{"id":4410,"date":"2014-10-23T15:51:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T15:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsspeakers360.com\/blog\/?p=4410"},"modified":"2014-10-23T15:51:28","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T15:51:28","slug":"andre-dawson-to-be-guest-speaker-at-mantle-awards-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportsspeakers360.com\/blog\/andre-dawson-to-be-guest-speaker-at-mantle-awards-banquet","title":{"rendered":"Andre Dawson to be Guest Speaker at Mantle Awards Banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMERCE, OK. — MLB great, Andre Dawson<\/a>, has been named the guest speaker at the upcoming 2015 Mickey Mantle Classic awards banquet scheduled to take place on April 5, 2015 in Commerce Oklahoma. The wooden bat tournament will be held April 6-11, 2015, at the baseball park that honors \u201cThe Commerce Comet\u201d Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. Source: Jim Ellis, The Miami News Record.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo shows Andre Dawson speaking at his 2010 Hall of Fame Induction ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dawson, who finished with 438 home runs and 314 stolen bases during his 21-year career, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. He is the first Hall of Fame member to appear who hasn’t been a pitcher. Past speakers include pitchers Gaylord Perry, Juan Marischal, Goose Gossage, Ferguson Jenkins and Rollie Fingers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a heck of a ballplayer,” said tournament director Brian Waybright. “That, going along with his career, will make him a great one for us. He’s the first real slugger that we’ve had. But then you look at it, he had over 300 stolen bases and a heck of an arm in the outfield. He really was an all-around player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Andre Dawson’s 2010 Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speech<\/strong><\/p>\n