Say this for J.J. Watt: The guy knows how to endear himself to the locals.
And not just for his otherworldly play on the football field. The Houston Texans defensive end showed up to a press conference Wednesday in a Craig Biggio jersey, saying he was supporting the Astros great in his Hall of Fame candidacy.
"Hall of Famer in my book, man," Watt said. "I wish he would've gotten it. I think it would be really cool. Heck of a ball player, and he deserved it."
Biggio, like everyone else on the ballot, was not elected to the Hall of Fame this year, although he was the leading vote getter with his name appearing on 68 percent of ballots. Hall of Fame induction requires votes on 75 percent of the ballots.
"We got a 68," Biggio said, "and I'm going to go back and study a little harder and hopefully I'll get a 75 next year."
Biggio blamed the so-called "Steroid Era" for his snub. It seemed to him that Hall voters had generally decided to punish any candidate who played during about the last 25 years, even those, like Biggio, who were never even accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.
During a 20-year career spent entirely in Houston, Biggio collected 3,060 hits, 291 home runs and 1,175 RBIs to go with a .281 batting average. He was a seven-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner.
