Major League Baseball Hall of Famers among us
This week wraps up “A Sporting View’s” retrospective on the retro ballplayers that still grace the ballparks of our nation and serve as a bridge into the last generation. There are Hall of Famers among us, and this season you’ll have a chance to see them play near you.
Craig Biggio
Craig Biggio is one of the most disciplined ballplayers to ever pick up a bat and glove, but where you can really see the dedication is on his helmet. Biggio, a former standout at Seton Hall University who has long since outplayed teammates Mo Vaughn and John Valentin, refuses to change or clean his batting helmet once a season has started. That’s the kind of dedication that shows up clearly on the field, and Biggio has played on the same team’s field for the past two decades.
What has made Biggio so great is his willingness to do whatever the Houston Astros have asked him to do. He began as an All-Star catcher, but moved to second base when it became apparent his speed was too great an asset to ignore. He’s played the outfield — heck, he’d pitch if you asked him to. One thing he won’t do? Hit into double plays — at least with regularity. In 1997, he became one of the few players in baseball history to not hit into a double play for an entire season.
This year, Biggio is set to earn 3,000 hits if he stays healthy. He leads all active ballplayers not only in hits (2,945), but in doubles (642) and hit by pitches (283). In career stats he ranks among the leaders in hit by pitch (2nd), doubles (8th), runs (17th), games (25th), hits (30th), base on balls (58th) and stolen bases (61st).
The wonks at Bill James’ baseball nerdery rank Biggio in the top 5 for second basemen, and the 35th best baseball player of all-time.
Ken Griffey Jr.
Bonds makes the headlines now, and for a while, it looked like Gary Sheffield would be able to do it too, but it was Ken Griffey, Jr. who returned baseball to the Mickey Mantle-Willie Mays-Frank Robinson era, where home runs were hit into upper decks with remarkable frequency.
His place in baseball history cemented courtesy of his 563 round trippers, Griffey may have lost a lot of firepower, but he still provides plenty of ammunition for fans to cheer about in Cincinnati.
The Rest
John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens (should he decide to earn a paycheck this year) have been bringing it for years — even after they were traded and written off as being “washed up” so many times before. Do they do it for love or the money? We may never know the answer, but we love to watch every fifth day.