Hall of Fame - Craig Biggio

(wrote this stuff last year when I still cared about the Hall of Fame. I did posts for Maddux, Glavine and Thomas featuring three favorite cards for each from my collection and Craig was supposed to be in that group but oh well. I knew Biggio would get in this year so I forward dated it to tomorrow as an pre-announcement auto-post but got the date wrong so here it is now)

TWO FUCKIN VOTES

Biggio should have friggin been elected last year but as I write this he's still on the bubble with Hall voters becoming stupider and stupider by the second. For the record, Piazza, Raines, Bagwell, Bonds, Clemens and yes, Jack Morris should have been elected last year too and if any of them had we would not have this ridiculous voting backlog right now but that's how the mop flops. Seeing as how we're getting Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Gary Sheffield on next years ballot FOR STARTERS, I really hope Biggio isn't out there soaking up more votes for desperate candidates on a complete debacle of a ballot.

If you say the words "Craig Biggio" this is the card I will immediately think of without exception. 1991 Donruss is a horrible set, but this is a beautiful card.

Ultra Gold Medallion double play leaping card. With an ex-Astro on the card no less.

This card from an obscure late '90s set may not seem Mojoriffic at first glance but cards serial numbered to under 100 (98 in this case) from back in the day are not at all easy to find. Sure, it's maybe only a 10-15 dollar card but good luck finding it.

(I've picked out some cards for the rest of this year's surprisingly large Hall of Fame crop and will post them throughout the week with slightly less agitated commentary. I'm done with the Hall, but I'm rediscovering how cool wacky 90s inserts can be)

Card of the Week 10/01

When someone mentions Craig Biggio, there's a lot of things that can pop into your mind. Houston Astro. All Star. Gold Glove second baseman. Killer B. 3000 hits. Hit by pitch. Filthy batting helmet. Sunshine Kids. Hustle. Hall of Fame. For me, the first thing that pops into my head when I think of Biggio is his 1991 Donruss Diamond King card.

I saw a lot of Biggio watching the Braves. Back in the early 90's his Astros were constantly pestering the Braves in the Western Division. Once the divisions were realigned, The Astros and Braves seemed to meet in the playoffs every year. Every time he played, you know he would play hard and with class.

Although he played almost 2000 games at second base, I still remember him as a good young catcher coming up with the 'Stros in the late 80's. This card indelibly burns that association in my mind. The catcher's mask perched on his presumably filthy helmet, the focused gaze, the eye black and the classic Astros rainbow stripes on the uniform make this card one of my favorites. Dick Perez switched to a more realistic portrait style with this set, and it really works on Biggio's card. 1991 was the last year Biggio caught games in the majors, save his start at catcher on the second to last game of this season. The back of his card foreshadows his switch the next year to second base when it states "His prowess is such that he could play virtually any of the regular eight positions". He also spent a couple of years in the outfield when he switched to center to make room for Jeff Kent. Craig's last at bat in the majors was a grounder to Chipper Jones where he hustled all the way down the line and was thrown out by half a step. Hustling to the end.