MLB.com writers shared their thoughts on the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot - you know, the one that comes with a soapbox and a briefcase full of revisionist moralizing.
Here's how it relates to the Astros:
Mike Bauman: Yes on Biggio, Yes on Bagwell
Barry Bloom*: Yes on Biggio, Yes on Bagwell
Hal Bodley: No on Biggio (I do not feel Piazza, Schilling and Biggio are legitimate first-ballot candidates.). Maybe on Bagwell
Peter Gammons: Yes on Biggio, Yes on Bagwell
Ken Gurnick: No on anybody who played in the Steroid Era
Chris Haft: Tentative Yes on Biggio, Tentative Yes on Bagwell
Paul Hagen: No on Biggio, Yes on Bagwell
Richard Justice: Yes on Biggio, Yes on Bagwell
Dick Kaegel: Too complicated
Terence Moore: Undecided
Carrie Muskat*: This year, I plan on doing more homework regarding the new candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot. I want to talk to others in the game and will then make a decision.
Mark Newman: Yes on Biggio, Yes on Bagwell
Marty Noble: Biggio is an "unstained candidate." Undecided on Bagwell
Tom Singer: Yes on Biggio, Yes on Bagwell
Lyle Spencer: Craig Biggio will be given serious consideration, but I'm not sure he's a first-ballot guy. Undecided on Bagwell
T.R. Sullivan: Biggio should be a first-ballot lock. It would be great if Bagwell joins him.
*Barry Bloom, if you recall, had this to say about Bagwell for 2012:
I just think he’s a very good player, but not of Hall of Fame caliber. His numbers are very similar to Steve Garvey...
So I'm not sure what changed from two weeks ago to yesterday where he now thinks that Bagwell is a Hall of Famer. Maybe it was all the brow-beating.
*And, hooray for Carrie Muskat! She's going to do some more homework, which is good, because she only voted for Barry Larkin in 2012, in part because he "was a team captain." Teams with no captains = no Hall of Famers.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
