Biggio and Thomas are both criminally underrated, though for almost completely opposite reasons. I can’t believe there is even a discussion on whether these guys are Hall-worthy. Here’s the answer: you bet your ass they are. Even without the nice round numbers.
BIGGIO
Playing in Houston, Biggio and Bagwell failed to capture the national imagination. Maybe it was the lack of titles (mainly because the front office insisted on putting a terrible team around the two), but I’m hard-pressed to think of a better right side of the infield in my lifetime, maybe ever. Tony Perez and Joe Morgan pop into mind, but Bags was much better than Perez (though Morgan is better than Biggio). But you would never know it. They just kept churning out excellent seasons.Biggio is perhaps the greatest small ball player of all time. He was a great defensive player, and at the plate, he is perfectly described as “pesky”. I will be more impressed when he breaks the all-time hit by pitch record, which is one of those quirky stats I love. But it sums up Biggio. He didn’t pop out home runs, but he was a doubles machine in his prime. He stole bases, but his real skill was going from 1st to 3rd, a skill which never shows up in a box score. He was a terrific bunter, but he also had power. He was a career .270 hitter, but he drew tons of walks. In short, he did all of the things people say they appreciate but really don’t. If you want a guy to show the “right way” to play, Biggio is the model. He was Charlie Hustle without the gambling problem or generally being a jackass.
THOMAS
First, he has one of the all time great nicknames, The Big Hurt. He’s also a big fat guy, and I’m partial to big fat guys who play pro sports. So I always liked ThomasThe Big Hurt didn’t do the little things, except draw tons of walks. He couldn’t play defense, and was one of the worst defensive first basemen of all time, which is pretty hard thing to do. He couldn’t run and he couldn’t throw. But God, he could hit. Hell, unlike Biggio, this isn’t a past tense thing. Thomas can still hit. And he’s perhaps the only major slugger of the 90s outside of Bagwell who has avoided the taint of the steroid scandals.
While I’d still rank Griffey and Bonds as the two greatest players of the 90s, Thomas might be a better HITTER than either of them. He hit 320/440/573 in the 1990s. That’s just insane. Thomas got on base 44% of the time in the 1990s. For perspective, Griffey’s highest OBP in a season is 408. Bonds has .440 career OBP, but that’s inflated by his late career surge (he hit .428 in the 1990s). Thomas performed the most basic skill of a hitter better than anyone in the 1990s: to not get out.
Oh, and he hit a boatload of homers.
Congratulations to Biggio and Thomas. Way to polish up those resumes. See you in Cooperstown.
3 comments:
Don't forget something else Biggio and Thomas share: franchise players. Frank Thomas has played 15 of his 17 seasons with the White Sox, and Biggio has played every single game of his major league career for the Astros. That doesn't say much about their ability as players, but it says quite a bit about their contributions to the game. These guys do more for the game of baseball by avoiding scandals and developing fan loyalty than Roger Clemens or Alex Rodriguez ever will, no matter how many good numbers they put up. That deserves Hall-type rewards. Thomas and Biggio remind me a lot of Gwynn and Ripken: solid players who made their careers in one city. That's something you don't see much of anymore, but it's good for the game and should be encouraged.
By the way, nobody mentions it, but Barry Bonds deserves some kudos for intangibles like playing for the Giants for so long when he could easily have gotten a fatter paycheck elsewhere and for staying in the NL, where he has to play the field everyday and can't just sit in the dugout between at-bats. I'm glad you agree that he's one of the best players in recent memory. Did you see that Ripken called him maybe the best player of all time?
There was a blog recently that tried to come up with the franchise player of each franchise, who was each team's icon? It's a fun exercise if you're into that sort of thing (by that I mean, you are tremendous dork, which I am). Try getting a guy from Philly and a guy from KC to agree on who was the better third baseman, Schmidt or Brett.
Of course, they are both wrong because the correct answer is Brooks Robinson.
Actually here are Joe Posnaski's two entries on this topic:
http://thesoulofbaseball.blogspot.com/2007/06/icons.html
http://thesoulofbaseball.blogspot.com/2007/06/helton-bird-attacks-and-icons-redux.html
And say what you will about Bonds as a person, his greatness as a ballplayer is unquestionable. Ripken's not going out on a limb when he calls him the greatest ever. He's on the shortlist. And remember, he left the Pirates because they decided to invest in Andy Van slyke instead, in one of the worst front office deicsions in sports history.
I completely agree with avacadojer about Biggio, Thomas, Ripkin & Gwynn. It's important to have players like that. What they represent is true baseball--the team effort--not some look at me homerum showboat. I place a lot more value on success as a team player than the individual aspect. Records like Ripkin's consecutive games played and Biggio's 3000 hits benefit the team as a whole, not just them. Although they get some personal recognition and accomplishment from it, it is more about the team and playing the sport. The homerun records, in my humble opinion, are more about showing off and entertaining fans (which is important) rather than the true essence of baseball (did I really say that?). Homeruns are great and sometimes they do win the game but you don't win games day in and day out with homeruns. You will with small ball. You win with players like Ripkin and Biggio (and Bagwell) and loads of others that aren't in the headlines everyday like the steroid using homerun hitting guys. Loyalty, committment, skills, and humility--are those hall of fame criteria? If not, they should be.
Way to go Craig Biggio! Astros fans have been lucky to have him all these years.
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