Andre Dawson has said all along he prefers the warm weather. And he`s certainly proving it.
Dawson has been on a tear since the Cubs came out to the West Coast last week. He hit in every one of the first five games of the nine-game California trip, going 10 for 20 with three homers and seven runs batted in.
Dawson accounted for the Cubs` only runs Tuesday night, in a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers, with a two-run homer off winner Orel Hershiser (3-3) in the third inning.
That was the 384th home run of Dawson`s career and came in his 2,200th major-league game. Only 88 players have appeared in more games. And only 29 have hit more homers.
Dawson, who turns 38 in July, has played the last few years on two arthritic knees that require intense daily medical care. The cold makes them worse, which is probably why Dawson started the season hitting just .235.
But now that the weather is warming up, he leads the Cubs with a .315 average, including a .366 binge during May.
”The cold makes my knees lock up,” says Dawson. ”I prefer the warm weather.”
Dawson and Mark Grace are about the only Cubs who have been hitting lately. They have combined to drive in 10 of the 14 runs the Cubs scored in the first five games on the West Coast.
Grace had a pair of triples and drove in all three runs Monday night in a 3-0 win over the Dodgers, then went 2 for 5 in Tuesday`s loss. He had four consecutive two-hit games going into the series finale against the Dodgers Wednesday night, which Danny Jackson (0-5) started against Bob Ojeda (1-2).
Jackson has just one victory in 22 starts since coming to the Cubs as a free agent last season. But he has pitched well enough to win his last three outings and five of the eight starts for the season.
In his last three, Jackson has allowed just six earned runs in 18 2/3 innings for a 2.89 earned-run average.
After a day off Thursday, the Cubs finish the West Coast trip with three games at San Diego. They play the California teams at Wrigley Field for nine games, beginning Tuesday.
When the Cubs left Chicago for a 12-game trip that included a stop in Houston, they were 12-18, six games under .500 and nine games behind the division-leading Pittsburgh Pirates.
Heading into the final stretch of the trip, they had improved to 17-21, four games under .500 and 6 1/2 behind the Pirates.
The Cubs still have a long way to go to get into the National League East race, but this trip has to rank as a pleasant surprise so far.
Last year, the Cubs essentially ended their season in June with a 1-9 West Coast trip.
”Weird things seem to happen to us out here,” says Grace, who lives in Los Angeles during the off-season. ”But we`re having a decent trip this year.”
Grace and Dawson are doing their part. Now if they can just get a little help from their friends.
