Biggio to retire after this season

[Spurminator]

Press conference this afternoon.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hp/front/4994341.html

[Spurminator]

Can someone post the Insider article by Rob Neyer titled "Biggio Second to None"?

[Melmart1]

I would post it, but I honestly can't find it

[Spurminator]

Here's the link for non-subscribers.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2917659&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb %2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dneyer_r ob%26id%3d2917659

[samikeyp]

He has earned it. Hopefully the Astros will not wait too long before retiring his number.

[Spurminator]

He has earned it. Hopefully the Astros will not wait too long before retiring his number.


I don't know if there's a precedent, but I've always thought in situations like these it makes sense to have the ceremony right after the last game.

[Melmart1]

Here's the link for non-subscribers.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2917659&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb %2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dneyer_r ob%26id%3d2917659
Ah, OK. I didn't go back that far. Here you go:

Biggio belongs with the game's best second basemen

Updated: June 28, 2007

I don't understand the skepticism.

I've been hearing it for two or three years now, this skepticism about Craig Biggio's chance of someday being elected to the Hall of Fame, and I don't understand it.

Of course, now that he's finally -- painfully, even -- picked up his 3,000th hit, some of the skeptics will fade away.

But why 3,000?

I mean, really. Why 3,000 hits rather 2,867? After all, every Hall-eligible player with more than 2,866 hits -- all 34 of them -- has been elected. Is 2,867 a magic number?

Well, no. I chose that number because Harold Baines finished his career with 2,866 hits, and last winter he picked up only 29 votes (out of 545 possible). If there's one thing we know about magic numbers, it's that 2,866 is not one of them.

With all due respect, the worst player among those with 3,000 hits is Lou Brock, who finished with 3,023. Brock's a Hall of Famer. But of course Brock had something else going for him: the single-season and career records for stolen bases (of course, both are now held by Rickey Henderson). Brock's not remembered for all those hits; he's remembered for breaking Ty Cobb's records.

So when somebody says 3,000 hits -- or 500 home runs, or 300 wins -- is a "magic number," all that really means is every player with that number is in the Hall of Fame (extenuating circumstances notwithstanding). But that term ignores the possibility, the likelihood that the player did some other things, too.

Yes, Rod Carew finished with 3,053 hits. He also won seven batting titles and an MVP Award. Yes, Henderson finished with 3,055 hits. He also scored more runs than anybody, ever. Yes, Robin Yount finished with 3,142 hits. He also was MVP twice, and was a Gold Glove shortstop. Yes, Roberto Clemente finished (tragically) with 3,000 hits. He also was regarded as the greatest defensive right fielder anybody'd ever seen.

So the question really isn't whether 3,000 hits will be enough to get Craig Biggio into the Hall of Fame. The question is whether he did enough other things to get into the Hall of Fame.

First, though, can we agree that if a player ranks among the top 10 at his position, he belongs in the Hall of Fame? Right now, there are 17 players in the Hall of Fame based largely on their time as major league second basemen. It seems to me that if you're better than roughly half of them, then by definition -- and the Hall is self-defining -- you belong with them.

Here are some of Biggio's key career statistics, followed by all the second basemen who are ahead of him in the category:


2,781 games: Eddie Collins (2,826)

3,000 hits: Eddie Collins (3,312), Nap Lajoie (3,242)

1,820 runs: Eddie Collins (1,821)

286 home runs: Jeff Kent (355), Rogers Hornsby (301)
Collins, Lajoie and Hornsby all played before World War II, and were the first three second basemen elected to the Hall of Fame. Among post-war second baseman, Biggio is No. 1 in everything here except home runs. No second baseman  pre-war, war, post-war -- hit more doubles than Biggio, who recently took the No. 1 spot from Lajoie.

Biggio ranks ninth among second basemen in RBIs; with the exception of Kent, everybody with more is in the Hall of Fame. Biggio ranks sixth among second basemen in runs created; everybody with more is in the Hall of Fame. In runs created above average -- which accounts for different environments in different eras -- Biggio again ranks sixth, and again everybody ahead of him is in the Hall of Fame. Among all the second basemen who have played the game, only Collins and Joe Morgan reached base more times.

I will argue, today and probably for many years, that Biggio is not only one of the 10 greatest second basemen in major league history, but one of the five or six greatest.

I'm reasonably confident in saying that Biggio was not as great as Morgan or Hornsby or Collins. He might not have been as great as Lajoie, and he was not, during his peak years, as great as Jackie Robinson during Robinson's peak years. Perhaps we might even find a place for the terribly underrated Roberto Alomar in this conversation.

I would not, on the other hand, be at all confident in saying that anybody else was greater than Biggio. I challenge anybody reading this to find another second baseman, somebody not mentioned in the paragraph just above this one, with a claim to being greater than Biggio. Frankly, I don't think you can do it. And if that's not a Hall of Famer, I'm a dump truck.

[leemajors]

from Justice's Blog:

July 24, 2007
If they were all like Biggio, it would be a wonderful world of sports.

His legacy will be in the simplest things. He played the game the right way. He had his priorities straight. He believed it was important for a professional athlete to leave a legacy beyond the field. In ways large and small, he was the prototype for what they all should be.

His lasting legacy will be that he set an example for every player that walks into the home clubhouse at Minute Maid Park. Do it the way Craig did it, son. Be as much as perfectionist as he was. Be as charitable, too. Play with the passion he played with.

The truth is, there won't be another one like him. We were lucky to have him here for all 20 of his big league seasons. If he'd played somewhere else, they would have named a candy bar after him. Here in Houston, a lot of us named our kids after him.

He's not an emotional sort by nature, but there are times he has gotten choked up in recent years as he gazed into the stands and saw all those kids in their Bagwell and Biggio jerseys. Yes, he's reminded, we mattered.

He helped turn a franchise that hadn't done much of anything into one of baseball's most consistent winners. He arrived in 1988, Jeff Bagwell joined him in 1991 and the Astros were about to have the best run they'd ever have. This season we're reminded that winning isn't as easy or as routine as they made it look. I wonder if he'd like to be general manager. Or manager.

Beginning with the break-through season of 1997, Bagwell and Biggio led the Astros to six playoff appearances in nine years. Along the way, both established themselves as among the greatest playes in baseball history. Stat guru Bill James makes a compelling case that both are among the 50 best.

They didn't just produce on the field, either. They took care of business off it. Theirs was a perfect partnership. Bagwell was the good cop, the guy everyone liked. Biggio was tougher. He played with more of an edge. Some didn't appreciate his fire.

He had perfect role models. Alan Ashby took him under his wing. So did Billy Doran. Biggio replaced both of them in the lineup, and their unselfishness stayed in his mind forever.

Seeing him now in the twilight of his career it's hard for some to remember what he once was. For about five seasons, he might have been the National League's best player. He was a .300 hitter and a doubles machine, a base-stealer, a winner.

He announces his retirement a dead solid lock to be a first-ballot induction in the Hall of Fame. He'll walk through the doors of Cooperstown in 2013. Book your room now.

His resume is stunning: 3,014 hits, 661 doubles, 4 Gold Gloves, 7 All-Star Games and the Hutch Award, given annually to a player of character. I'll also remember that final day of the 2004 season, about an hour after the Astros had clinched a playoff berth.

I walked into a clubhouse that was a mess after the wild champagne party. Ice was strewn on the floor, sheets of plastic hung from he lockers. There sat Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, alone, laughing, sipping champagne. They could have passed for the two happiest guys on earth. Weren't we lucky?

[dallaskd]

And he hits a Grand Slam today...

[ATRAIN]

This weekend is Biggio Tribute weekend.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I will be at Saturday night's game.

I'm upset that Cooper moved Oswalt up a day in the rotation, though. He was scheduled to pitch Saturday and Biggio was going to catch him in the first inning. Now it's tomorrow night.

[ATRAIN]

I will be at Saturday night's game.

I'm upset that Cooper moved Oswalt up a day in the rotation, though. He was scheduled to pitch Saturday and Biggio was going to catch him in the first inning. Now it's tomorrow night.


Os took himself out of the lineup, its going to be Backe on sat.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Os took himself out of the lineup, its going to be Backe on sat.

Ah, I had read that it was Cooper's call to move him up a day. Oh, well, hopefully, I get to see Biggio turn a double play.

[ATRAIN]

Ah, I had read that it was Cooper's call to move him up a day. Oh, well, hopefully, I get to see Biggio turn a double play.


Bigg is still supposed to catch 1 or 2 innings on sat.

[ATRAIN]

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070926&content_id=2231734&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

CINCINNATI -- More than 15 years have passed since Craig Biggio suited up in a chest protector and shin guards, but on Wednesday, four hours before game time, the 20-year veteran seemingly stepped back in time.

Biggio caught Brandon Backe's bullpen session on Wednesday, in an effort to reacquaint himself with a position he played when he broke into the big leagues in 1988. Biggio's last season as a catcher was 1991, so needless to say, he has a bit of rust to shake off before he tries this again.

"I don't want to go back there and embarrass myself," Biggio said.

Biggio will catch for at least one inning, and maybe two, on Saturday at Minute Maid Park. He'll catch Backe, Saturday's scheduled starter.

Biggio's original plan to catch Roy Oswalt on Friday was canceled after Oswalt was scratched from that start. According to Oswalt and manager Cecil Cooper, the right-hander has been experiencing soreness in his side, stemming from the strained oblique muscle he suffered in August.

Unwilling to risk further injury, Oswalt removed himself from the rotation for the year. Matt Albers will probably start Friday's game in Oswalt's place.

Better safe than sorry: With nothing on the line this weekend, Oswalt saw no reason to push himself and risk further injury. He ends the season with 212 innings pitched, his fourth straight year of throwing at least 200 frames.

Oswalt had a cortisone shot in his left side a month ago and it felt better for two or three weeks, but lately, the pain apparently has returned.

"It's kind of sore again, and I don't want to tear something the last start of the season and have to worry about it in the offseason," he said. "I don't want to push it."

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Well, fuck... this hurts my fantasy team, too.

[Walter Craparita]

Bagwell/Biggio stand right behind Duncan/Robinson in my favorite sports duos.

[Melmart1]

I will be at Saturday night's game.

I'm upset that Cooper moved Oswalt up a day in the rotation, though. He was scheduled to pitch Saturday and Biggio was going to catch him in the first inning. Now it's tomorrow night.
I posted this in the quattro, but not sure if you know, the Astros will be honoring their top minor leaguers before the game as well. There might be some current or former Hooks you may know of.

http://mlntherawfeed.squarespace.com/minor-league-baseball/houston-astros-honor-minor-leaguers-will-have-pre-game-cerem.html

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Well, because my friend can't organize his time properly, I may not even be going now.

[ATRAIN]

Well, because my friend can't organize his time properly, I may not even be going now.


thats sucks

[tlongII]

Props to Biggio. He and Bags were the original Killer B's as far as I know. I have much respect for him although I'm not an Astros fan. I hope he doesn't take a foul ball off the face mask! LOL!

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

thats sucks

We are back on! My friend Ana comes through in the clutch.