Poor little fella

I just read that Craig Biggio, upon smacking his 3,000th career hit to join an elite group of baseball heroes, tried to stretch it into a double, and got thrown out sliding into second base. Ouch, Craig. I heard someone else suggest that he just wanted to get out of there and start the celebration. That would be like Rickey Henderson stealing second to get the all-time steals record, and then getting caught trying to steal third. Or getting picked off second. Or Michael Jordan winning his second third-straight-NBA title with a photo-op eighteen-footer and then coming back to sort of lead a mediocre Wizards team to... mediocrity. Or Michelle Wie finishing in the top ten in her first major championship, and then finishing in last place by fourteen shots and missing the cut in her last two majors. Or the Dallas Mavericks posting a historic 67-15 and then gagging in the first round series with Golden State.

Well, no, I guess it's most like the Rickey Henderson scenario. And even though all the other ones really happened, I don't think they compare to the gaffe of a player who's made a name for himself by doing the little things right-- clutch hits, sound defense, and intelligent baserunning.

Still, I'm a Biggio fan. Quite honestly, I believe him to be the type of player who wasn't concerned, when he rounded first base, with who was watching, and what people would say about his decision to run. He went for it because he thought he could make it, and he thought a double would help his team more than a single. I salute you, Craig.

Then again, maybe the hot weather started melting a few pounds of pine-tar off that epic helmet, and it got in his eye.