If you were to ask Craig Biggio when he first dawned a Houston Astros jersey as a rookie midseason call-up in 1988, one year removed from being drafted in the first round out of Seton Hall University, how he hoped to be remembered as a player. The answer you would probaby get was that he wanted to be known as a player that played hard, and played the game the way the game was supposed to be played. 20 years later, after playing hard and the way the game is supposed to be played, Craig Alan Biggio became the 27th player in Major League Baseball history to reach 3000 career hits on Thursday night in front of 42,537 fans at Minute Maid Park.
"Today was a special day." Biggio said in the post game press conference. "I'm proud... that I played the game the same way that the guys before me played the game."
A line drive up the middle off of Rockies starter Aaron Cook in the bottom of the seventh inning solidified Biggio's status in the 3000 hit club, but he wasn't satisfied quite yet, he wanted to stretch this special hit from a single to a hustling double. Although he was thrown out, Biggio was mobbed by his teammates on the field, first by Brad Ausmus who had just scored the tying run on the milestone hit, then the rest of the dugout and bullpen flooded onto the field. Soon after, his wife Patti and daughter Quinn rushed onto the field to congratulate Craig. After nearly a ten minute celebration in which a banner commerating the hit was unveiled above the train track in left field, the game appeared that it was going to start until Craig spotted an old friend in the dugout, former Astro Jeff Bagwell.
"(Bagwell) told me that I had to get it done by Saturday or he was going to go back on his golf trip," Biggio said. Biggio grabbed his friend and former teammate of fifteen years from the dugout and drug him onto the field to soak in the ovation from the fans. "The fans didn't have an opportunity to say goodbye to Baggy, not between the lines at least... I wanted him on that field, between the lines, one more time with me, to really let the fans say goodbye, say hello, say thank you, so many things. To me that's what it was about."
Lost in the splendor of Biggio's 3000th his was the game itself. The fans that had left after the hit and after the bullpen served the team with another defecit, missed the comeback in the bottom of the eighth with home runs by Lance Berkman and Mike Lamb. They also missed hit number 3001 in the ninth innning, and hit number 3002 in the eleventh inning. Biggio also scored on the walk-off grand slam hit by Carlos Lee to give the Astros the win 8-5. Brian Moehler benefited from the homer to receive the win and Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes was tagged with the loss.
"Today was a special day." Biggio said in the post game press conference. "I'm proud... that I played the game the same way that the guys before me played the game."
A line drive up the middle off of Rockies starter Aaron Cook in the bottom of the seventh inning solidified Biggio's status in the 3000 hit club, but he wasn't satisfied quite yet, he wanted to stretch this special hit from a single to a hustling double. Although he was thrown out, Biggio was mobbed by his teammates on the field, first by Brad Ausmus who had just scored the tying run on the milestone hit, then the rest of the dugout and bullpen flooded onto the field. Soon after, his wife Patti and daughter Quinn rushed onto the field to congratulate Craig. After nearly a ten minute celebration in which a banner commerating the hit was unveiled above the train track in left field, the game appeared that it was going to start until Craig spotted an old friend in the dugout, former Astro Jeff Bagwell.
"(Bagwell) told me that I had to get it done by Saturday or he was going to go back on his golf trip," Biggio said. Biggio grabbed his friend and former teammate of fifteen years from the dugout and drug him onto the field to soak in the ovation from the fans. "The fans didn't have an opportunity to say goodbye to Baggy, not between the lines at least... I wanted him on that field, between the lines, one more time with me, to really let the fans say goodbye, say hello, say thank you, so many things. To me that's what it was about."
Lost in the splendor of Biggio's 3000th his was the game itself. The fans that had left after the hit and after the bullpen served the team with another defecit, missed the comeback in the bottom of the eighth with home runs by Lance Berkman and Mike Lamb. They also missed hit number 3001 in the ninth innning, and hit number 3002 in the eleventh inning. Biggio also scored on the walk-off grand slam hit by Carlos Lee to give the Astros the win 8-5. Brian Moehler benefited from the homer to receive the win and Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes was tagged with the loss.
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