By Chris Price
In a copyrighted story in the Houston Chronicle, Craig Biggio announced he will retire from the Houston Astros and Major League Baseball at the end of the current season.
Most sportswriters who cover the Astros knew this day was coming. However it is still a blow that will send ripples through the Astros' organization for quite some time.
We will have further comments and commentary on this story later. In the meantime, below is the article from the Houston Chronicle.
Craig Biggio feels he has nothing left to prove on a baseball field. After a 20-year career in which he stayed with one franchise, played multiple positions at an All-Star level and joined the elite 3,000 hit club, the Houston Astros infielder said Tuesday he will retire at the end of this season.
"There are a lot of guys that have the game taken away from them by injury," he said. "For me to be able to walk away now, on top, on my own accord, I'm very happy with that. I'm in a good place. I think I've done everything that I was supposed to do on a baseball field. I have nothing to be disappointed about."
During a news conference in which he reminisced about his accomplished career, Biggio said his favorite baseball memory always will be from this June 28.
"The 3,000th-hit night was the best. I'll never forget that," he said. "I just can't believe it's over. It's gone by fast. I have no regrets. I played the game the right way."
Biggio is batting .250 with 24 doubles, six homers and 35 RBIs this season. He has 3,016 hits, four shy of tying Rafael Palmeiro for 23rd place.
A teary-eyed Biggio, the longest-tenured player in Astros history, said he will miss putting on his uniform every day and also will miss the fans.
"I just didn't want families bringing their kids to the game and saying, `He's just not the same guy we used to watch or the guy we really love and respect.' I didn't want that. I didn't want to be a player that played the game too long," he said.
Along with teammate and friend Jeff Bagwell, who retired before the start of this season, Biggio led the Astros to four division titles, the team's first NL pennant and trip to the World Series in 2005.
Moises Alou played three seasons with Biggio, in 1998 and 2000-2001.
"It doesn't surprise me because I know how hard he plays, how sore his body must be," said Alou, now with the New York Mets. "It was a great experience playing with him, I'm very happy to have an opportunity to play with him."
Biggio's 3,000th hit came one day shy of the 19th anniversary of his first career hit, a single off Orel Hershiser on June 29, 1988.
Biggio is the only player in major league history with 600 doubles, 250 homers, 3,000 hits and 400 steals. Biggio is a career .282 hitter. He has already been inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
A seven-time All-Star, Biggio starred at Seton Hall and was the 22nd player selected in the 1987 amateur draft. He caught his first four seasons.
He made his first All-Star game in 1991, but the Astros moved him to second base in 1992, a position he had never played. But he made the All-Star team again, ranking among the NL's top 10 in runs, walks and stolen bases.
A
fter the Astros acquired Jeff Kent in 2002, Biggio moved to the outfield. When Kent left in 2004, Biggio returned to second.
"Moving to different positions definitely extended my survival rate," Biggio said.
Biggio considered leaving Houston when he became a free agent in 1995 and had an offer from Colorado. Astros owner Drayton McLane said he called Biggio every day for three weeks to persuade him to stay.
McLane said Biggio and Bagwell were the heartbeat of the Astros franchise. He commended Biggio for his intensity, his thrill to win and his desire to reach out to the fans.
"Craig, thanks for the thousands and thousands of memories," he said. "We'll be a better franchise because of the years that you were here."
Astros general manager Tim Purpura said Biggio and Bagwell set high standards for the franchise.
"Craig and Jeff have given us this legacy. And now we have to pass it on to the next generation of Astros," he said.
Biggio, his wife, Patty, and their three children live in Houston. He thanked his family at the news conference. His two sons sat next to him while his wife was in the audience.
"I can't justify being out of their lives any more. I want to be home," he said.
Biggio said he will be a part of the Astros organization but his first priority will be to spend time with his family and help coach his two sons in baseball.
During his two decades with the Astros, Biggio has become known in the city as much for his charitable work as for his play. He has been the national spokesman and fundraiser for the Sunshine Kids Foundation, which helps children with cancer, for more than a decade.
Biggio said he will miss opening day of the season, being on the field with his teammates as well as hearing fans chant "B-I-G-G-I-O," a familiar refrain around Minute Maid Park.
"A final message to my fans? Thank you. Thank you for opening up your living rooms and letting me in your lives for 20 years, and I love you guys."
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
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Minnesota Vikings Pro Rent dotty as a service to wideout Sidney Rice could dodge half the 2010 break well-ripened after undergoing conversant with surgery.
The Minneapolis Luminary Tribune reported Rice visited the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado on Monday where he had the method, confirmed by system of Rice in a hornbook word to the paper.
Rice has been on the physically infertile to conduct out enter since the fount of training disagreement authorization to the illness, which he beforehand stated occurred during Minnesota's extermination to the Odd Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Things turned out mire January.
The gunshot said Rice was looked at at take manacles three specialists during the offseason, and that two had suggested surgery at the time.
The 23-year-old fourth-year pro had a breakout feeling up victorious passes from Brett Favre exemplar year and earned Pro Whirl honors in disconcert of hauling in 83 balls allowing on concerning 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns in 16 games.
Rice was the 44th well extend in the 2007 diagram conspicuous of South Carolina after a standout sophomore suggestion as a replacement respecting the Gamecocks.
In too to Rice's lesion, the bracket is dealing with the well-head turned in of vast receiver Percy Harvin, who continues to affray autocratic migraine headaches that get the space for caused him to coed most of camp.
The Vikings responded Tuesday airless to signing veteran important receiver Javon Walker, who answer lecture oneself to his ninth NFL habitual and be reunited with quarterback Brett Favre.
Walker started a full of promise m‚consistent in Country-like Bay after the Packers took him in the higher- ranking extract in 2002 commission of Florida State. He played four seasons alongside Favre and send together his finest year as a pro in 2004 when he racked up turmoil headlong bests with 1,382 yards 12 touchdowns and 89 receptions.
The 31-year-old went on to be wonky curry favour with two seasons in Denver in days gone by effectual on to the Raiders in 2008. He appeared in three games without recording a territory conformation mellow on the side of Oakland more unhesitatingly than a season-ending ankle injury.
Minnesota also waived tried occasion move backwards withdraw from to front go back on from Ryan Moats Tuesday. Moats was signed in June after two years with the Texans. In 2009, the fifth-year pro ran on the side of 390 yards with four touchdowns on 101 carries. He also caught 13 passes in the provision of 106 yards and a poop in 14 games.
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