Gallagher: Dawson wants to replace Expos cap on HOF plaque with Cubs cap

Andre Dawson wants the cap on his National Baseball Hall of Fame plaque to be changed to a Chicago Cubs cap.

November 28, 2023

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Close to 13½ years following his induction into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Montreal Expos great Andre Dawson has created a firestorm by wanting to switch the cap logo on his plaque.

Hawk told the Chicago Tribune he has asked the Hall of Fame to change the plaque from the Montreal logo to the Cubs insignia.

Dawson wanted to be inducted as a Cub when he was elected in 2010 but Hall officials overruled him and told him he had to accept the Expos’ logo because he spent close to 11 seasons with Montreal and only six with Chicago.

Dawson was drafted, developed and nurtured by the Expos who employed him in the majors from 1976 to 1986. He left Montreal to join the Cubs for the 1987 season when he received and rejected a collusion-based offer from Montreal for less money than he received in 1986.

Dawson told Paul Sullivan of the Tribune that he sent a letter a few weeks ago to the Hall of Fame committee and to Jane Forbes Clark, the chairman of the hall of fame board of directors.

"I just felt my preference all along was a Cub despite playing 11 years in Montreal,'' Dawson told the Chicago paper. "I had my reasons and I think that (logo decision) should've been something we sat down and discussed.

"I was one of the more popular players in Montreal but I wouldn't consider myself an organizational icon or the most popular. When push came to shove and I became a free agent, I think it was handled poorly and in a sense I was really forced out. The change of scenery in Chicago rejuvenated me because of how warmly I was received.''

Dawson and the Hall of Fame didn't reply immediately to my requests for further comment on the story.