Craig Biggio inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Three guys that dominated in certain points.

He will be enshrined Sunday in Cooperstown, New York along with Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, and John Smoltz. Biggio spent his entire 20-year career with the Astros, collecting 3,060 hits.

He thanked the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America for voting him into the Hall of Fame.

“I’m so honored and privileged to be here”, Johnson said in his Hall of Fame speech. I wouldn’t want it any other way. For me, there’s no crying. “I know I did it right”.

Remarkably, all three pitchers didn’t stick around with their first clubs very long.

1996, however, would be John Smoltz’s best season of his career.

At a press briefing later in the day, Johnson fielded a variety of questions about his career and mentioned the impact of Jerry Colangelo, who served as Managing General Partner of the Diamondbacks from their inception in 1995 (they began playing in 1998) to 2004. Though the World Series title was the highlight of an illustrious career, Johnson added numerous awards and accolades to his résumé by the end of his time in the major leagues. He was a seven-time All-Star.

Still, it took time before everything clicked for the man known as the Big Unit.

“If you were cheering for me, I’d run through a brick wall for you and throw as many pitches as needed to get the victory”, Johnson said. He earned his HOF induction, and I’m glad he will join an elite group of Major League Baseball players.

He grew up with five brothers and sisters in a one-room home on the outskirts of Santo Domingo.

He became emotional when speaking about his late parents. He would bounce back and finish the season with a 14-13 record and 3.80 ERA.

“I remember (Jeff Bagwell) and I, after the trade happened, how pumped up and excited we were”, Biggio said.

Had he his druthers, Astros manager A.J. Smoltz would also become a playoff hero winning both of his starts in the NL Championship series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, including Game 7.

Smoltz is the first player elected to the Hall of Fame with Tommy John arm surgery on his resume. The Braves traded 26-year-old starter Doyle Alexander to Detroit in 1987, when the Tigers were in the midst of a pennant race and didn’t mind giving up Smoltz, a hard-throwing minor leaguer with control problems who was a 22nd-round pick two years earlier. He finished his career with 668 doubles and had over 1,000 extra-base hits. He led the Pirates to their first Big East title. Biggio explained that he played alongside Bagwell for 15 years.

He thanked coach Matt Galante, who worked tirelessly over six weeks as Biggio made the transition from catcher to second base. That’s the struggle with the Hall of Fame, but this year it seems the voters got things right for once in a long time. Biggio looked at Galante in the audience. “I believed in myself and we made it work”.