HOUSTON (CBS Houston) — Fans got the good news early this week, and got to celebrate it Friday.
Hundreds gathered at Minute Maid Park tonight to celebrate Craig Biggio earning membership in the Baseball Hall of Fame, making him the first in Houston Astros history to get into Cooperstown.
Despite cold, raw conditions, the lines of fans waiting to get in snaked around the building. Projector screens played highlights of Biggio’s best moments, including his 3,000th hit on June 28, 2007 against the Colorado Rockies in the very same building.
At a podium inside Union Station Lobby, Biggio told the crowd, I love you guys.
One member shouted back, I love you!
As Biggio’s speech neared its finish, a B-G-O! chant rumbled in the background.
Houston mayor Annise Parker attended, and declared Friday Craig Biggio Day in Houston.
It was an incredible career, packed with memories for Biggio and Houston alike.
Friday offered more than a few more.
(Astros president) Reid (Ryan) sent me a picture with the fans going around the building or whatever – it’s a pretty amazing feeling, Biggio said. When I said in the beginning I really wanted it, there’s a couple reasons. You want it for your family, you want it for your organization, but mostly I really wanted it for the fans, because the fans were the greatest thing in the world to me here. I was just an East Coast kid, been here for 20 years, and they accepted me with open arms, because they appreciated the way I played the game, the way that I went about my business. You get a day like today where it’s absolutely miserable out, and you have people sitting outside the stadium freezing just to see me and say thanks. Trust me, I’ll say my thanks back.
It took three years for Biggio, whose big league career spanned 20 seasons, to get the requisite 75 percent of the vote. Of the 549 ballots cast this year, Biggio’s name appeared on 82.7 percent, 42 more than needed and up from 68.2 percent in his first time on the ballot, in 2013, and 74.8 percent last year.
But for Biggio, a Smithtown, New York native who for two decades endeared himself to the Houston faithful, the emotion of getting in was overwhelming.
I’m still on Cloud Nine right now, he said. It’s a surreal feeling. You think about three years ago, where we were, all of a sudden, we’re going into the greatest Hall of Fame building of all time.
Astros executive advisor Nolan Ryan, who played with Biggio in 1988 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, said the emotional ride has only begun for Biggio.
He’ll realize that when he goes up to Cooperstown and has the opportunity to go through the induction ceremony and be around the other Hall of Famers and just over time he’ll realize what a unique club that is that he is now a member of, Ryan said.
Biggio, the 22nd overall pick of the 1987 draft, became known for his longevity and consistency, only once in his career playing fewer than 11 games – 1988, his first in the bigs – and finishing with a .281/.363/.433 slash line, 291 home runs and 414 RBIs.
Seven All-Star Games. Four Gold Gloves. Five Silver Sluggers.
From 1993-99, Biggio had 41.5 wins above replacement (WAR), fourth-best over the span. The others? Barry Bonds (53.3), Ken Griffey Jr. (49.2) and Jeff Bagwell (47.2), another Astros great hopefully not long behind Biggio.
This is for all of us, Biggio said. This is all the guys who put on an Astros uniform and went out there and played with the anticipation of trying to get to a World Series. For me, I’m the guy that’s going (in), but it’s all of us going in.
Biggio will be inducted with the rest of the Class of 2015, pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz, on July 26 at the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown.
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