Still celebrating my birthday
I am making plans to be in Cooperstown for the induction ceremony in either 2012 or 2013.
One of my all-time favorites is sure to be in one of those classes.
I've been a fan of Craig Biggio ever since 1989, the year I started completing in fantasy baseball.
My first roster wasn't exactly stellar. However, I did have three legitimate "keepers," two on the fence and yet another that I could not remember today.
There was Julio Franco (still playing at the age of, hmm, 80?), Terry Pendleton, Bob Welch, Rob Dibble and, my favorite, Biggio.
At the time, Biggio had moved to second from the catcher position. I remember thinking, "What a luxury."
Watching his stats that year, he quickly became one of my all-time favorites.
Funny what numbers can say about a guy.
For instance, yesterday as a birthday gift to me, Craig Biggio got his 3,000th hit.
A feat only 26 others have accomplished in the history of baseball. This all but assures him a place in The Hall.
In case there is debate here are some more numbers.
4 Gold Gloves, 5 Silver Sluggers, 6 All Star appearances, 7,000 put-outs, 5555 assists and 1148 double plays. He has a respectable lifetime AVG. of .282 (his last six years has dropped it from .300). Oh, I almost forgot he is among only three others with over 250 HRs and 400 SBs.
But the biggest number of all: 283.
People are always talking about taking one for the team. No one has done that more than Biggio. He has been HBP a record 283 times in his career.
And I'll mention he's perhaps the only guy in baseball history to play a full season at catcher, second and center.
So today, I salute Craig Biggio. Congrats! I'll be looking for you in Cooperstown.
BTW: Frank Thomas hit his 500th home run without the use of performance-enhancing drugs again on my birthday - a good day for baseball.
Other baseball feats that happened on my birthday:
1916 - The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds played a nine-inning game with just one baseball.
1923 - Brooklyn's Jack Fournier went 6-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and three singles.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio singles against Washington knuckleballer Dutch Leonard in the sixth inning in the first game of a doubleheader to tie George Sisler's A.L. consecutive-game hit record of forty-one (41). In the nightcap he collects a seventh-inning single off of Walt Masterson to set the record at forty-two (42) games.
1961 - With three home runs at Philadelphia, including a tenth-inning shot to win 8-7, Willie Mays becomes the fourth major-league player with three or more home runs twice in one season.
1968 - Detroit's Jim Northrup hit his third grand slam in a week and the Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2.
1969 - On Billy Williams Day in Chicago, the Cubs outfielder passes Stan Musial's National League record for consecutive games played (896).
1977 - Willie Stargell hits his 400th career home run.
1984 - Pete Rose plays in his 3,309th major-league game, surpassing Carl Yastrzemski as the all-time leader.
1986 - Detroit beats Milwaukee 9-5 in the first game of a doubleheader split, making Tigers manager Sparky Anderson the first manager ever to win six-hundred games in each league.
1990 - Oakland's Dave Stewart and the Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela both throw no-hitters. Stewart blanks the Blue Jays 5-0, and a few hours later Valenzuela beats the Cardinals 6-0.
1992 - Oakland's Dennis Eckersley sets the new standard with his twenty-sixth straight save of the season.
1995 - The Dodgers' Hideo Nomo struck out thirteen Colorado Rockies in a 3-0 victory, giving him 50 strikeouts in 4 games. That broke the Los Angeles record of 49 over 4 games accomplished three times by Sandy Koufax.
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