Grace, Dunston officially inducted into Cubs Hall of Fame

CHICAGO -- When Mark Grace first got around the Cubs’ big league squad, it took him some time to get to know shortstop Shawon Dunston. Dunston is soft-spoken and private by nature, so building a rapport was going to require patience.

Grace found a shortcut.

“I got to know him really well once I picked a few of his throws out of the dirt,” Grace said with a laugh. “Then he was like, ‘Hey, buddy.’”

Grace and Dunston were sitting side by side on Sunday morning in the Cubs’ dugout at Wrigley Field. For much of the 1990s, they teamed with Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg to form one of the more memorable infield trios in franchise history. All three are now in the Cubs’ team Hall of Fame.

The Cubs have spent this weekend honoring both Grace and Dunston as the newest members of the team’s Hall. Prior to Sunday’s game, they had plaques unveiled in the concourse behind the left-field bleachers. Sandberg was present, along with fellow Cubs inductees Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams, Lee Smith, Andre Dawson, Randy Hundley and broadcaster Pat Hughes.

“It means everything to me, because this is my buddy, Mark Grace,” Dunston said. “We basically came up together. I came up first, and then he came. He just led the way. And I tell everybody, 'I live good and I got my house paid off because of Grace.'”

Grace won four Gold Glove Awards and made three All-Star teams in 13 seasons with the Cubs, starting at first base for 12 of them in Chicago and ending the decade of the ‘90s as the MLB leader in both hits (1,754) and doubles (364). Dunston made two All-Star teams for the Cubs and had more Opening Day nods at short (11) than any North Sider this side of the year 1900. They were both a part of the 1989 club that reached the National League Championship Series.

The Cubs selected Dunston and his 80-grade arm with the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft out of Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1982. There were no televised Draft shows back then, but being from New York gave Dunston a unique experience. His family was brought into the Commissioner’s Offices in Manhattan to hear his name called in person.

Even that experience -- one that included a small group of local reporters, not a large press conference -- was overwhelming for Dunston.

“It was very uncomfortable,” Dunston said. “They're taking pictures. I said, ‘All I did was get drafted.’ … I wouldn't want to be the No. 1 pick today. I'm just being honest. It's just too much. I'm very private.”

Grace listened to Dunston, waiting for the right moment to toss in some humor.

“I didn't have that problem. I was drafted in the 24th round,” Grace interjected. “I didn't go to the Commissioner's Office. I had to go to Alaska.”

Indeed, the Cubs picked Grace out of San Diego State in the 24th round of the 1985 Draft, in which Chicago took three first basemen ahead of him in the first (Rafael Palmeiro), seventh (Joseph Murphy) and 19th (Mack McMorris) rounds. Before signing with the Cubs, Grace had a stint with the North Pole Nicks in an Alaska summer league.

Both roads led to the Cubs’ Hall of Fame.

The careers of Dunston and Grace on the North Side overlapped for nine seasons (1988-95 and ‘97). Gary Nickels, who helped scout and sign both players during his days in the Cubs’ scouting ranks, joked that Chicago needed Grace because few first basemen could handle the ferocity of Dunston’s throws.

“We used to laugh, because he would wear out the heel of Grace's hand with those sinkers,” Nickels said. “Grace was such a good first baseman, that he was able to handle everything.”

Dunston broke into the Majors in 1985 and was grateful when Grace arrived three seasons later.

“I had a great first baseman in Leon Durham, now here comes Grace,” Dunston said. “I’d throw it to first and I'd throw it in the dirt and he picked it. And I was like, ‘Whoa.’ And still to this day, he thinks I did it on purpose.”

“Yes, you did!” Grace chimed in.

“I did not,” Dunston continued. “I had 14 errors. Who wants another error? But when he did catch it, I said, ‘I think we have something here.’”

It was the start of a long partnership and friendship for the pair of fan favorites.

“I was fortunate enough to be a Cub, to be a favorite amongst the fans,” Grace said. “And so was Shawon, because we gave them an effort for over a decade. We gave them the best we could for 162 for over a decade. And we love them as much as they loved us.”