Still waiting for Frank Robinson Day

(Yup, still waiting for Frank Robinson Day in Washington D.C.. That's Frank waving to the crowd in Cincinnati back in May. Photo by Reuters/John Sommers II.)

"It's just honoring a great player for a great career."
(Stan Kasten, via Washington Post, 8/7/2010)

Honoring Andre Dawson in D.C. before Frank Robinson is a sham.

So the Washington Nationals will roll out the red carpet for Andre Dawson tonight at Nationals Park. Yes, like Stan Kasten said: Great player. Great career. Yet baseball fans in Washington D.C. are still waiting to mark Frank Robinson Day on our calendars. Something doesn't add up.

And get this: former Expos Andre Dawson and Gary Carter will be added to a brand-spanking-new "Ring of Honor" at Nationals Park, which includes the names of Hall of Famers from the Washington Senators, Homestead Grays, and Montreal Expos. Sorry Frank Howard, you're not welcome in this club! And Frank Robinson most likely isn't welcome either, even though last time we checked, he's a Hall of Famer.

Should Nationals fans expect similar red carpet treatment for former Expos like Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson when they eventually make their way to Cooperstown, complete with names etched in the fabled Ring of Honor at Nationals Park? I guess so. Great players, great careers, right Stan Kasten? At least Pedro and The Big Unit actually played baseball in Washington once; even if it was for the visiting team.

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Comments

[WFY]

Preach it!

[Swampy]

Excellent point re: Frank Robinson. I don't see the Orioles with George Sisler or Harlond Clift in a "Ring of Honor" or "Wall of Fame" or whatnot... Have the A's made a spot in Oakland for Rube Waddell or Mickey Cochrane or Jimmie Foxx? Or, here's a good one: Do the Giants have a place for Johnny Mize (854 games with Cardinals, 655 games with the NY Giants, 375 games with the Yankees)?

Anybody who's worried that Dawson deserves better can tell the Cubs to take care of him. Cubs fans love him to death, and he hit nearly 40% of his career homers there, anyway.

[Jeff]

Why not an Expos throwback day??? The rangers had a Senators throwback event. They could bring back Youppi, Poutain, Lancers, Frappeurs, Grand Circuits,etc,etc. Sartre-Bleu that was a Belle Epoch!!!!!

[noot]

Pedro and Randy Johnson won't go into the Hall as Expos, so the analogy doesn't really fly. Tim Raines is the only other player for whom this could actually be possible. Likewise, Frank Robinson isn't in the Hall of Fame as an Expo or a National or a Senator -- he's in the Hall as a player, not a manager, and he never played for any of those teams.

I don't really see what the big deal is with honoring the only two guys in the HOF with the actual franchise. I understand the complaint, but if the point of the "Ring of Honor" is to honor the players who are in the Hall as Senators/Expos/Nationals, then this isn't much of a "sham".

[The Nationals Enquirer]

@noot: First, the point of the ring of honor is not to honor players who are in the Hall as Senators/Expos/Nationals. Harmon Killebrew, for example, went into the Hall as a Twin. Joe Cronin, as a Red Sox. etc.

Second, our "sham" comment had nothing to do with arguing for Frank Robinson's inclusion in the Ring of Honor. It was simply to say that it's a joke that the team still hasn't given Robinson the proper send-off/thank you he deserves, with a day in his honor.