<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Part of what is on Craig Biggio's Hall of Fame plaque: "Gritty sparkplug who ignited Astros offfense for 20 Major League seasons." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/astros?src=hash">#astros</a></p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/625372067907694592">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Beautiful of Biggio giving the credit to Matt Galante and having him stand up. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Howard Chen (@TheHoChen) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoChen/status/625374204414722048">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Craig Biggio on saying thanks to former <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/astros?src=hash">#astros</a> coach Matt Galante during his HOF speech:"I wanted 2make sure he got the credit he deserves"</p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/625412995515072513">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is simply beautiful to watch. For Houston fans. For baseball fans. This is beautiful. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BiggioHOF?src=hash">#BiggioHOF</a></p>— Howard Chen (@TheHoChen) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoChen/status/625371829419401216">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Funny how Biggio mentioned Alou as one of his greatest hitting teammates, while not even acknowledging Berkman in any capacity. Lance was every bit as good and was a teammate much longer. Teammates when Houston went to that little WS thing.
Biggio talked about the guys that heavily influenced his life/career. I think Alou is a good friend of his (and was there). Berkman influenced the # of wins they got...but so did Mike Hampton, among a ton of other guys. Billy Wagner would be really high on the list in the same manner as Berkman I would think. etc. I don't think he left him off on purpose--he just didn't fit the criteria
Biggio identifies more with the late 90's Astros... As he was playing the best baseball of his career and was definitely as close to being a "captain" as possible. Alou and him were neighbors in addition to very close friends.
Lance first came on the scene in '99. Alou became a teammate only one season prior. As much as Biggio preached "team, team, team"... he omitted guys he experienced the most team success with. Seriously though, today Palilo said on his broadcast that Craig didn't really like Lance. Charlie said Biggio thought Berkman was too surly.
Berkman was a great great player He was also kind of a media favorite, simply because he always made himself accessible, and could be pretty funny He did come across as a guy that many probably liked a lot, and some probably didn't like at all. He just had a "I am what I am and don't really care who likes me or not" mentality, and i'm sure that could rub some the wrong way I do remember one time when a potential work stoppage was being talked about, he was being interviewed and made a negative comment about fans when talking about how much money they were fighting to make, or something along those lines. Now trust me I know that Lance was a fan favorite, and i'm among those fans. But that was the point that I remember saying to myself "dang this guy doesn't really care if he makes someone mad, he's gonna say what he has to say"...I actually like that about him, but i'm sure some don't
Lance wasn't a regular everyday player till mid-way through 2000... and Biggio was already hurt/shelved that year. So the first real full year of them together is 2001... a good 3-4 years after Alou/Biggio have fostered their friendship. Again, the majority of Biggio's speech focused on the formative years.... and the ACL tear in 2000 pretty much coincided with the end of his "HOF"-type seasons. Biggio also doesn't touch on Roy, Lidge, Roger or Andy... all guys who were far more impactful (from a WAR standpoint) on the team with the "greatest success." Again, Biggio has more of a fondness for the 98 team... I think most of us would feel more attached to the time/players when we were at our "best".
Likewise, while Biggio seemed like the perfect boy scout to the media/fans... he wasn't universally liked in the clubhouse, or by his managers. Have we ever seen Biggio and Dierker in the same room together since the 2001 season? I don't think so.
Yea, for the most part a guy that is one of the all time greats is going to have a lot of ego. These guys are usually liked or not liked, without a lot of middle ground
This might be true But I think an even larger part of it is just who was he truly friends with, and who was he not. On any team, even ones that get along well overall, players will have guys they are much closer to than others. In a once in a lifetime speech, those are gonna be the guys you talk about. They will be the ones that "care" when they hear their names mentioned. If a guy was a major player on a team you were on, but you were never really close to them, they wouldn't care so much about being mentioned. Wouldn't surprise me if Springer mentions Dexter Fowler in his speech a few years down the road :grin: I thought one of the best parts of Biggio's induction was the Brad Ausmus introduction speech, that was really really good
As an Astro fan for 47 yrs I'm happy that Biggio made the HOF. That said, I think it's pathetic that he made it in before Baggy. Bagwell, was definitely the better player, and if you asked any of his past teammates, guys who played against both of them (especially pitchers), Mgrs, or GM's, they'd all say Baggy as well. For Biggio to spend more time talking about Matt G. in his HOF speech then Baggy, well to me that's flat out PATHETIC as well. Biggio doesn't make the HOF if he doesn't have Baggy hitting behind him for all those yrs, and certainly understand that you could say likewise for Baggy (having Biggio). However that's my point, Biggio spending 15 seconds mentioning Baggy, SHAME ON YOU Biggio I also understand that it's not Biggio's fault that he got in before Baggy. Hopefully one of these days the voters who aren't voting for Baggy into the HOF open their freakin eyes and realize there's NO evidence AT ALL indicting him. NO former teammate provided any condemning evidence, NOR any ex wife (especially that it was a nasty divorce with the 2nd one), NO former trainer has come forward with evidence, wasn't mentioned in the Mitchell report, and there hasn't been any other evidence against him and yet some idiot voters won't vote for him. I guess Jeter isn't getting in either as the laundry list of guys he played with who have been busted is pretty damn long (Giambi, ARoid, Knoblach, Clemens, Pettitte, etc). I guess my final thoughts on this subject is how many times have I heard speeches from players (and Mgrs) getting into the HOF that took some time to make a case for one of their former teammates to get in. Whether it would make a difference or not it's still the RIGHT THING TO DO. I'm done venting.
He doesn't become a 2nd baseman without Matt G... and he doesn't get into the HOF without being a 2nd baseman... regardless of who he was hitting behind. Shame on you for this post.... and hell, if there's one person who ultimately knows whether or not Bagwell used PED's or not, it would be Biggio. Why not just publicly state his innocence? It could only backfire if he was lying... sorta like what happened with LaRussa and McGwire.
Hey @$$, I'll post whatever the hell I want to on here as it's a freakin fan board. Feel free to disagree as well.
So the ultimate "team" guy had to be in HIS prime to fully appreciate his teammates. Okay, gotcha No matter your attempt to discredit full/non-full seasons, Berkman was Craig's teammate starting in '99 and they continued thru '08. That's a looong time. He just didn't like Lance. There's no need to argue against that. Besides Roy, the other guys you mentioned didn't share that amount of tenure with #7.
We just got an Astros cap in the flippin' Hall of Fame. Finally. He had the class to honor a position coach, something that may have never been done before. The plaque describes his game exceptionally well. He even went "leadoff" for the day. And ppl *still* find something to b**** about? I swear, we could win the WS this October and put Bags in the Hall (where he belongs) next July, with Appel enjoying a breakout rookie-of-the-year season, Keuchel gunning for his 2nd consecutive Cy Young, and our reigning ROTY gunning for the flippin' Triple Crown on his way to his first MVP--and people will *still* find something to b**** about. Congrats, Bidge!
I'll repeat myself I guess. Can't understand why people are upset at what a guy chooses to say/mention in a very humble speech that honors a ton of people. Because he didn't start like Pedro with "if I forget you, I apologize" ? Biggio talked about the guys that heavily influenced his life/career. I think Alou is a good friend of his (and was there). Berkman influenced the # of wins they got...but so did Mike Hampton, among a ton of other guys. Billy Wagner would be really high on the list in the same manner as Berkman I would think. etc. (and as Nick mentioned, Roy is there also) I don't think he left him off on purpose--he just didn't fit the criteria
I was also disappointed (though not terribly surprised) Biggio didn't stump more for Bagwell; he had an audience full of voters - it would have absolutely resonated. "Speaking of Bagwell, I know there are a lot of writers here - take a closer look at his numbers. The guy belongs here..." That's it. Short and simple but impactful. Unfortunately, Biggio is perhaps the blandest athlete to ever play any sport; a cliche-vomiting machine who never, ever says anything of substance. Even the stuff about his kids and wife in the speech rang about as deep as a puddle of spit, IMO. (Seriously, go back and listen to what he says about his wife... she sounds like an acquaintance. "You’re a great person... But most of all, you were there and made things normal for our kids.") Great player and deserving honor - but he remains (at least publicly) as boring as ever.
Well, had to happen eventually. For once, I could not agree with you more. (I guess I could, actually. I'd have included commentary on his cringe-inducing, self-righteous go-to cliche about how he "played the game the right way".)
