Baseball Way Back: From Cubs All-Star to Giant success

Part 3 of 3

When looking back on Shawon Dunston's career with the Cubs, one can't help thinking of the iconic image of the Shawon-O-Meter.

The 30-by-40-inch sign with removable numbers tracking Dunston's batting average was created by a fan during the Boys of Zimmer season of 1989. According to one account, it began when Dunston was mired in a hitting slump, barely above the Mendoza line at .203 at the beginning of June.

During a recent phone interview, Dunston said he wasn't too keen initially on standing in the batter's box and seeing his numbers exhibited from the left-field bleachers.

"I didn't think it was funny that that guy had that sign with my batting average. I had some choice words," he said. "I'm hitting .177. Who wants to have a big sign saying your batting average is .177? But I knew the scoreboard was going to put it up there."

And perhaps it brought him good luck.

By the end of the season, his batting average was .278 and, what's even better, the Cubs won the division.

1990 was an All-Star year for the shortstop. He had been selected for the NL All-Star team in 1988, but this time he saw action during the game itself, played on his home ground in the Friendly Confines.

He replaced Barry Larkin on defense in the sixth inning and came to bat twice, flying out against Bret Saberhagen and grounding into a force against Chuck Finley.

But despite that - and the rain - he remembers it as a "beautiful experience" and was especially proud of his teammate Ryne Sandberg winning the home run contest.

"I let everybody know, 'that's my double-play partner.'"

The crowd gave him a standing ovation "like I was Andre (Dawson) or Ryno. I really appreciated that."

The early '90s were marred by injury, with Dunston missing nearly the entire 1992 and 1993 seasons with a back injury that required surgery.

He bounced back in 1995, batting .296, with 14 homers and 69 RBI in 127 games.

But it appeared that would be his last year with the Cubs. He signed as a free agent with the Giants, only to return as a free agent to the North Side in 1997, before the Cubs sent him to Pittsburgh.

He said leaving Chicago hurt him.

"I was devastated. I never wanted to leave the Cubs," he said. "Players never want to leave their first team. Only if they're unhappy. If you're happy, you never want to leave. You want to play your whole career for one team.

"I went to the Giants in '96. I learned a lot and then I came back in '97 for one more year. It still bothers me."

While he appreciated playing for the five other teams that employed him and roots for them, "I'm a Cub."

One of those teams was his boyhood favorite, the Mets, who gave him the opportunity to play in a memorable game in the 1999 National League Championship Series against Atlanta.

Coming up in the 15th inning of Game 5, with the Mets down by a run, he hit a single to center after a nine-minute at-bat. He then stole second, reached third on a sacrifice bunt by Edgardo Alfonzo, and scored the tying run on a Todd Pratt walk.

Robin Ventura then gave the Mets a 4-3 win on a single.

But that wouldn't be Dunston's most thrilling moment. That came in the 2002 World Series, when he was a member of the Giants.

In the fifth inning of the sixth game, he homered off Kevin Appier of the Anaheim Angels, giving the Giants a 2-0 lead.

What made it special was being met at home plate by his 9-year-old son Shawon Jr., who was a bat boy. When he crossed the plate, he kissed his son.

He called it "the greatest moment in my life. He was so happy for me. I was so happy for him. And I remember he told me, 'Daddy, you're still good.'"

He still talks about that moment with Shawon Jr., who played in the Atlantic League for the Lancaster Barnstormers this year.

2002 was his final season in the big leagues as a player.

Dunston wound up with Giants as a coach, earning World Series rings, but the loss in the 2002 series rankled for years.

"When we won in (2014), I go, 'You know what. You're going to have to be mature and grow up and let things go. After we got our third championship, I let that 2002 go, but it took me that long."

He said that as a coach he has tried to emulate the traits of those who taught him the game. One of those is honesty, he said.

When talking about himself as a player, "I always told them what I did wrong, not what I did right. 'Everything you're going through, I did it already. You struck out? I struck out a thousand times in my career. I got booed. I got everything. So what you're going through, I know what you're going through.'

"When you're a coach, it's never about you. It's about the player, and you're helping him. I always told them, 'It doesn't take talent to hustle, to give effort. Always give effort. Always play until you can't play."

Today, Dunston, recently inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame, still retains a special fondness for Cubs fans.

"We do have the best fans," he said. "We wasn't in first place a lot. But it was a sellout crowd every day. It's easy to root for your team when your team is always in first. But you find out about a true fan when your team is not in first."