Craig Biggio

Craig Biggio graduated from Kings Park High School in Kings Park, New York, where he excelled as a multi-sport varsity athlete. Most notably, after the 1983 season Biggio was awarded the Hansen Award, which recognized him as being the best football player in Suffolk County.[2] However, Biggio's passion lay with baseball, such that he turned down football scholarships for the opportunity to play baseball for Seton Hall University.

Although Biggio was an infielder, Seton Hall coach Mike Sheppard switched him to catcher because the team was in need of one. In 1986, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.[3]

Biggio was an All-American baseball player at Seton Hall, where he played with other future Major League Baseball stars Mo Vaughn and John Valentin. Biggio, Vaughn and Valentin, along with Marteese Robinson, were featured in the book The Hit Men and the Kid Who Batted Ninth by David Siroty, which chronicled their rise from college teammates to the major leagues.

Biggio was selected by the Houston Astros in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1987 draft. Biggio remains Seton Hall's leader in triples, second in runs scored, and is in the top 10 in 18 other single-season and career categories. In 1996, Biggio was inducted into the Seton Hall Hall of Fame and had his number 44 retired in 2012.[4]

Biggio playing catcher in 1990

Biggio was called up as a catcher midway through the 1988 season, having batted .344 in his minor league career. In 1989, his first full season, Biggio became the Astros' starting catcher. He won the Silver Slugger Award in 1989. He was a very speedy runner, and an adept base stealer. Astros' management, in an attempt to keep the rigors of catching from sapping Biggio's speed, tried him in the outfield part-time in 1990, as he had played 18 games there in the minors. Yogi Berra mentioned Biggio's height in his book You Can Observe A Lot By Watching, saying, "I always identified with short catchers—they don't have to stand up as far".[5]

The Astros acquired first baseman Jeff Bagwell prior to the start of the 1991 season, who, like Biggio, spent his entire major league career with Houston. A power hitter with higher-than-normal on-base skills, Bagwell played 15 seasons, thus completely overlapping his career with Biggio's and wound up Houston's career leader in home runs. The pair came to be known as the "Killer B's", synonymous with the Astros throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. A prodigious offensive and defensive unit, during their 10 peak seasons from 1994–2003, they appeared in nine All-Star Games, won five Gold Gloves, ranked in the top five of the Most Valuable Player Award voting five times and averaged 226 runs scored. They totaled 689 home runs, 2,485 RBI and 3,083 runs scored while the Astros advanced to the postseason six times.[6] Other players that the Astros later acquired whose names started with the letter B also were included in this distinction, including Derek Bell, Sean Berry, Lance Berkman,[7] and Carlos Beltrán.[8]

Biggio with the Houston Astros

The Astros finally convinced Biggio to convert to second base in spring training 1992, even though Biggio had made the National League All-Star team as a catcher the year before. Biggio made the All-Star team for the second time in 1992, becoming the first player in the history of baseball to be an All-Star at both catcher and second base. It is remarkably rare for a major league catcher to make a successful transition to middle infielder. If a catcher changes positions, it is usually to first base, or occasionally to outfield or third base.

Biggio became known as a reliable, hustling, consistent leadoff hitter, with unusual power for a second baseman. He holds the National League record for most home runs to lead off a game, with 53. His statistics reflect this, having consistently good marks in hitting, on-base percentage, hit-by-pitch, runs, stolen bases, and doubles throughout his career. Biggio was also known for intentionally keeping his batting helmet dirty.

Biggio played 1,800 games without a trip to the disabled list until August 1, 2000, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury. In the play in which Biggio was injured, the Florida Marlins' Preston Wilson (who would later become Biggio's teammate) slid into second base, trying to stop a double play, and hit Biggio's planted left leg, tearing the ACL and MCL in Biggio's knee. Biggio rebounded with a good season in 2001, but had a lackluster performance in 2002, with only a .253 average, his lowest since entering the league; a highlight occurred on April 8, when he hit for the cycle for the only time in his career.

However, he improved slightly for the 2003 season, averaging .264 with 166 hits despite being asked by management to move to center field after the signing of free agent All-Star second baseman Jeff Kent. In 2004, he put up numbers more typical for his career, batting .281 with 178 hits, including a career-high 24 homers. Biggio moved to yet another new position, left field, midway through the 2004 season to accommodate Beltrán, who was acquired in a trade to help bolster the Astros' struggling offense.

In February, 2005, Biggio and Bagwell were jointly inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.[9] Biggio resumed playing at second base after Kent left for the Dodgers and set a new career-high with 26 home runs. He also reached 1,000 RBI, becoming the second Astro to do so, following Bagwell.

After having played 4,714 games and their entire major league careers together in Houston, Biggio and Bagwell appeared in their first World Series in 2005[10] against the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox swept the Astros to secure the championship[11] with the lowest run-scoring differential in World Series history.[12] Both Biggio and Bagwell received Baseball America's Lifetime Achievement Award after the 2005 season.[13]

On May 23, 2006, Biggio became the 23rd player in MLB history to reach 10,000 at-bats.

Biggio's hit counter, prior to the start of the 2007 season.

On June 28, 2007, Biggio became the 27th player in the history of Major League Baseball to join the 3,000 hit club, with a single against Colorado Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook. Though Biggio was tagged out on the play attempting to stretch it into a double, drawing the throw allowed a run to score. The game action paused while Biggio shared the moment with his wife and children. Longtime friend and former teammate Jeff Bagwell emerged from the Astros clubhouse to congratulate him. Biggio became the first player in Astros history to accumulate 3,000 hits. It was Biggio's third hit of the game, and he went on to accumulate two more later in the game, one in the ninth inning and one in the eleventh inning. Biggio's 3,000th hit came on the same day that Frank Thomas hit his milestone 500th career home run, both marks which are considered to guarantee one's induction into the Hall of Fame.

In anticipation of Biggio's reaching 3,000 hits, the Astros installed a digital counter just left of center field displaying his current hit total.

With 668 doubles, he ended his career in fifth place on the all-time list. Biggio also holds the record for the most doubles by a right-handed hitter. He is the only player in the history of baseball with 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, 400 stolen bases, and 250 home runs. He ranks 20th on the all-time hits list, though of those 20 players he ranks 19th in career batting average.

Biggio fell nine home runs short of joining the career 300–300 club (300 homers and 300 stolen bases). He would have become only the seventh player to achieve the feat. Incidentally, this also caused him to fall short of the 3,000 hits, 300 homers and 300 stolen bases mark; he would have been only the second player in history to reach that club, the other being Willie Mays.

Jeff Bagwell (left) and Craig Biggio (right).

On July 24, 2007, Biggio announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season (his 20th season with the club, a franchise record). Hours later, with the Astros locked in a 3–3 tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Biggio hit a grand slam in the 6th inning. The Astros went on to win the game 7–4.

In the penultimate game of his career, Biggio started as a catcher and caught 2 innings for the Astros. He also hit a double in his first at-bat of the game.[14]

A sellout, record-breaking crowd packed Minute Maid Park on September 30, 2007, to witness Biggio's final game. He recorded his final career hit, a double in the first inning, and scored his final career run that same inning. In his final career at-bat, he grounded the ball to third baseman Chipper Jones, who threw out the hustling Biggio by half a step. He left the field to a standing ovation from the fans, and when he was replaced defensively in the top of the 8th inning he shook hands with umpires and teammates and left to another standing ovation as he waved to the fans. The Astros won the game 3–0.

Biggio finished his career with 3,060 career hits, 668 doubles, 291 home runs, 1,175 RBI, 414 stolen bases, and a .281 batting average.

Biggio has been a special assistant to the general manager since 2008. In this role, he works in several areas, including with the baseball operations staff in its major and minor league player development programs with special emphasis on instruction, the amateur draft and scouting, and major and minor league talent evaluation. Biggio was involved in the selection of new Astros Manager Bo Porter in 2012. Additionally, Biggio participates in the club's community development program.[15]

Over his career, Biggio gained a reputation for being hit by pitches; some observers criticized him due to the fact that many of the pitches hit him on his sizable elbow pad. Some have even gone so far as to proclaim him the "king of hit batsmen".[16] On June 29, 2005, Biggio broke the modern-era career hit-by-pitch record, previously held by Don Baylor with 267. He is second to only Hughie Jennings on the all-time list with 287. Despite being hit by a record number of pitches, Biggio never charged the mound,[17] and had no serious injuries as a result of being hit by a pitch.

In his final season, however, Biggio was only hit three times. He was hit fewer times total between 2006 and 2007 (nine times in 2006, total of 12) than he was in 10 of his previous 11 individual seasons. In August 2007, the satirical online newspaper The Onion referenced this in the article "Craig Biggio Blames Media Pressure For Stalling at 285 Hit-By-Pitches".[18] Biggio sent an arm guard to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in recognition of his high hit-by-pitch total.

Notes: Per Baseball-Reference.com. †– led Major Leagues.

• Holds National League record for most career lead-off home runs in a career with 53, third in MLB behind Alfonso Soriano and Rickey Henderson
• Second player with 50 stolen bases and 50 doubles in same season (1998). The only other player to accomplish this is fellow Hall of Famer Tris Speaker for the Boston Red Sox in 1912.
• First player in baseball history not to hit into a single double play while playing an entire 162-game season (1997)[27] Two players, Augie Galan (1935) and Dick McAuliffe (1968), had previously played an entire season with the same feat, but did not play in as many games in their respective seasons.
• 146 runs scored in 1997 was most of any National League player since the Phillies' Chuck Klein scored 152 in 1932
• Hit for the cycle against the Colorado Rockies, the sixth in Astros history (April 8, 2002)
  • Craig, alongside his son, Cavan (who hit for the cycle for the Toronto Blue Jays on September 17, 2019), joined Gary Ward and his son Daryle as only the second father and son duo to hit for the cycle in MLB history.[28]
• Astros career leader on list for games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, doubles and extra-base hits.
• Holds the record for most regular season games played before his first World Series appearance with 2,564.