The Pecan Park Eagle

Hey, BBWAA Voters!
Hit Craig Biggio today with the votes he deserves for induction into the Hall of Fame!

ADDENDUM, Tuesday, January 6, 2015, 1:00 PM:

CRAIG BIGGIO HAS BEEN ELECTED TO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME TODAY, …

…. along with Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz!!!!

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Original Column, Earlier Today ~

Tuesday, January 6, 2015.  Today’s the big day again for Craig Biggio Let’s hope that this third time is also the proverbial charm. Last year, Biggio fell a mere two votes shy of gaining the 75% of the participating eligible voters he would have needed for qualifying as a 2014 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but these are lifetime voters we are dealing with here in the BBWAA – and arrogance is the ongoing enemy of equity in these matters. Electors who voted for Biggio last year retain the right to withdraw their vote this year – for whatever unspecified reason. Contrarily, voters who ignored Biggio last year have a right to decide he’s been forced to wait long enough and suddenly vote for him this year.

I don’t like anything that has to be decided by a show of hands from electors who are both vulnerable to politics or, in some to many cases, more concerned with feathering their own nests and egos than they are serving the right ends they were meant to pursue with integrity in behalf of some constitutional body, but we can also easily think of another such constitutionally anointed, and even elected, body that has trouble along these same lines.

Good Luck, Craig Biggio! We, your fans, know what you did in Houston for twenty years and we are pulling for you all the way, but the numbers quoted here from Sundays December 4, 2015 Houston Chronicle speak the hard details of why you should’ve been a Hall of Fame choice on your first ballot in 2013:

Craig Biggio by the Numbers (Houston Chronicle, 1/04/2015, textually rewritten by TPPE)

3,060: He is one of only 28 players with 3,000 hits and ranks 21st all-time.

668: His doubles total is the most in MLB history by a right-handed hitter and he ranks fifth all-time.

25/400/600/3,000: Craig Biggio is the only player in MLB history with 250 homers, 400 stolen bases, 600 doubles and 3,000 hits.

53: Biggio holds the NL record for most lead-off home runs that start a game.

285: Craig was “Mr. HBP” in the well-armored flesh. When it came to the art of getting hit by a pitch, nobody ever did it better.

Best Wishes, Craig Biggio! ~ Let’s hope that Tuesday – is your really Good News day!

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In addendum, here is a summary of the procedural rules governing the BBWAA selection of candidates for the HoF who have recently retired, which includes Craig Biggio, and, as a bonus, the rules governing the selection of older previously ignored players, Negro League players, and non-playing personnel.)

Hall of Fame Voting Procedures

BBWAA

General Summary: Each voting cycle, qualified members of the BBWAA name no more than 10 eligible players whom they consider worthy of Hall of Fame honors. To be enshrined, a player must be named on at least 75% of the voters’ ballots. Currently, players are removed from the ballot if they are named on fewer than 5% of ballots or have been on the ballot 15 times without election.

1967-present: Votes are cast annually by BBWAA members with 10 or more years of membership. Each qualified BBWAA member may select no more than 10 names from a pre-screened ballot of players who played in MLB for at least 10 seasons and had been retired for at least 5; players whose names are cast on at least 75% of the ballots are elected to the HoF, while players named on fewer than 5% of ballots are dropped from future ballots. In addition, if a player has been on the ballot 15 times without being elected, he is also dropped from future ballots. ………………..

Veterans Committee

General Summary: A group of Hall of Fame members and others charged with the induction of players who were not voted in by the BBWAA, as well as Negro League players and non-playing personnel (including managers, owners, and executives). To be enshrined, players must be named on at least 75% of the Committee members’ ballots.

2007-present: The Veterans Committee is a group composed of all living Hall of Fame members. Votes are cast every odd-numbered year on a smaller ballot of players who had been eligible for BBWAA election but were not elected within either 15 voting cycles or 21 years of their retirement; players have to be named on 75% of ballots to earn Hall of Fame honors.

………………. For further information and details on changes in procedural history over time, please consult the link from which the current rules are extracted explicitly:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/about/hof_voting.shtml

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