Congratulations to Craig Biggio for becoming the 27th player in Major League Baseball history to eclipse the 3000 hit mark on Friday night in Houston. The big hit came in the 7th inning with a runner on second base, 2 outs, and the Astros down 1-0. Biggio tried to stretch the single into a double, but was thrown out at second base as the ball, that was hit to center field was easily taken by Rockies fielder and former Astros player Willy Tavaras and returned to the infield in time to retire Biggio.
The game ended in extra innings after the Rockies went ahead with a solo home run in the top of the 10th, the Astros tried to make the night perfect for all in attendance at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros loaded the bases and with 2 outs, up stepped Carlos Lee. Brian Fuentes was looking to get the save for Colorado, but Lee belted a pitch down the left field line that just stayed to the right of the foul pole and landed in the Crawford boxes for a game winning walk-off grand slam. What a way to cap off a night where a man who has given 20 years to one organization finally reaches a milestone that only 26 other men in all of the sport have done before him and only 8 others have while playing with the same ball club.
Now Biggio is making his way up the charts. As of today he sits in 26th position all time in hits. Of course Pete Rose is first all time with over 4,200 hits and there is no way Biggio will reach that number, but it will be interesting to see how many greats of the game Craig can pass before the end of this season.
As of the end of June, Biggio has 3,004 hits. Next on the list is 'Mr. Tiger' Al Kaline with 3,007. Wade Boggs is the next target with 3,010 followed by Rafael Palmeiro with 3,020. It is very possible he can break the top 20 before the end of the season. (Rickey Henderson is 20th with 3,055)
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