Dawson: Thomas won't have to wait for Hall

When Andre Dawson retired in 1996, he was a first ballot Hall of Famer.

At least, that's what I heard while traveling around the baseball world and talking to writers with Hall of Fame votes.

There was no doubt because of his place among the all-time greats.

He was a slam-dunk.

But by the time Dawson was on the ballot for the first time, with the chance to be elected in January 2002, and during the five years he waited, baseball had seen a power explosion no one could have imagined possible.

The steroid freaks had taken over the game and obliterated the numbers put up by the game's legitimate legends.

As Frank Robinson said at the time, guys he had never heard of just a few years before that were hitting 50 and 60 home runs like it was routine.

And Andre Dawson was left in the dust.

His numbers reduced to rubble, Dawson had to wait nine years for election, but Frank Thomas should not suffer a similar fate.

Thomas was considered a borderline Hall of Famer about five years ago, but with the steroids revelations of the past few years, he's considered among the clean crew and therefore a first-ballot lock with the numbers to back his candidacy.

"He's a Hall of Famer in any era no matter how you slice it," Dawson said Friday, after Thomas made his retirement official. "Especially because he has no attachment to steroids, this is good timing for him.

"He put up dominating numbers for a player of any era, but now you're talking about a time when the numbers went through the roof and he has no association with steroids, no accusations, and that makes the case for him even better."

There's no doubt in Dawson's mind that the era of enhancement hurt his own vote totals, and was a big factor in why he had to wait so long for this summer's induction.

"I think it played a big role in it because the criteria changed," said Dawson, who was elected to the Hall in January. "I was on ballot when these guys were hitting all those home runs.

"It was the main factor because the comparisons were being made to the current players and the overall picture changed.

"I think I got lost in the shuffle."

If Thomas had been on the ballot five years ago, the same might have happened to him.

But now he'll be eligible for election in January 2014, along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, and Dawson thinks Thomas won't encounter any of the difficulty Dawson faced.

"No, he's going to be there (on the ballot) at the right time for him," Dawson said. "There's no doubt he's a first ballot guy. No question at all.

"He did it all as a hitter. He could hit for power and average and he could hit to any part of the park, and his run production was incredible.

"He had just amazing hand-eye coordination, and the ability to hit to all fields with authority.

"He was a dominating presence in the lineup for a long time."

There are several dozen stats we could give you, but his career OPS of .974 jumps out as a frighteningly powerful and effective number for measuring his genius at the plate.

That's 15th all time, and if you toss out the known enhancers, he moves up to at least 12th.

Among those retired, he sits behind only the greatest hitters in baseball history: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial, and ahead of names in the OPS Top 50 like Johnny Mize, Mel Ott, Ralph Kiner, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Joe Jackson, Hack Wilson, Hank Aaron, Tris Speaker, Frank Robinson and Duke Snider.

Thomas finished 18th all time in home runs (521), 22nd in RBI (1,704) and ninth in walks (1,667), strong numbers even with those lists littered by steroid users.

"I admired the way he approached hitting," Dawson said. "He took his walks and was patient if he didn't get what he wanted, but at the same time you couldn't make a mistake to him or he would make you pay.

"When you talked to pitchers around the game, his name would always come up right away when guys talked about who they didn't want to face. They were scared of him.

"To me it's a no-brainer. Frank Thomas is a first ballot Hall of Famer."

brozner@dailyherald.com