Dawson, Lee, and Grace fall short of Hall

Andre Dawson came up short again. This was his 8th year on the ballot. He received 67% of the vote, 75% is needed. Dawson should be a Hall of Famer. I find it unbelievable that Dawson and Ron Santo are not Hall of Famers.

Rickey Henderson (94.8%) and Jim Rice (76.4%) are the 2 players that will go into the Hall in July. Dawson was 3rd in the voting. Lee Smith was 5th in the voting with 44.5%. Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell received 17.4%, Mark Grace only got 4.1%, and Dan Plesac got 0 votes.

Will The Hawk and/or Ronny ever be Hall of Famers? It's hard to say.

Cubs Rumors:

• Cubs.com and Partrick Newman of NPB Tracker are reporting that the Cubs are close to signing left handed pitcher Ken Takahashi. This make sense because the Cubs can add a lefty to help Cotts out in the pen, get a guy who could spot start, and help Kosuke feel more comfortable by signing a Japanese player. However Takahahi is 40 years old, and his stats are not amazing.
• Cubs officials deny the reports that say they are close to a deal with Takahashi.
• John Moores will likely be the majority owner for the Padres, and he will have to cut the payroll from 73 million to 40 million before opening day. This could increase the chances that Peavy will be traded to the Cubs.
• People in San Diego think that Peavy is on his way out.
• Bruce Levine doesn't seem as confident that he was a week ago that the Cubs will get Peavy.

Lots of good stuff coming up this week. More posts later...

Hall of Fame?

Well tomorrow is the day that we find out who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this July. 3 notable Cubs are up for the Hall; Andre Dawson, Lee Smith, and Mark Grace. Here's my thoughts;

Dawson- The Hawks is a Hall of Famer. He should already be in and I am very confident that he is going to get in. He had a HOF carreer in the outfield.

Smith- He also should be in. However, I'm not as confident that he will be inducted this year as I am that Dawson will. Nothing would surprise me anymore with these voters.

Grace- I think that Gracey could be in the Hall someday down the road. However, there's not a very could chance that he'll be put in as a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Cubs.com articles about Grace, Dawson, and Smith seeking the Hall of Fame.

Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell and former Cub Dan Plesac are also on the ballot.
The MLB Network and MLB.com will have live coverage of the announcement tomorrow afternoon.

The Cubs have announced the list of past and present Cubs that will attend the convention next weekend. Here it is:
Ernie Banks
Darwin Barney
Glen Beckert
Milton Bradley
Bob Brenly
Bill Buckner
Randy Bush
Jose Cardenal
Neal Cotts
Doug Dascenzo
Jody Davis
Ryan Dempster
Bobby Denier
Leon Durham
Oneri Fleita
Mike Fontenot
Joey Gathright
Doug Glanville
Kevin Gregg
Brandon Guyer
Rich Harden
Kevin Hart
Jim Hendry
Koyie Hill
Micah Hoffpauir
Pat Hughes
Randy Hundley
Fergie Jenkins
Reed Johnson
Len Kasper
Crane Kenney
Ted Lilly
Carlos Marmol
Sean Marshall
Aaron Miles
Keith Moreland
Dave Otto
Gerald Perry
Lou Piniella
Mike Quade
Rick Reuschel
Larry Rothchild
Jeff Samardzija
Ryne Sandberg
Scott Sanderson
Ron Santo
Matt Sinatro
Lee Smith
Alfonso Soriano
Geovany Soto
Tim Stoddard
Lester Strode
Ryan Theriot
Alan Trammell
Steve Trout
Randy Wells
Billy Williams
Carlso Zambrano

It should be a fun week.
I'll keep you posted.