about the writers to give votes to guys like Appier, Hentgen, and Segui. On the other hand, it’s nice that the players got at least that one vote. Thought Zeile would have been in that category.)

* Brought to you as a public service announcement:

* New titles from Ivan R. Dee

Actually, most are not exactly new, but re-released in paper back editions. But I guess they’re all new if you haven’t read them yet (this sounds like one of those “if a tree falls in the woods…” bits).

The only one that might qualify is A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball, by the prolific Peter Morris. This is being promoted as a “new, revised and expanded one-volume paperback edition” by the publisher.

Having pushed through most of the two-volume hardcover version — it’s not the type of book that has to be read in one shot to be enjoyable — I can say it’s well worth the effort. Game of Inches is the only book to win both SABR’s Seymour Medal and Spitball’s Casey Award.

In addition, Dee will release a paperback edition of Morris’ But Didn’t We Have Fun: An Informal History of Baseball’s Pioneer Era, 1843-1870. This is not my favorite sub-genre, but the author’s style  makes it reasonably tolerable.

Both books are due out in March.

Dee is also re-releasing Hank Greenberg’s autobiography (written with Ira Berkow), The Story of My Life, one of the better ones of this type, especially for a look at what Jewish players had to go through in the pre-WW Two years. This one came out last month.

Finally, Peter Schilling’s novel, The End of Baseball, also gets the paperback treatment in March. The author takes an historical-fiction “what if” look at the first all-Black team in the majors, under the direction of that old maverick, Bill Veeck. Here’s my review of End with a similar-themed Safe at Home from September.

For more information, visit Ivanrdee.com. Bonus link: their sports titles.

* Happy trails, Randy Johnson

Possibly the last pitcher to win 300 games, Johnson announced his retirement yesterday.

He’s been the subject of several books, but most seem to be for kids or where he’s been included in numerous release about baseball’s  greatest players or for his no-hitters. Perhaps that will change now.

Say what you will about the Bug Unit, at least he (probably) never used steroids.

Baseball-Reference.com had this interesting post this morning about some of Johnson’s accomplishments. You can see his whole record here. And here’s the story from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Finally, who says he doesn’t have a sense of humor?

So long, Randy. See you in Cooperstown in five years.

* MLB to air IBL documentary

The MLB Network will present Holy Land Hardball, the documentary about the lone season of the Israel Baseball League, on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m.

* What am I bid?

Auctionscc.com has several baseball publications up for sale (as well as other sports-related merchandise) at what appear to be reasonable prices.

* Review: As They See ‘Em

BleedCubbieBlue,  a — what else — Cubs blog, posted this review of Bruce Weber’s book.

Upshot: “Bruce Weber, you wrote one heckuva book.”

* Frick Award nominees finalized

From the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

2010 Ford C. Frick Award Ballot Finalized

Winner to be Announced Feb. 1

Ten of baseball’s most beloved and honored broadcasters were named today as the finalists for the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

The 10 finalists are Billy Berroa, Skip Caray, Tom Cheek, Jacques Doucet, Lanny Frattare, Graham McNamee, Jon Miller, Joe Nuxhall, Herb Score, and Dave Van Horne.

To be considered, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two. In 2009, more than 200 broadcasters were eligible for consideration for the award, with bios of each candidate appearing at the Hall of Fame’s Web site.

The finalists include the three fan selections produced during online balloting at the Hall of Fame’s Facebook site, www.facebook.com/baseballhall,  throughout December. A total of 15,505 votes were cast.

For the second consecutive year, Cheek, Doucet and Nuxhall earned spots on the final ballot via fan voting online. Cheek paced all broadcasters in fan voting with 5,930 votes. Doucet was second with 5,183 votes and Nuxhall followed with 1,363 votes.

Final voting for the 2010 Frick Award will be conducted by a 20-member electorate, comprised of the 15 living Frick Award recipients and five broadcast historians/columnists, including past Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Jerry Coleman, Gene Elston, Joe Garagiola, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, 2009 Frick Award winner Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Dave Niehaus, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker, and Bob Wolff, and historians/columnists Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn, (Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of NY Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian), and Curt Smith (historian).

The 10 finalists:

• Berroa began announcing Major League Baseball games in 1963 and spent 17 years with the Mets (1987-93; 1997-2007) as a Spanish radio and TV announcer
• Caray broadcast Braves games on TBS for 33 years (1976-2008) became part of the first three-generation call of a game in 1991 with his father (and 1989 Frick Award winner) Harry Caray and his son Skip Caray
• Cheek’s resume includes 32 major league seasons covering the Montreal Expos (1974-’76) and Toronto Blue Jays (1977-2004), the last 28 seasons as the Jays’ radio play-by-play man, before his death during the 2005 season
• Doucet spent his entire 34 year career broadcasting for the Expos as the play-by-play radio voice on their French network
• Frattare spent 33 years (1976-2008) with the Pirates, establishing the longest tenure as a radio broadcaster with the club, surpassing 1986 Ford Frick Award winner Bob Prince, who broadcast for 29 years
• McNamee was a national pioneer in sports broadcasting, calling games for 13 seasons for Westinghouse and NBC, also calling 12 World Series
• Miller has worked 32 seasons with the Rangers (1978-79), Red Sox (1980-82), Orioles 1983-96 and Giants (1997-present) and has also been the lead voice on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecasts for the last 20 years
• Nuxhall spent 38 years with the Reds (1967-2004), and totaled 53 years with Reds as a former major league pitcher and broadcaster, before his passing in 2007
• Score broadcast Indians games for 34 years (1964-97), the last 30 as the Indians’ play-by-play voice
• Van Horne has spent 42 years in broadcasting for the Montreal Expos (1968-2000) and Florida Marlins (2001-present), the last nine in Florida, following 33 seasons in Montreal as the English voice.

Miller and Van Horne are the only active broadcasters on the ballot. Doucet and Frattare are the only other living candidates. Additional biographical information on the 10 finalists can be found at www.baseballhall.org.

The annual award is named in memory of Hall of Famer Ford C. Frick, renowned sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and Baseball commissioner.

* Review: The Gashouse Gang

How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series – and America’s Heart, by John Heidenry.

An odd inclusion (posted Jan. 2) for something so august as The Huffington Post (does this mean there’s hope for my work appearing there?), especially since the book came out in 2008 and the author has a more recent release (Zero at the Bone: The Playboy, the Prostitute, and the Murder of Bobby Greenlease).

Upshot: the book “is a nice homage to a team and era, but it’s caught between genres.

Sports writing — and baseball writing in particular, because statistics have become such a strong part of the modern game’s analysis — is deceptively difficult. Fifty years ago, it was enough to write colorful anecdotes about beefy jocks, gathering stories by drinking with the boys and preserving access by withholding any unflattering anecdote, describing their achievements in hyperbole and doggerel. Nowadays, a good sportswriter is expected to analyze, critique, and evaluate what he sees, not merely describe it using clever adjectives. Sports fans who write sports books frequently fall into this trap of merely attempting the former — like Lee Lowenfish, who wrote a thoroughly disappointing biography of Cardinal General Manager and statistical pioneer Branch Rickey…who also plays a major role in this book. John Heidenry is an engaging writer with a lot of sympathy for his characters, particularly the enigmatic Dizzy Dean, whom he does a good job bringing to life. But he isn’t a baseball expert, and ultimately a portrait of these men without a better understanding of their life’s work falls a bit short.

Well, that was more than an “upshot,” but nicely put.

* Now hear this: Marty Appel

Marty Appel, former director of public relations for the New York Yankees during the tumultuous 1970s, has, to my mind, one of the dream jobs. These days he runs his own PR company and has his finger in many pies.

As an author, his recent biography, Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain, has done well since its release this summer and his memoirs, Now Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning the News for Mickey, Reggie and George, is an illuminating look at a job that can be thankless most of the times (although I imagine working for the number one franchise in the number one market can have its perks as well). In addition, Appel  has worked on books by such baseball personalities as Tom Seaver, Bowie Kuhn, Lee MacPhail, umpire Eric Gregg, and the aforementioned Munson, as well as countless forewords, articles, and essays.

A popular guest speaker, Appel attended the Yankees Fantasy Camp in November where he spoke about his experiences at Sabbath services for the first Kosher component. He even had time to put on the pinstripes himself, collecting a hit on the first (and only) pitch he saw, then quickly announcing his “retirement.” With all his accomplishments, he considers this one of his favorite moments.

Appel spent some time with the Bookshelf discussing the work that went into Munson, as well as the behind-the-scenes process of putting together various publications for the Yankees, one of his responsibilities while with the team.

Hear it here: