30-year Marliniversary: Hall of Famer Dawson hits final career homer

[Mike Ferguson]

Now a member of the Hall of Fame, outfielder Andre Dawson spent 21 years in Major League Baseball with four different teams, including his final two seasons as a member of the Florida Marlins. On this day 30 years ago, Dawson hit the last of his 438 career home runs in Florida’s 6-0 win over the Houston Astros.

On the mound, Rick Helling had allowed just one hit and two walks through eight innings at Joe Robbie Stadium on Sept. 22, 1996. After Kurt Abbott singled and Charles Johnson walked with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, interim manager John Boles had a decision to make as the pitcher’s spot was up. Boles had Dawson grab a bat.

Facing Xavier Hernandez, Dawson was able to get ahead in the count, 3-1. The fifth pitch was a fastball that was left up and the legend didn’t miss it. Managing to keep it to the right of the foul pole, Dawson blasted a no-doubter into the left-field seats for a three-run blast, doubling the Florida lead to 6-0.

Prior to Dawson’s exclamation point, all of the offense had come in the first inning. After a Gary Sheffield sacrifice fly plated Luis Castillo for the first run, Greg Colbrunn singled home Édgar Rentería before scoring on Joe Orsulak’s RBI triple to make it 3-0.  

From there, Houston starter Darryl Kile settled in, holding the Marlins scoreless over the next five innings while striking out 10. Helling fanned five before Chris Hammond worked a scoreless ninth for Florida.

An eight-time All-Star, the 1977 National League Rookie of the Year and the 1987 National League MVP, Dawson finished his career with nearly 2,800 hits. “The Hawk” would become the first Marlins player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. His final home run came as a member of the Fish and on this day three decades ago.

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