Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Finally!

There are no Astros hats in the Hall of Fame. That's not true, exactly, because of the museum portion, but no player elected has chosen for his plaque to don the Astros' star. Nolan Ryan betrayed the Astros, and chose the Texas T. All other former Astros elected have legitimately achieved bigger and brighter things with other teams.

Until now. With 82.7% of the vote, the BBWAA has finally elected Craig Biggio to the Hall of Fame. After coming tantalizingly close last year, it was all but inevitable, and sure enough, he picked up the necessary votes and then some to get over the 75% threshold.

Astros fans didn't need the BBWAA to acknowledge Biggio as one of the greatest of all time. His numbers and our memories did that just fine. But this gives us another opportunity to celebrate him. Celebrate his greatness. Celebrate the memories. There will be a (hopefully) massive influx of Astros fans descending on Cooperstown in late July to finally get a chance to see an Astro getting the recognition he deserves. And that is meaningful, no matter how long it took and no matter how frustrating the process was. I hope to see you there.