Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
Thud.
Tuesday night on a humid, rain-dampened diamond located in what used to be known as Joe Robbie Field, there was a dull almost inaudible noise. If you weren’t paying attention, you might have missed it. (Well you might have missed it if you somehow missed the 962 replays from differing angles in the constant and overwhelming effort of all-sports networks everywhere to bring you the “news” as they see it.) But as Craig Biggio’s weight came crashing down on his knee, there was a deep, but somehow quiet thud. And not just the thud of 190 pounds of hustle hitting the ground, but the thud of a season and an era coming to an end.
Thud.It’s a hollow sound. With just enough bass and just enough foreboding to let you know something is very, very wrong. The thud you hear in the middle of the night right outside your window is always something to dread. It lacks the immediate drama of a bang, boom or crash, but somehow it’s worse in a very Highlander sort of way. As Kurgen said repeatedly, “…it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
Biggio has kind of done both in his spectacular career. If there is ever going to be a better Astros’ candidate for the Hall of Fame, it might be unfair to the rest of the league to let him play. No player has ever gotten more from his combination of talent, hustle and hard work than Biggio has. It’s exactly this style of play, this sweaty, firebrand, rub some dirt on it and get back in the game mentality that has earned Biggio the money, reputation and standing in the game that he has. It’s also exactly this mentality that has led to the 2000 season, in which Biggio has looked like a player “fading away”, putting up some astonishingly poor performances. Since the All-Star break where Astros fans were mercifully spared the second guessing of Biggio being voted as a starter, Biggio had been doing his best to make the rumors of his demise greatly exaggerated. Up until Tuesday night in Florida.
Thud.
Biggio came up to the Astros after being drafted out of Seton Hall and spending precious little time in the minors. He was a wide eyed rookie catcher in those days, the last in a long line that Alan Ashby would try to fight off. He was a kid who was playing with Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Billy Doran, Jose Cruz, Terry Puhl. And somehow, he always seemed to be dirty, even if he was riding the pine.
He tied the two eras together for most fans. He came up in the injury filled 1988 campaign for the first time. He was there for the last gasp division race in 1989, survived the gutting of the team in 1990, was a centerpiece of the rebuilding movement in 1991, moved from being an all-star catcher to second base in 1992, and moved quickly to being a perennial all-star, and the best lead-off man in the game on a team that had experienced more success than any in franchise history.
Biggio was also the guy you counted on being in the lineup every day. Every spring, it seemed some mediot or manager would stress how important it was going to be to give Biggio some days off during the season. And every year it seems it would take a bigger and bigger crowbar to pry him out of the lineup. Since the beginning of the 1990 season, Biggio had played in 1616 of a possible 1660 games. He was just one part of the Astros that you didn’t worry about. Even as he struggled through this year, you had the feeling that it was a slump and not the sudden beginning of his fading away. But then…
Thud.
It’s been said for many seasons now that as Biggio goes, so go the Astros. When he’s hitting, when he’s getting on base, the Astros win. It was evident in 97 & 98 when he put up MVP caliber seasons, and it was evident last year when despite enough injuries and maladies to drive Father Mulchay into nurse’s duty, Biggio took the season (and an all-star snub) personally, strapped the team onto his broad shoulders and carried them back into the playoffs.
If the Astros fate is tied to Biggio’s performance, are the Astros also done? For 2000, without a doubt. Maybe there’s a Biggio-type amongst the seemingly never-ending parade of youngsters that populate the Astros roster these days. I’d like to think Mitch Meluskey is a Biggio-type, minus the V-Chip and volume control. Maybe some others have the same drive and intensity that Biggio has shown Houston for the last 12 years. And hopefully, Biggio can make a full recovery and be back on the field for opening day 2001, but with the first trip to the DL in his career being at least a 7 month one, one has to acknowledge that an era is coming to an end. “Leading off and starting at second base for your Houston Astros, Julio Lugo,” doesn’t feel the same and it doesn’t feel right. And that sound you hear in the middle of your chest when you realize you might never see him be “Craig Biggio” again is starting to seem mighty familiar.
Thud.