FAMU’s Andre’ Dawson to be inducted in MLB Hall of FAME

ALVIN HOLLINS

Managing Editor

The news that former Rattler baseball great Andre “The Hawk” Dawson will be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is yet another testament to the great diamond legacy at Florida A&M University. Dawson’s July 25 Hall of Fame enshrinement in fabled Cooperstown, New York, which produced four major league all-stars, field managers and front-office personnel.

The leadership of the school’s acknowledged “Fathers of Baseball,” the late Dr. Oscar A. “Chief” Moore and the late Costa “Pop” Kittles during a golden era from the 1950s and the late 1970s, built a solid foundation that yielded 14 conference titles and more than two dozen major league draftees.

- The Rattler Baseball all-star lineup began with the late William “Bill” Lucas, the first African- American major league baseball executive with Atlanta in the 1970s, who was drafted by the Braves in 1958 as a shortstop, but eventually got into management before rising to the top of the organization. Lucas oversaw the Braves’ player development system as well as all aspects of major- league level operations. He helped draft the players that would bring a division title to Atlanta in 1980, a year after his untimely death due to a brain aneurysm.

- Hal McRae, a 1965 draftee by Cincinnati, went on to become a star hitter in the majors with the “Big Red Machine” teams of the 1970s and, later, in the American League as the consummate designated hitter with Kansas City. McRae later became the field manager in Kansas City and in Tampa Bay, before serving several stints as hitting coach for a number of major league teams.

- Future Hall of Famer Dawson, a 1975 draftee by Montreal, was an eight-time All-Star who played 21 seasons, hitting more than 400 home runs and driving in 1,500 runs in his career, capturing National League MVP honors in 1987 with the Chicago Cubs. Dawson now serves as special assistant to the president of the Florida Marlins and works in their front office.

- Base-stealing ace Vince Coleman, who was picked by Philadelphia in 1981 and St. Louis in 1982, led the majors in stolen bases for three seasons (1985, 1986, 1987), helping the Cardinals to the 1985 World Series against McRae’s Kansas City Royals. Coleman would steal more than 750 bases in his major league career and would play in three all-star games.

- Marquis Grissom, who was drafted by Montreal in 1988, helped the Atlanta Braves to the 1995 World Series title, enjoyed a 17-year career in the majors, playing for five teams. He was the MVP of the 1997 American League Championship Series, helping lead the Cleveland Indians to the World Series.

- In the 1980s, FAMU Baseball enjoyed a rare conjunction of former players in the majors as the trio of McRae (Kansas City), Dawson (Montreal, Chicago) and Coleman (St. Louis) all played on the highest level of the game at the same time. Dawson (Montreal) and McRae (Kansas City) played in the 1982 Major League All-Star Game, then Dawson (Chicago Cubs) and Coleman (St. Louis) played in back-to-back All- Star games for the National League in 1988 and 1989.