Biggio is a gamer, he busts his ass, and he's a stand-up guy, which is why I'll be cheering as loud as anyone when he gets 3000. But he's a shadow of his former self. Specifically, he's lost a great deal of range in the field and has lost most of his bat speed at the plate. He just doesn't have the tools anymore. There's no shame in that, it's just a fact of baseball life that time catches up to everyone in the end. He's not a leadoff hitter anymore, not with his current skillset. The leadoff man gets more ABs than any other spot in the lineup, and sets the table for the rest of the lineup. Biggio was great at that in his day, but he's no longer an asset at such an important spot in the lineup. Garner realized that fact long after many other did.
Well I haven't seen too many people that give him a free pass. In fact the majority here want to see him hit 3000, but not as a leadoff guy and not as an everyday starter...and that once he hits 3000 he needs to be benched. Hardly a "can't do no wrong" attitude. Biggio has been the face of this franchise for two decades...and despite his declining abilities I still enjoy watching him play and it's gonna be a sad when he plays his last game.
have i really? you guys have gone from lauding biggio's great play and how good he still is just a mere few weeks ago, to now praising him for being such a remarkable person since he doesn't outright deny how terrible he is (terrible he's currently playing, to be exact). if biggio were to declare after the season that he wants to stick around till he reaches 5,000 hits, would all you sunshine kid-worshippers be in favor of it?
Is the "sunshine kid-worshippers" line really necessary? I don't like the idea of Biggio batting in a lineup with Everett, Ausmus, and sometimes, MoBerg/Lane, but the organization as a whole made it imminent that he will get his 3000. He's always been a remarkable person and stay with us when he could've left to FA before. Loyalty like this just don't really exist anymore. On the contrary... loyalty to some of our benchriders need to be dissolved....
When one has no real argument, ad hominem, strawmen, and hyperbole are all one has left. You remember there were always kids like this on the playground at school. Had a beef with every other kid on the playground, couldn't get along with anybody, would scream at the top of his lungs some ridiculous idea that noone considered worthy of merit. Yet, everyone else within miles was wrong, and he was right. The Internet is the new playground, and all the same rules and roles still apply.
You can legitimately rip Biggio for all sorts of things, but even bringing that up in that manner is evidence of some sort of massive personal deficiency. Way beyond the pale, kid. Way.
sorry, i see how you are interpreting it, and that was certainly not how i intended it. i couldnt come up with any other nicknames for biggio, and i was calling him "the sunshine kid", with him wearing the sunshine pin on his cap and all, and you the worshippers of him....not him being a worshipper of the poor afflicted children. i'll be sure and come up with a more creative nickname for him next time i rip him to avoid misunderstanding. good job in the field tonight bidge...them bouncing balls is hard to catch!
Until you can hit more than .050 in AA ball, you should probably stick to "Mr. Biggio." And, before you smart off about hero worship or "blind homerism" again, remember this comment comes from one who believes he should be lower in the lineup or even benched once he gets to 3,000. Once he gets his 3,000th, if you're tired of "Mr. Biggio" you can switch to "Mr. 3000." Of course, there's the always-dependable "sir". But alas, I come from a different generation where I called people "Mr." and "Mrs." and "Sir" and "Ma'am" whether I felt their performance warranted it or not.
Posted this in the other thread... I think it's sad that so many so called Astro fans have been ragging on Bidge all season long as if his quest for Astro (and baseball) history is the only thing holding the team back from an undefeated season and WS sweep or something. As a life long Astro fan, I would rather see him out there every night (or at least every home game) until he gets 3,000 instead of blaming him for all of our problems this year. He's given so much to this city and this franchise and done it all with class, I think he deserves that. Especially given the fact that this team isn't exactly a WS favorite right about now.... BI - GEE - OO!!!! BI - GEE - OO!!!!
As lame as this excuse is in justifying V-SPAN's poor performance, it is 10x worse in explaining the hitting woes of a baseball player. Outside of maybe catcher and DH, the position you play should have little to no effect on your performance at the dish.
I would like to go on the record for saying I haven't been a Biggio fan for as long as I formed the ability to evaluate a players contribution to a team... look up his career avg. with the bases loaded as well as his career playoff avg to find out... 100 yrs old and still chasing sliders in the dirt...thats our HBP I guess years of bases empty singles add up...
Your "ability" is deformed. Guys on *both* ends of the spectrum (Jamesians and old-schoolers) rate Biggio in his prime among the all-time best 2nd basemen. James, for several years, had Biggio as the best player in the game (I didn't agree, but he was certainly top 10). ....add up to over 1141 RBIs. How in the hell did he do that? You forgot, by the way, the 652 doubles. And the 284 home runs. One big nit, picked: he has barely over 2,000 singles. 652 doubles + 284 dingers + 55 triples = a lot more than 280 XBH. Check that; I did the math and he doesn't even have 2000 singles--it's 1,983.
Well, 1,983 to be exact. He's 9 XBH away from 1000 for his career. 18 walk off RBIs...440 of his RBIs (subtracting 22 leadoff HRs) either tied the game or gave the Stros the lead. His first career HR was in the 10th inning at Wrigley. Career OPS of .800: .808 OPS with RISP, .816 with RISP & 2 out, OPS identical to his career no matter the game situation (tied, within 1 run, etc...). Yes, he has struggled in some playoff series. He's played very well in others. You can say that about lots of players.
Finally, someone else who understands that. Thanks for pointing this out so succinctly. I've been saying this also for months but still we get people saying that type of thing when talking about Burke.
wasn't implying that it had an effect on his hitting. just was using the fact that he was playing out of position as another example of how he didnt even come close to getting a fair shake.
