That may be what sets Reggie apart, but not Jeter. Jeter has over 3400 hits and played there for 20 years. And let's ignore the other 3 dozen of Yankees who are in the hall, why don't we? Awful. The guy you responded to clearly said "if he played in Yankee pinstripes his entire career". Mets have nothing to do with anything. May as well extend your examples to the contrary to the Jets, Giants, Rangers, Knicks, and Nets, and them not making their respective HoF's. Mussina didn't play his entire career with the Yankees. Mattingly and Williams didn't play 20 years and accumulate 3000+ hits. If Craig Biggio played an entire 20 year career for the Yankees and amassed 3000 hits, just like he did in Houston, he would have been a 1st ballot HoFer. When it comes to resorting to using Mets players in an attempt to disprove Yankee bias, I think the debate has ended.
not my intentions just trying to show why some have a problem with his selection... He was not a no brainer in my opinion like he was for most Astros fans but I am also someone that thinks the Hall should be reserved for the greatest players ever not just guys that were top 10 of their decade no doubt Craig was one of the best 15 to 20 players in the 90s but I dont think that should automatically get you in
I find it interesting that you completely ignore hey how's posts which literally destroy everything you've posted about Biggio. What you think you remember about him is just plain wrong. Like Hey Now! said, Biggio didn't sneak into the hall. He got over 80% of the vote in his third year of eligibility. Most people do not have a problem with his selection. The few that do are talking out of their ass. The research on his career merits is right in front of you and it's cut and dry.
Should Tim Raines be in the hall of fame? how about Dwight Evans? Reggie Smith? Buddy Bell? Willie Randolph? Ken Boyer? There are plenty of people with similar resumes to Craig Biggio that are not in the hall... Craig gets in because he got to 3000 hits (people like round numbers) and he played in an era where a most of the players that were better than him are black listed by the writers because they were or everyone thinks they were juicing. Plus it doesn't hurt that he is widely considered to be the greatest player in our franchises sad history. people like to act like if Biggio was a yankee he would have been considered one of the greatest playesr of all time but the truth is if he was a yankee he would have been replaced 5 years earlier than he was and been forgotten by their fans
Congratulations to Craig and he did it playing baseball, not the abomination the Astros are mucking around with now in the AL.
you're really making ridiculous statements in a calm and collected manner. That doesn't make them any less silly. Your entire premise is flawed. He was actually great..it has nothing to do with guys who were/weren't juicing. But keep ignoring the stats that were already posted refuting this stuff.. No one cares that he was the greatest player in Astros history. If they did, they would have voted someone in before now. Guess what? The astros have existed for more than 5 years. Did they suddenly start feeling bad for the franchise?
Who? And what does "similar" mean to you? Exactly 3 players that have reached 3000 hits have missed out on the hall. One, Pete Rose. Obvious reason. Jeter, not eligible. Rafael Palmeiro was juicing. I don't think you realize just how good the man was. Also, crappy defensive players win 4 gold gloves all the time, right?
So if juicing had nothing to do with it do you think Biggio deserved to go in ahead of Piazza...? Just the same I'm glad he made it. I'm not really an Astros fan but I'm a fan of Biggio. And he's a very down to earth guy. Ran into him at the grocery store a bunch of times. One day I was getting in my car and someone said 'Hi Remii' and I turned around and it was Biggio. I played it cool and we exchanged greetings and when I got in the car my wife asked me why I was smiling so hard and I said Biggio remembered my name.... Lol.
Another quality thing about Biggio is he switched from 2B to CF so the Astros could acquire Kent and from CF to LF so the Astros could acquire Beltran, even though he was a huge defensive liability at both of those positions. There are an awful lot of players (e.g. golden boy Derek Jeter), who selfishly would not have done that.
Jeter's legacy is tremendously enhanced by what he did in the postseason; that's fairly undeniable. And yes, we will ignore most of the three dozen Yankees who are in the Hall because quite a few them had what amounts to a cup of coffee with the Yankees. People don't think "Yankee great" with Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs, Phil Neikro, Gaylord Perry or Dave Winfield. By that logic, the Astros have two Hall of Famers this year. The last Yankee to be inducted as a Yankee (non-Veterans Committee) was Goose Gossage in 2008. Before that, Reggie Jackson in 1993. Altogether, 10 players have been elected as Yankees by the general election. Ever. The point I was making is a little broader; if playing for the Yankees boosted your Hall of Fame credentials, we'd see other evidence of it. But we haven't. They're currently electing a Yankee roughly once every decade. And some celebrated Yankees (like Mattingly and Williams) are not seeing any lift from their time in pinstripes. ETA: because he was mentioned - Willie Randolph is another one. Six-time All-Star, 65.5 career WAR; 2 rings (6 if you include his Yankee coaching career) and he got five votes his one and only ballot. Let's not lose perspective - Biggio was 39 votes away from being elected first ballot, and under different circumstances (the overstuffed ballot of 2014), he probably easily sails in on his second ballot. He did extremely well *as an lifelong Astro* so a) I'm not sure where the vitriol is coming from; he was very obviously highly-regarded; b) there's nothing to suggest being a Yankee is worth 40 votes. His profile certainly would have been higher; maybe he does go in first ballot. But I don't think the team he played for was as big a factor as the overcrowded ballot and the fact his candidacy simply wasn't slam-dunk first ballot. Says the guy listing every Hall of Famer who has ever tried on a Yankee uniform as a Yankee Hall of Famer... And I listed *a* Met - not Mets - and three Yankees. And if we use your loose definition of any Yankee, Tim Raines played for the Yankees and he's 0-8. Again, Biggio was elected by 83% of the voters on just his third ballot. I think the burden of proof, re: any bias, is on those who don't think Biggio was very well-thought of by the voters. I (obviously) think Bagwell has a significantly better case, and he's never gotten the supprt Biggio has.
He gets in because he had an incredibly great ten-year peak, an overall good career with meaningful milestones and accomplishments, including making an All-Star team at two radically different, defensive-premium positions. I agree, if somehow the PED issue was moot, he might have been waiting longer. But he would have eventually gotten in; the resume is deserving.
<iframe width="624" height="381" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/W817X4DVJMI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Congratulations to Biggio! Uh Bagwell? Maybe they know something we don't?! Spoiler From the Chicago Sun-Times
so happy for Biggio. As for the people dissing Biggio's defense--perhaps you fellas didn't watch him in the 90s or only remember his last five or six years? Dude's defense was *great*. And, not just from the well-deserved gold gloves. For about a decade, only Alomar was better with the glove. Biggio had a noodle for an arm and still managed to play gold-glove caliber defense at 2B for about a decade (he wouldn't have made it at SS or 3B ). Any argument against Biggio's HoF worthiness is not grounded in reality.
Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There it is...the display honoring Astros legend Craig Biggio in <a href="https://twitter.com/BaseballHall">@BaseballHall</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BiggioHOF?src=hash">#BiggioHOF</a> <a href="http://t.co/YslKLb04LR">pic.twitter.com/YslKLb04LR</a></p>— Daniel Gotera (@DTGoteraKHOU) <a href="https://twitter.com/DTGoteraKHOU/status/624613536908513281">July 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The open space waiting for Biggio's plaque. Top left, right next to Frank Thomas. So great. <a href="http://t.co/IbYnUgmGhQ">pic.twitter.com/IbYnUgmGhQ</a></p>— Daniel Gotera (@DTGoteraKHOU) <a href="https://twitter.com/DTGoteraKHOU/status/624613800264609792">July 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The HOF folks announced today that Biggio's plaque will be on display at Minute Maid Park August 22. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BiggioHOF?src=hash">#BiggioHOF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KPRC2">@KPRC2</a></p>— Randy McIlvoy (@RandyMcIlvoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/RandyMcIlvoy/status/624289313761697792">July 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Before he was Craig Biggio, HOF second baseman, he was Craig Biggio, young catcher. Here's our cover from Sept. 1989 <a href="http://t.co/UAqzzyspi6">pic.twitter.com/UAqzzyspi6</a></p>— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/624540392021561344">July 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/icymi?src=hash">#icymi</a> get today's <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonChron">@HoustonChron</a> Craig Biggio section <a href="https://twitter.com/APSE_sportmedia">@APSE_sportmedia</a> <a href="http://t.co/qlnPzO68hk">pic.twitter.com/qlnPzO68hk</a></p>— Jeff Patterson (@TheJeffPatt) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJeffPatt/status/624621088136302593">July 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
