Craig Alan Biggio, popularly known as Craig Biggio, is a former second baseman, catcher, and outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played his entire professional baseball career with the Houston Astros from 1988 to 2007. Biggio is a seven-time National League All-Star; he was even hailed as the greatest all-around player that the Houston Astros had. Biggio is the only player to be named an All-Star at both second base and catcher. In this article, we are going to know several interesting facts about the iconic Craig Biggio.

• Biggio’s most painful pitch – The most painful pitch that Biggio ever had happened on September 15, 1997, when he got hit in the face by a pitch from the Cub’s Geremi Gonzales. The impact was so strong that is why in one interview, Biggio said that he felt like he was hit in the face with a sledgehammer.
• 1987 Draft –the Houston Astros picked Craig Biggio as their 22nd overall in the first round of the 1987 draft.
• Dirty helmets and dirty uniforms –Most Houston Astros fans think of Craig Biggio as the player that wears the helmet covered with pine tar. Biggio said that he didn’t like keeping things clean, that is why in most of his games, he is seen wearing a dirty helmet and uniforms.
• Being the best baseball player – Biggio learned how to play baseball from his father. He would put a rope around Biggio during hitting drills so that it would stop him from lunging at pitches.
• Fast ascent – Craig Biggio never got to play a full season in the minors. He just played 64 games in Single-A, joining the Houston Astros after the draft and hitting .375. After a year, Biggio jumped to Triple-A and managed to hit .320 in 77 games before playing in the big leagues.
• Rookie problems –During his rookie year, Biggio struggled in the first half of the big-league season. As a rookie, Biggio managed to hit .211 with five RBI in 50 games.
• Famous college teammates – When Biggio was attending Seton Hall, he was teammates with other future big leaguers such as John Valentin and Mo Vaugh. In fact, the three of them even got featured in a book entitled The Hit Men and the Kid Who Batted Ninth. This book talked about their rise from college teammates to being significant leaguers.
• Joining the 3,000-hit club – Craig Biggio is one of the 29 players in American history ever to have 3,000 hits in his whole career. Overall, he ranked 22nd all-time with 3,060 hits.
• He wore the same uniform all year –Craig Biggio was not a fan of new uniforms. That is why the uniforms that were given to him during the Opening Day are the ones he wore throughout the entire season. If he ripped his jersey pants, the Astros’ clubhouse manager sews them up so Biggio could wear them again.

• Retired number –Craig Biggio is one of the ten players to have his number retired by the Houston Astros.
• After all these years, he’s still an Astro –After his professional baseball career with the Houston Astros, Craig Biggio decided to spend eight seasons being a special assistant to the general manager of the Houston Astros.
• Major League History –Craig Biggio is the only baseball player in the MLB to have at least 600 doubles, 3,000 hits, 250 home runs, and 400 stolen bases.
• Retirement –on July 4, 2007, Craig Biggio announced that he would be going to retire from playing professional baseball. He managed to hit a grand slam that made the Astro’s game versus the Dodgers a 3-3 tie during that day.
• Coaching Career –After he retired, Biggio became a baseball coach at St. Thomas High School. He spent five years there, and he managed to lead the team in back-to-back TAPPS state championships..
• Baseball player with a good heart –Aside from being an iconic baseball player, Biggio became the lead spokesperson for the Sunshine Kids Foundation for almost his professional career. This said foundation aims to help children fight cancer by engaging in exciting activities. Biggio was always seen wearing a small yellow sun on his cap during interviews as a sign of support for the organization.