I don't have any of the actual shirts, but the drawing re-created here was my first t-shirt ever.
Sold it on the sidewalks around Wrigley in 1988.
Andre Dawson came here to prolong his career by playing on Wrigley's soft grass, and his bum knees were a big story.
Still, holding up this t-shirt and yelling "ANDRE'S BUM KNEES!" at complete strangers...just uh, not the most understood t-shirt ever made.
Think I sold about fourteen.
Mid-80's, the only place we'd go was the right field bleachers, sitting behind Keith Moreland.
Flynn and my brother Grog were bartenders at Gamekeeper's.
I went to work, those guys could sleep til noon and then drag coffee and a sports page to the sunny bleachers before it got crowded.
Every day.
Pricks.
When Andre Dawson did that thing with the blank contract and sort of forced himself on the Cubs, we suddenly had a real superstar to bow to out there.
The first time I heard the term "rocket" applied to an arm, it was his.
NOBODY would run on the guy.
And that's just his arm, man.
He was the complete player, an absolute all around stud who amassed SUPERhuman (yet all-natural) stats.
While some don't think his numbers are hall worthy, you have to consider he did all this on knees that were in a constant state of decay - like he was dragging a ball and chain around all the time.
Anyway, I think he should be in the Hall, and hope it happens today.
Over at LOHO, they had a spirited chat and vote about it, and here's one of the things host Cubbie Julie had to say (you all know what a giant self absorbed jag HOFer Joe Morgan is, right? That's why I LOVE this bit from her).
"And yes, I realize that Joe Morgan was an infielder, but this is still fun to do:
Career: Morgan 22 season, Dawson 21 seasons
Game played: Morgan 2649, Dawson 2627
Hits: Dawson 2774, Morgan 2517
RBIs: Dawson 1591, Morgan 1133
HRs: Dawson 438, Morgan 268
So Joe, you probably don't have to worry about "lowering the standards" of the HOF if Andre gets in."
Andre's Bum Knees.
Get it?
So instead of money, the knees are begging for cartilage and ligaments!
Ha!
That is just so damn clever!
Okay, maybe not.
