Shawon Dunston

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox baseball biography Shawon Donnell Dunston (born March 21, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player. A shortstop, Dunston played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1985 through 2002. On January 13, 2023, he was selected as a member of the 2023 class of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame.

Dunston was the first overall pick in the 1982 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs, and played for the Cubs (1985–95, 1997), San Francisco Giants (1996, 1998, 2001–02), Pittsburgh Pirates (1997), Cleveland Indians (1998), St. Louis Cardinals (1999, 2000) and New York Mets (1999). Dunston was named an All-Star in 1988 and 1990.

Early life

Dunston was born in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York City, on March 21, 1963. As a youth, he lived in the Linden Apartments, a public housing facility, with his father, Jack, mother, Brenda, and younger sister, Kindra. Jack worked as a cab driver and delivered furniture, while Brenda worked in a women's clothing store.<ref name=tj>Template:Cite news</ref>

Dunston attended the nearby Thomas Jefferson High School. He played for the school's baseball team as an infielder.<ref name=tj/> In his senior season at Thomas Jefferson, Dunston had a .790 batting average, 10 home runs, and stole 37 bases without being caught stealing in 26 games.<ref name=recordledger>Record-Journal via Google News Archive Search</ref><ref name=honored>Record-Journal via Google News Archive Search</ref>

Playing career

As a shortstop, Dunston was considered one of the best prospects available in the 1982 Major League Baseball draft.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Chicago Cubs selected Dunston with the first overall selection of the draft out of Thomas Jefferson High School.<ref name=tj/> He was the first player from the New York area to be chosen with the first overall pick in the draft.<ref name=honored/> Opting to represent himself, Dunston signed a one-year contract with the Cubs for $100,000, and was assigned to the Cubs' Rookie-level minor league baseball affiliate in the Gulf Coast League.<ref name=recordledger/>

Dunston competed with Larry Bowa for the role as the starting shortstop for the Cubs in spring training in 1985. Dunston initially won the job over Bowa.<ref name=bowa>The Telegraph-Herald via Google News Archive Search</ref> He made his debut in the major leagues on April 9. However, Dunston struggled offensively and defensively, batting .194 and committing nine errors in 23 games. As a result, he was sent back to the minor leagues,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with Bowa regaining the starting role. After playing well for the Iowa Cubs, the Cubs recalled Dunston in August, and released Bowa.<ref name=bowa/>

In Template:Baseball year and Template:Baseball year he joined double-play partner Ryne Sandberg as an All-Star and was a key contributor to the Cubs' NL East division title in Template:Baseball year, hitting .278 with 20 doubles, 6 triples, 9 home runs, 60 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases. Due to become a free agent after the 1991 season, Dunston instead signed a four-year, $12 million contract to remain with the Cubs without testing the open market.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, he injured his back that offseason, and required surgery to repair a herniated disk in May 1992.<ref name=fremont/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Cubs opted not to protect Dunston from being eligible to be selected in the 1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but neither the Colorado Rockies nor the Florida Marlins selected him.

After the 1995 season, he was granted free agency. The Cubs wanted to move Dunston to third base, but he preferred to remain at shortstop. As a result, he signed with the San Francisco Giants for the 1996 season, receiving a one-year contract worth $1.5 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He signed with the Cubs for the 1997 season, receiving $2 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On August 31, 1997, the Cubs traded Dunston to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who lost two shortstops, Kevin Elster and Kevin Polcovich, to injuries.<ref name="nydn2007">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> He hit two home runs in his first game with the Pirates,<ref>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Google News Archive Search</ref> and three in his first three games.<ref name=nydn2007/> He became a free agent after the season, and signed a one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians for $400,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On July 23, 1998, the Indians traded Dunston, José Mesa, and Alvin Morman to the Giants for Jacob Cruz and Steve Reed. Dunston was batting .237 at the time of the trade.<ref>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Google News Archive Search</ref> With the Giants, Dunston batted .176 in 51 at-bats. Dunston became a free agent after the season and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on a one-year contract worth $500,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On July 31, 1999, the Cardinals traded Dunston to the New York Mets for Craig Paquette. He replaced rookie Melvin Mora on the Mets roster.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dunston became a free agent after the season and signed with the Cardinals for the 2000 season. He signed with the Giants that next offseason, playing with them in 2001 and 2002. He reached the 2002 World Series, his first, as a member of the Giants.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> He hit a home run off Kevin Appier of the Anaheim Angels in game six to give his team a two run lead in what could have been a championship clinching game for the Giants, but the Angels came back to win the game<ref name=worldseries>Template:Cite news</ref> and eventually the series.

Dunston was a career .269 hitter with 150 home runs and 668 RBI in 1814 games. He seldom walked, so in spite of his batting average, his on-base percentage was the second-worst among players with at least 4500 plate appearances during their careers.<ref name="baseball-reference">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the end of his career, he was used mainly as a fourth outfielder and a role player off the bench. He wore jersey #12 while with the Chicago Cubs.

Playing style

Bill James noted that Dunston was an "eternal rookie, a player who continued until the end of his career to make rookie mistakes."<ref name="james">Template:JamesAbstract</ref> Dunston was known, especially early in his career, for his unusually strong throwing arm at the shortstop position.

He won the 1996 Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership.

Post-playing career

Dunston became eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008; 75% of the vote was necessary for induction, and 5% was necessary to stay on the ballot. He received 0.2% of the vote, thus being dropped off the Baseball Writers' Association of America's ballot.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During his career, Dunston resided in Fremont, California.<ref name=fremont>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal

Dunston has a son, Shawon Jr., who has played minor league baseball.<ref name=worldseries/> One of Dunston's three daughters, Jasmine Dunston, became the White Sox Director of Minor League Operations in 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders

External links

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