Claim to fame: This fall, the Hall of Fame will get its deepest and most troubled class of eligible players in recent memory, with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa among others new to the writers ballot. With the Baseball Writers Association of America continuing to argue amongst itself over enshrining players who were connected to steroids, perhaps the only honoree next year will be former Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio. With 3,060 hits and no taint of performance enhancing drugs for his candidacy, Biggio’s induction looks like a safe bet for the first ballot, a slam dunk. Should it be?
Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Having played his last game in 2007, Biggio will appear for the first time on the BBWAA ballot this fall and needs 75 percent of the vote for a plaque. He has a maximum of 15 tries with the writers.
Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? It used to be that 3,000 hits meant Cooperstown. Even now, 24 of 28 players who’ve reached the milestone are enshrined, with Biggio, Derek Jeter, Rafael Palmeiro, and Pete Rose the only ones left out. But something may have changed with Palmeiro, the first eligible player with north of 3,000 hits who’s fallen short with the writers, well short in fact. Just 12.6 percent of the BBWAA voted for Palmeiro this year, courtesy of his 2005 positive steroid test I’m guessing, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Biggio. If he comes up short in votes, it’ll be a sign 3,000 hits is no longer sacred.
Granted, even without 3,000 hits, Biggio would probably still be worthy. A lifetime .281 hitter with 291 home runs, he ranks as one of the best-slugging second basemen of all-time. His 66.2 WAR is about the baseline for enshrined players (though many have less), he ranks near or above for the Hall monitors on Baseball-Reference.com, and he compares favorably with other enshrined infielders. Biggio also had his best years in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome which makes him a little underrated to me, same as I’d say with Jeff Bagwell, Cesar Cedeno, or Jim Wynn. I even like the small things with Biggio, like the fact he started his career as a catcher and transitioned to other positions or that he once co-owned a ranch with Ken Caminiti, being a supportive teammate to a troubled man. Biggio sounds like a Hall of Famer in every sense.
That being said, it’ll be a shame if 3,000 hits is the main thing that gets Biggio in ultimately and is most remembered. I don’t think it’s the best thing about him, and he staggered his way to the achievement. His 20th and final season in 2007 where he attained the mark hitting .251 with an OPS+ of 71 and -1.5 WAR may be the worst work any everyday player has done in reaching an offensive milestone. Certainly, Biggio ranked among the most anemic hitters in the National League his last year, seeing as OPS+ is a measure of how a player’s offensive production compares to the rest of baseball and 100 a roughly average score. It’s also a hat tip to the other members of 3,000 Hit Club, 20 of 28 of whom had OPS+ of at least 100 the year they cleared the mark.
Considering the following list, which Biggio ranks dead last on:
| Player | OPS+ year they reached 3,000 hits | Year |
| Ty Cobb | 166 | 1921 |
| Tris Speaker | 166 | 1925 |
| Hank Aaron | 148 | 1970 |
| Stan Musial | 146 | 1958 |
| Willie Mays | 139 | 1970 |
| Roberto Clemente | 137 | 1972 |
| Eddie Collins | 135 | 1925 |
| Cap Anson | 134 | 1894 |
| Eddie Murray | 129 | 1995 |
| Tony Gwynn | 124 | 1999 |
| Pete Rose | 119 | 1978 |
| Paul Molitor | 116 | 1996 |
| Paul Waner | 109 | 1942 |
| Rafael Palmeiro | 108 | 2005 |
| Carl Yastrzemski | 108 | 1979 |
| Al Kaline | 107 | 1974 |
| Dave Winfield | 105 | 1993 |
| George Brett | 102 | 1992 |
| Robin Yount | 101 | 1992 |
| Lou Brock | 100 | 1979 |
| Rod Carew | 99 | 1985 |
| Derek Jeter | 97 | 2011 |
| Rickey Henderson | 95 | 2001 |
| Cal Ripken | 95 | 2000 |
| Wade Boggs | 94 | 1999 |
| Honus Wagner | 92 | 1914 |
| Nap Lajoie | 83 | 1914 |
| Craig Biggio | 71 | 2007 |
It’s not to take anything away from Biggio, who at the very least was well-thought of enough to keep getting trotted out in 2007 on his quest for 3,000. Whether it was intentional or not, the Astros did Biggio and his Hall of Fame candidacy a favor.
Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? is a Tuesday feature here.
Others in this series: Adrian Beltre, Al Oliver, Alan Trammell, Albert Belle, Albert Pujols, Allie Reynolds, Barry Bonds, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Bill King, Billy Martin, Bobby Grich, Cecil Travis, Chipper Jones, Closers, Curt Flood, Dan Quisenberry, Darrell Evans, Dave Parker, Dick Allen, Don Mattingly,Don Newcombe, George Steinbrenner, George Van Haltren, Gus Greenlee, Harold Baines, Harry Dalton, Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Jim Edmonds, Joe Carter, Joe Posnanski, John Smoltz, Juan Gonzalez, Keith Hernandez, Ken Caminiti, Kevin Brown, Larry Walker,Manny Ramirez, Maury Wills, Mel Harder, Moises Alou, Pete Browning,Phil Cavarretta, Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Rocky Colavito,Roger Maris, Ron Cey, Ron Guidry, Ron Santo, S
moky Joe Wood, Steve Garvey,Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Tim Raines, Tony Oliva, Vince Coleman, Will Clark
I always thought of Biggio’s “Claim to Fame” as his 1997 season – .309/.415/.501, 47/57 SB, 146 (!!!) R, 34 HBP, and, of course, 0 GDP. In the New Bill James Historical Abstract, Bill James makes the claim that Biggio’s 1997 was better than Griffey’s – 56 HR, 125 R, 147 RBI, .646 SLG. Today, that isn’t a controversial claim, but in 2001 it was. It was probably also the statement which, more than anything else, led me to become interested in sabermetrics, but that’s not really important right now. The point is that Biggio’s 1997 season is always what I think of when I think of him. Well, that and the permanent link between him and Jeff Bagwell.
Yes. He absolutely is a Hall of Fame.
By wWAR, he’s creeping up on 100. 100 wWAR is inner circle stuff. It’s interesting that he sits close together with a lot of the guys I’ve been pushing from the current ballots.
By wWAR:
Edgar 100.5
Larkin 100.2
Trammell 99.3
Walker 98.8
Biggio 98.1
Alomar 93.4
McGwire 91.3
Raines 89.8
Palmeiro 89.6
I support all of these players (to varying extents). I support Biggio.
One thing I forgot to mention – as far as contemporary second basemen, I’d put Biggio (just barely) above Roberto Alomar. It’s paper-thin, I think, but there is a gap (I have Biggio as, statistically, the #6 second baseman, Alomar at #8)*. If Alomar sailed into the Hall, so, too, should Biggio. I don’t necessarily think he will, but he should.
Additionally, I’m hoping that some of the writers, upon seeing both Bagwell and Biggio on the ballot, will vote for both and they’ll both go in together this year. But that’s probably just too much a of dream.
* As I mentioned in the Gene Tenace post, I use The Baseball Gauge for my WAR numbers. However, I re-ran these two players with Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference WAR numbers, and Biggio came out on top each time.
Let’s say that he’s had a more curious, rather than great career, unless being the best player to start out as a catcher and transition to all star center fielder and second basemen is your criteria.
From career length and overall numbers, he appears to be not a bad choice, he by no means deserves to be a first round inductee and should probably only go in only after his more deserving teammate, Jeff Bagwell.
@ Vinnie
He definitely had a curious career. But “by no means great?” I’ve really, really got to dispute you on that. Unless you think there have been only about 40 (or fewer) “great” careers in the history of baseball, I’m not really clear on how you can say he didn’t have a great career. If he belongs in the Hall, I think it’s pretty safe to say that his career was great.
Hi Dave,
Maybe it’s my definition. Ruth, Cobb, Wagner, Johnson, Mays, Aaron, Mantle, Williams, DiMaggio, Speaker and a handful of others are the greatest of the great. You’ll probably agree that when you stack Biggio’s career next to them that the contrast is stark and obvious by whatever criteria or tools you wish to measure with.
This wasn’t an attempt to take anything away from the man or to suggest that he doesn’t have a place in the hall, only to point out that there is a clear difference that separates him and so many other hall worthy players from the truly elite hall of famers.
It’s also interesting that many of those who think he’s a first round choice think that Barry Bonds, for example is not a first round choice when clearly, tainted or not he’s right up there in that elite list of players.
You better believe it hall of fame for sure
Hardly no one ever played with the passion and was as tough as nails played the game the right perfect rolemodel a ball player that kids could look up to