FanNation - The Republic of Sport

thejetstolehome: hiatus? said 09/16, 07:35 PM
Yes, for his career, Craig Biggio has pretty impressive numbers. However upon a much closer look and analysis, one will see that the numbers are very deciving. It's been a LONG time since Craig Biggio had what people would call a good season. For argument's sake, I'll say that is 1999.

Biggio's averages since 2000 (the year after his last good year):

.266/.354 132 homers, 436 RBI, 66 steals

So that's about .266/.354 with 18 homers, 62 batted in, and 9 steals. how is that HOF worthy? The dude hasn't had a good season in 7 years. Yes, he has all those numbers but he has gotten them by hanging around the game for far too long. If guys like Blyleven and Morris are being punished for sticking around too long, why is Biggio being rewarded?

thejetstolehome: hiatus? said 09/16, 07:56 PM
There's no denying Biggio is a stand up guy and a hustler but that doesn't mean he should be put in the HOF. There's many guys who I want my kids to take after but that doesn't mean they belong in the Hal. Isn't the HOF about flashy numbers? Biggio once had those but he doesn't anymore and hasn't had them for a long time. In fact, he's been in the top ten in the league for outs made seven times in his career and is the active leader in the category.

The more guys like him get into the Hall of Fame, the more it becomes watered down. The beginning and the end of his career were far too average to make his career completely complete. Biggio had an absolutely great middle of his Major League Campaign from 1994-1999 but since 2000, he has been a down right average baseball player. If that stretch had extended more into the 21st century, then yes, put him in but he's been too average for too long. However, the fact that he hasn't been near the top of the league in any relavent offensive category since the early part of the century and before excludes him from HOF talk, IMO.

thejetstolehome: hiatus? said 09/16, 09:21 PM
Collins and Lajoie are in the HOF because their numbers blow Biggio's out of the water.

Lajoie: 3, 242 hits, .338/.380; Collins: 3,315, .333/.424; Biggio: 3,051, .281/.363. Another reason that must be taken into context here is historical era. Collins and Lajoie played in relative dead ball eras where hitting was not so prominent. In today's juiced up (ball wise, not steroids) game, 3,000 hits and 500 home runs may not mean as much as they used to.

Also, while taken as a whole, Biggio's career may seem real impressive (slighted by a great middle, sandwiched by two not so great times) but even broken down less than I have (a year by year basis) it's not that great.

Craig's average season: .281/.363/.434, 17 HR, 67 RBI, 24 SB (7 CS), 105 R. Is that all that bad? No, it's a nice average to have. Hell, I'd kill to have that career. However, nice isn't the same as Hall of Fame.

If we're gonna talk about fielding, yeah he's been alright but for his career at 2B, he's got a .984 FP with a league average FP of .982. He's slightly above average but not too much. Did he have a good career? Yes. But not an HOF career.