I've been proud to be a lifelong Chicago Cub and still be with the Cubs. That's always been important to me and it's always been special. It's allowed me to have Chicago as a home. There's not too many guys that spend their whole career with one. |
It was all about doing things right. If you played the game the right way, played the game for the team, good things would happen. That's what I loved most about the game, how a ground out to second with a man on second and nobody out was a great thing. In my day, if a guy came to spring training 20 pounds heavier than what he left, he was considered out of shape and was probably in trouble. He'd be under a microscope and the first time he couldn't beat out a base hit or missed a fly ball, he was probably shipped out. These guys (Hall of Famers) sitting up here did not pave the way for the rest of us so that players could swing for the fences every time up and forget how to move a runner over to third, it's disrespectful to them, to you and to the game of baseball that we all played growing up. Respect. |
No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen. |
Starting off as slow as I did, 0-for-32, the organization stuck with me and allowed me to work my way through that and feel comfortable, ... It was a great situation for me to come here and play every day, and, really, that was what got the ball rolling for me. |
That's always been important to me and I think it's always been special. It's allowed me to have Chicago as a home; my family considers Chicago a home. There's not too many guys that spend their whole career with one team and I think it's very fortunate and a blessing for me. |
To be in their company and to join them means everything to me. |
To be with Sparky Anderson and Al Kaline, Fergie Jenkins and be with them and be a part of that group, it's still pretty incredible to me. I'm just a big fan of the game. What's neat about this exhibit is just the history that's behind it. I get kicks just walking from window to window and just seeing the history and seeing how far the game has come, kind of how the game was played way back when. It's come a long way. There's a lot of history there that I respect. You really get a good feel coming to an exhibit like this. |
We do have a problem in baseball, and using steroids is not respecting the game. |
We here today owe America's pastime a strict policy. |
With those numbers that he has, those plateaus, that's Hall of Fame right there. As far as I'm concerned, he's in on the first ballot. |