That's Baseball

I didn't think that I would be this nervous today. I'm confident that Biggio will be elected to the Hall of Fame, but the waiting is starting to get to me. So I'm pretending to work and checking in on twitter every few minutes to share the tension with my cyber friends.

I don't think that anyone outside of Houston (except for the expatriate Astros fans scattered around the globe) understands just what this means to us. Finally, finally, we will have someone enshrined in the Hall wearing an Astros cap. Those of us who have watched the Astros for decades, those who go back to the Colt .45s days, those who remember Buff Stadium, those who fell in love with the Astros in 1986, those who fell in love with them in the 90's watching Bagwell and Biggio playing side by side, those who have unconditionally loved Richard, Ryan, Thon, Bass, Dierker, Scott, Doran, Morgan, Cedeno, Wynn, Cruz, Berkman, Oswalt, Hatcher, Caminiti, Lidge, Wagner and a hundred other names ..... all of us will finally have someone we can call our own representing all of those memories from all of those years.

And not just anyone. Biggio was Houston baseball for 20 years. He played the game the right way. He became a part of the community. His name is still synonymous with The Sunshine Kids. He did it all quietly and without complaint, moving wherever he was asked, doing whatever was asked of him. Simply put, he is one of the good guys. And he will represent us, the fans, and give us something to point to with pride.

I was remembering an article that came out shortly before Biggio retired and I managed to find it here. Please read it, but keep a tissue handy. It states beautifully what all of us in Houston, all of us who watched Biggio play, already know about what he brought to the game of baseball and what he brought to the City of Houston.

Unfortunately, it looks unlikely that Bagwell will join him this time around, but join him he will, as he should ... eventually. But today is about Biggio and about Houston and about the Astros faithful who have laughed and cried and cheered and cursed for 50-some years. It's our turn.