Former Astros second baseman Craig Biggio will be in camp starting Monday through March 20th.
Biggio was elected to the Hall of Fame in January, in his third year on the ballot.
A week after Jeff Bagwell arrived in the Houston Astros’ spring training camp and said he doesn’t expect to get elected to the Hall of Fame, his longtime teammate, newly elected Hall of Famer Craig Biggio disagreed.
“He’s a Hall of Famer to me,” Biggio said Monday of Bagwell, his teammate with Houston from 1991 through 2005.
“I played next to that guy for 14, 15 years. He’s a good friend. And you just look at what his numbers were offensively and defensively, the way that he played the game. He’s a Hall of Famer to me.”
“Just look at it,” Biggio said. “As far as first basemen in the Hall of Fame, he’s the only guy that has ever done 30 [homers]-30 [steals], not once, but he did it twice. And that’s pretty impressive.”
However, Bagwell hasn’t come close to election in his five years of eligibility. He has received more than 50 percent of the vote in four consecutive elections, including 55.7 percent this year, but remains more than 100 votes short of the 75 percent necessary for election.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch also expects former Astros All-Star Lance Berkman to arrive at Osceola County Stadium on Monday to begin a three-day stint as a special instructor in camp.
Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, who is the special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow, arrived for his first stint in camp when pitchers and catchers reported will also return at a later date.
Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan should also be in camp for the first of two stints in mid March.
Biggio finished his career with 3,060 hits as an Astro.
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