Profiles In Sports

Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell were among the best at their respective positions in the 1990s and were the faces of the Houston Astros franchise during that era. However, neither has received the call for Cooperstown. Biggio, a member of the 3,000-hit club, has come closest – falling just two votes short of election in January 2014. Bagwell received 54.3 percent of the vote in the most recent writer’s ballot. Larry Dierker got to know these two quite well – first as an Astros broadcaster and then as their manager from 1997-2001. As an advocate for both to enter the Hall of Fame, Dierker spoke about their outstanding baseball careers. Photo courtesy of blog.chron.com Audio clips courtesy of MLB.com