By Chris Price
Craig Biggio took a day off and watched his teammates take down the Seattle Mariners 10-3 in the third game of the three game series.
With Biggio not seeing action today, his career hit total remaidns at 2989, just 11 short of joing the elite list of 3000 career hit players.
Biggio will get at least two and probably three off-days on the road trip. Astros manager Phil Garner usually rests Biggio for day games following a night game, and there are two scheduled on the trip.
While Garner won't hold Biggio out just to ensure he gets the 3,000th hit at home, if resting the 41-year-old infielder makes sense from a team standpoint and dovetails with everyone's desire for Biggio to get No. 3,000 at Minute Maid Park, so be it.
Manager Phil Garner feels he and Biggio will discuss the matter before he makes a decision.
"We obviously would prefer that, and I'm being honest with you that's a piece of the puzzle, but we're doing the same thing we've been doing since Day 1. I sit down with Bidge before the homestand, and I sit down with him when we go on the road and map out what we think is a good plan for him."
We will keep everyone posted on Biggio's place in the starting lineup on this extended road trip.
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3 comments:
It looks like it was a bad move to re-sign Biggio for 2007. We could have spent that $5 million elsewhere and improved the team. He did threaten to seek other opportunities as a free agent and perhaps it would have been best to allow that to happen.
Yes, he's been a great player and we appreciate that.
Yes, he had some nice moments in this recent homestand.
But his overall performance this year - his .237 batting average have not been good and his fielding is declining.
He has 52 strike-outs to lead the team. BGO has only 14 walks. And his on-base percentage is second-worst on the team (only Adam Everett's is lower).
So batting Biggio in the leadoff spot, which he is not qualified for anymore, is what ticks me off. Let him limp on to the 3,000-hit goal if you must. But does he have to hit leadoff?
STRANGE COINCIDENCE? -- Mike Lamb is on a torrid streak again and the Astros are winning. It seems like when Lamb is hot, we win a lot.
EARTH TO GARNER: "Lamb is sizzling. Do not sit him on the bench now. Keep Playing Him."
Called it like you saw it. Excellent post.
Biggio really did a lot for this organization, on and off the field. Sunshine Kids was a lofty goal, but he persevered and made it happen.
His rise, along with Bagwell's, paralleled the Astros' rise into an NL force, and, in my opinion, his decline has had an effect on the Astros' organization, too.
Right now, the club needs a prominent figure to be the sole motivator for a playoff push. The Brew-Crew can only stay afloat for so long before their young'uns start to experience what it feels like to be chased at the top of the division; the Cubs are Scrubs and they're Completely Useless By September. The Cardinals are the only real threat in the division, but they're banged up.
The club needs leadership, and personally, as improbable as this sounds, I think it would be something extraordinary if Biggio were to rally the club into playing with more passion.
But, of course, performance births leadership; Biggio has to demonstrate that heart - the same heart he's played with since '88.
I'm curious how he will handle only playing 2 games per week once he hits his 3000th hit. I assume Burke will get the majority of starts when that occurs, as he should. My bet is that Biggio will retire at the end of the season vs trying to play another year. What would be the point?
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