Look, This isn't about Barry Bonds. He does not play for the Astros. This is about Biggio ok. He is the biggest reason why the Astros have never advanced in the playoffs and that should be a huge concern if you are an Astros fan. His 7 for 54 effort in four playoff appearances is unacceptable, epecially for a leadoff man. If Bonds gets back to the playoffs (and the astros get back there also), astros fans should want Bonds to continue to be pathetic. This is not a comparison between Bidge and Bonds. And I never said that Biggio sucks, so quit making assumptions. Bidge has had a good career, but not phenomenal. He needs to hit in the playoffs in order to earn that tag. Note: despite bad playoff numbers, Bonds' career has to be considered phenomenal because...well, 73 bombs,,,and 4 regular season MVPs....about to pass Killebrew on the homers list. I guess this ended up being a comparison after all. Botton line is this. If Biggio continues to have 3-12 playoff series efforts in which all of his singles come in either the first or third inning, then the Astros are screwed. And I'm sick of seeing that.
gee..i don't know where to start. i posted that message because you're judging a player's entire career on 54 at bats. that's absurd to me. and ultimately, if you're gonna apply that standard to biggio, you should apply it to every other player in the league. thus, Bonds is screwed too. it is not a fair criticism to apply that standard only to biggio... my post wasn't directed to you only..it was also directed at kidrock. would I like to see biggio perform in the playoffs??? absolutely!! but it's not a condition precedent to having a fabulous career....if memory serves right, Ted Williams didn't do much in the playoffs either. i don't see that diminishing his halo at all. Biggio has had merely a good career??? are you serious?? do you realize how few second basemen have put up the offensive numbers he has over the course of a career? do you realize how what an accomplishment it is to be named an all-star at two different positions?? he went from being a solid catcher to a gold glove caliber middle infielder with a great bat. he is one of two people in the history of baseball to steal 50 bases and hit 50 doubles in a season. Biggio's career has been remarkable despite the fact he hasn't done as well in a limited sample size of 54 at bats as we'd like. Bill James lists him as the second greatest player of our generation, behind only Barry Bonds. I think you're comparing his offensive career against other outfielders (particularly when you say, "well, bonds is different because he hit 73 and he's high on the all-time homer list)...that's not a valid comparison...judge it against other second basemen and see what you come up with. The guy is a flat out run producer, and has been for many years. His numbers are amongst the very greatest to have ever played that position.
1. Although I'm sick of posting the evidence... you can't judge a career by playoff at-bats. Unless someone plays for the Yankees or Braves, there just aren't enough of them. 2. A single in the first inning is just as important as one in the 9th. I hate the way that announcers say "this is when teams have to get it done." No, it's not. If you score 8 in the 1st, the odds are super-fantastically-fabulously high you're going to win that game. Doesn't matter if you score a run in the 9th, or in the 1st, and win 1-0.
You would be right when it comes to sports, I am pessimistic/realistic. Especially when it comes to the Astros. I've "learned my lessons" with not getting too excited about what the Astros do in April, because it all means jack crap come October.
The Biggio to Bonds comparison is apples and oranges. Yes, Bonds has a horrible post-season record, the reason why is because he's never had a leadoff guy get on base. Leadoff men are the most important hitters in the postseason, because they must be able to setup the rest of the lineup. If a leadoff man does not get on, the following hitters do not get any pitches to hit. Look no further than the Astros. Biggio doesn't get on, so the meat of our lineup gets no pitches to hit, which results in a lot of K's. If Biggio gets on in Oct, I guarantee you Bagwell's fall BA would be much higher than it is now. His OBP has to be close to .430 or so despite hitting around .200. He never gets any pitches to hit, if no one is on base. Because no one is on base, Bagwell feels like he HAS to hit a HR to generate any kind of offense, which leads to higher K's. Small ball is what is needed to win in Oct, when you have ace pitchers facing each other in 3-2 pitcher duels. And as a result, leadoff men are the most important hitters in smallball.
Kidrock: The 1st inning is the only time the leadoff batter is guaranteed to "leadoff". The rest of the game, that convention goes out the window, whoever is up 1st that particular inning, whether it's the 8 hole or the #2 guy, has the job of getting on base to start the inning. Odds are Biggio will be up in just as many RBI situations as "leadoff" situations. Following your logic, why didn't Mo Alou hit in the playoffs, if Bagwell was getting on base so much (BB's) in front of him?
JBII simply said that Biggio was not a great postseason player in his career, but a great regular season player. How can you argue with that? With the stats we have, it's pretty safe to say that this is the case with Biggio. Now, we non-stat freaks understand that 54 at bats in the post season may not be a completely fair number to judge what Biggio would do in the offseason if he played in it every year, but that's what we got. We also have his 7 hits.
that's fine...but arguing that a player is merely good after putting up an historic 15 year run at second base and catcher because of 54 at bats is silly, in my opinion. kidrock -- the Biggio to Bonds comparison is not apples to oranges. the simple question is, did you get it done in the playoffs. Bagwell had a very good postseason this last year, and no one got on for him. and Buck is exactly right...the leadoff hitter is usually the leadoff hitter in an inning only once.
No, you can't really say that. About the only statement this allows you to make is: Biggio has not performed well in the playoffs. Saying what you do, implies that there's a quality inherent in Biggio that fails in the post-season. Such qualities just don't exist. If they did, then Bagwell wouldn'tve hit .429 that one year, but poorly every other year. Ted Williams was probably the greatest hitter ever. But he sucked in the post-season. Is this a reflection on the lack of some "clutch" quality in Williams? Or is it, more realistically, bad luck? It's easy to pick out any hundred, or two hundred for that matter, at bat stretch (much less 54) when a player performs significantly below his career average. With some people, that's inevitably going to be in the postseason. It would be mighty strange if this was not true. If nobody deviated from expected performanec would truly be the peculiarity. People who insist that Biggio is simply a "choker" are holding on to myths...
As Tony Gywnn said, if you are facing Nolan Ryan and go 1-4, then you had a great day. Wouldn't it be safe to assume that playoff teams, in general, are facing better competition than they would face in the regular season. Better hitting, better pitching, and better defense on the whole. Thus the better chance that your statistics as either a pitcher or a hitter might decline on the average. If I bat .250 against Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, and Greg Maddux I'd say I'm having a great series. What you hate is the losing. But it's a team game. You can't falt Biggio for "struggling" against All Star pitching. It's all relative.
haven: Saying what you do, implies that there's a quality inherent in Biggio that fails in the post-season. Such qualities just don't exist. This isn't necessarily true. There are things that could make you fail in the postseason. Whether Biggio has those qualities, who knows. One of those is wear-and-tear. In the last two post-season years ('99 and '01), Biggio has peaked around June / July and dropped in August and then plummeted in September (both in power and average). It may just be that he tires out by the time October rolls around. (Unfortunately, I don't have numbers from previous seasons) If that's really the case, then while it's not the postseason causing the problem, he would be likely to consistently suck in the postseason. And at this point, a part of it will be mental. After 4 years of failure, how does it affect your mind? Does he try to outsmart himself now? Does the pressure get to him? What about all the reporters that will ask him about it 100 times in those 2 days before the playoffs start? That could also all lead to continued postseason failure.
