Spring training of 1987 remains one of the most entertaining spring trainings in Cubs history. That's because Andre Dawson, one of the best players in baseball at the time, showed up unannounced and begged the Cubs to sign him to a free agent contract. How did the Cubs react? GM Dallas Green said that Andre could "take his dog and pony show somewhere else."

Andre and his agent Dick Moss might have suspected that the owners were colluding to break the union. (It later came out that they were right; the owners had made a secret agreement that no one was to sign a free agent.) They had a plan to get around this, and whether it was a dog and pony show or not, it worked.

Moss announced that Andre wanted to play for the Cubs so badly that he was submitting a blank contract, and trusting the Cubs to fill in a fair amount of their choosing. Dallas Green refused to meet with him, but Moss dropped off the contract with his assistant.

When the news of this offer made the Chicago newspapers, Cubs fans deluged Green with various different versions of "What are you stupid?" phone calls and letters. The press chimed in with their own assessment of this offer: one of the greatest players in baseball was actually begging to join the Cubs--something that never happened--and the dumbest franchise in history was about to blow it.

With pressure mounting, Green realized he had no choice. He filled in the contract, awarding Andre with the 15th highest salary on the Cubs roster that year ($500,000), and reluctantly signed the man who became one of the most beloved Cubs players of all-time. That year Andre Dawson won the MVP award playing for a last place team. He hit 49 home runs, knocked in 137 runs, and ran out to right field to salaams from an adoring public.

And he practically had to hold a gun to their head for the chance to do it.