Farewell, Craig Biggio

When I was a little kid, I always hated Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. Many of my earliest memories at Three Rivers Stadium involved the two of them terrorizing bad Pirate teams on hot Sunday afternoons in the Pittsburgh summer. These memories probably aren't even that accurate: Biggio doesn't have that great of a career line against the Pirates or in Three Rivers. Still, it's what I remember and that's what matters.

Biggio and Bagwell and two guys that I grew up with. I was never an Astros fan, but being a Pirate fan doesn't leave you with stars to grow up with. Since the Pirates and Astros have been in the same division since 1994, Biggio I've probably seen more of him than any other non-Pirate in the big leagues right now. Everyone will talk this week about his hustle and his grit and his dirty helmet and his willingness to do anything for his team, and all of those are true things about Biggio, but they also irk me. Those are things you say about players that play hard and try hard but aren't particularly good (I'm looking at you David Eckstein). Craig Biggio was a good baseball player.

He's got more doubles than any active player. He's third among active players in total bases, behind only Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. Overall, he's been on base more than any current player not named Barry Bonds, who's in a league of his own when it comes to getting to first base. And yeah, I'm cherry-picking stats, but that's not the point. The point is that under all the pine tar and grit and dirt is a real Hall of Famer. His '93-'99 seasons were about as good as it gets at the plate for second basemen (unless you're Joe Morgan or something). And I know that he's tailed off since about the turn of the century, but things are going to feel seriously weird without him at second base for the Astros next year.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-01-2007 @ 11:07AM

Eric Beaver said...

I have been a baseball fan since I was in old enough to remember (now 53, almost 54). I have met and had conversations with a wide aray of professional players. From Sachel Page to Mickey Mantle! I will miss Craig BGO and like all the rest he will go down in baseball history. But... he had something that few players had. A real love of the game!!!!!!!!!!! Now I will look for a rookie coming up with the same outlook. It's harder now than 30 years ago! Go Astros in 2008!

10-01-2007 @ 11:26AM

Rex Fry said...

As an Astro fan I have watched Craig Biggio swap positions starting out as a catcher, moving to second base, into the outfield , and back to second base, depending on where other team members fit into the big picture of the Astro's Organization. Biggio is the true example of team player but what I admire most about him is his work off the Field with The Sunshine Kids. You will truly be missed in Houston Craig Biggio. Not just as a player But even more as a great human being....

10-01-2007 @ 11:52AM

staci said...

When I was in 6th grade, Biggio was a rookie- As a native Houstonian who oddly enough moved to Weir, MS (and joined 1st grade with Roy Oswalt- then a braves fan- haha), I spent the summer after 6th grade in Houston, TX...and my dad said "okay, pick your favorite rookie player and we'll buy 500 of his rookie cards and see what happens". My choices were Ken Camininit and Craig Biggio- then the bad boys of the Astros...but oh how I loved them...to me, the baby faced Biggio was better than Tom Cruise (in the late 80s! haw!)...he was gorgeous, and he was a blazing fast catcher who won accolades from yogi berra, then with the astros, and one of my favorite people of all time...So- BIGGIO it was. I saved every box score from that summer...went to a few games with mom and dad, and returned back home to Weir for the start of the school year ready to adorn my book covers with hearts with BIGGIO's name written in...I was a super fan even then...and I remember Roy telling me "why don't you root for a REAL team"..HAHA...I grew up in BRAVES territory and even though no one in Weir, MS had probably seen a MLB game in Atlanta, my parents and I were lone rangers in the Astros department. Distance and high school/college sports would consume the next 10 years or so...but my love of Craig biggio- the person and the player- never waivered...I read everything I could find once I realized you could get the houston paper on the INTERNET...and when I moved to DC to start my career, I returned to my love, Baseball. of course, it helped that Roy was coming off an amazing 2000 Olympics and on the road to actually being an ASTRO...but, the past 7 years, I can say I could not be prouder of how a person handled themselves, than Craig Biggio- he could have played anywhere else, but Houston was where his heart was...not that I want to go around saying I TOLD YOU SO...but I totally know how to pick em! Since the Nationals came to town, I've bene able to see him play at least 3 times a year...and thanks to Shea Stadium, I've been able to see him play even more...the respect he has from fans and the respect he has for the game - and HIS COMMITMENT TO THE ASTROS ORGANIZATION...has just been textbook- wonderful. So, yesterday, on the final day of the season, thanks to TBS, I got to watch the final game...and BOY do Astros fans show the world why they have heart...3 consecutive sell outs for the weekend, and more people ever at MMP (even than the world series)...my bf (bulldog- who has graciously accepted me in to METS nation) got to see where I get my baseball heart from...My tears for Biggio (and yes, I cried during his final at bats in DC too)...were mixed with the disappointment of the METS...but both season enders yesterday was a testament to why I love the game. Congratulations Biggio and the ASTROS for the class act of the year.