Biggio Announes Retirement
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by Romiezzo
Dear fans,
Today is definitely a tough day for me, as I'm making it official -- at the end of the season, I'm retiring from baseball and saying good-bye to this great game that I love.
This is definitely an emotional day and it's going to be an emotional last two months of the season. The only thing I can really say to you, the fans, is thank you.
I think I said at the beginning of this year that this season was all about my family and the fans. The fans have been great to me. I tried to play the game the right way, and I believe I did. You have been so supportive of me, and I want to thank you for 20 unbelievable seasons. For me, it's definitely been a storybook career.
There are so many things I'm going to miss. I'm going to miss the relationships I have with my teammates, that I have with the clubhouse workers. People like Dennis Liborio, our equipment manager, and Barry Waters, the traveling secretary. They've been with the team throughout my entire career, as have others. Those are the people you worked with every day for the last 20 years -- the guys that continue to make fun of each other for whatever we do, the people who just made the job fun.
I'm going to miss standing on the field for the national anthem. I think over 20 years, I've missed maybe three or four. I'm going to miss that. I'm going to miss the competition of the game, the excitement of the game, not knowing what's going to happen. You work so hard all season long for the opportunity to get into the postseason -- I'm going to miss that, too.
I'll miss the whole aspect of the game itself. Stepping into the batter's box and not know how your day's going to go, whether it's going to be good or bad. That's why you go out there and play. You appreciate the different cities, the different ballparks, the history of certain organizations. And the players you're competing with, and against.
I've been honored to play this game, to play it the right way. To me, I did play it the right way and that makes me feel good. I'm going to miss it. This is what I do. This is my living. I've been honored to play the game, the greatest game, and one of the hardest games to ever play. I'm going to miss it a lot.
I've been so blessed to have played for one team my entire career. That means a lot, especially in this day and age where there's no loyalty from players or management anymore. It was great that Jeff Bagwell and I could both work that out. There's been loyalty, from three sides. It's from our side, from management's side and the fans' side. If the fans didn't come out and support us, and watch us play, would it have lasted as long as it did? Probably not. That makes you feel appreciated because they are part of it. They're part of the decision making.
One of the best parts about this game is interacting with kids. Baseball is a kid's game, and kids, to me ... that's what it's all about. That's what life's all about. To be able to touch their lives, no matter how you do it, whether it's signing an autograph or going to a hospital, has been a privilege. [1]
You only get one chance to make a first impression. You might be having a bad day, or week or whatever it is, but you're only going to get that one chance to make an impression on a child. If you're a jerk, that kid's going to walk away thinking you're a jerk. That always stuck with me. No matter how you're feeling, if you're meeting somebody always be respectful and be nice and that's the impression they're going to have on you. I tried to live by that.
Speaking of kids, I couldn't write this farewell letter without mentioning The Sunshine Kids. My retirement does not mean the end of my affiliation with them. We'll continue to have the annual golf tournament. It's driven by the fans. We've raised almost $2.5 million and the fans give that money. They believe in the kids and they support it and we'll always have it. As long as I'm in Houston, we'll always have it.
The Sunshine Kids will always be part of my life. That's the one part I'm excited about -- now I'll get an opportunity to spend even more time with them. Maybe go on a couple of trips that they go on and do the different things they do that we're raising money for. That's going to be an exciting time in my life.
Now that I've made the final decision to retire, I'm at peace with it and I'm at peace with how things have gone for me. I'm in a good place. I can play for another year or two, and I don't think it would be that hard for me. But I have a responsibility to my family now. My kids are getting older. Now it's time say thank you and really be around my family at home.
A lot of guys don't get the opportunity to write their own story and walk away when they want to walk away. A lot of times, it's taken away or sometimes guys stay too long. I don't want that. I want the fans' memory of me to be as a guy who, even though I don't play like I did when I was 28 years old, I'm still doing a pretty darn good job of playing the game the way I can play it. That's what I want them to remember.
It couldn't get any better than it did on June 28, when I reached my 3,000th hit. It can't get any better than that, other than winning the World Series. That was the greatest day of my life and my family's life. That's what I want the fans to remember.
That's why I feel I'm in a good place. I'm happy with my decision to retire. I'm proud of it. But I know the next couple of months are going to be very, very hard for me. It's sad that each time as you get closer and closer to the end, the realization hits you that you're not going to be putting on the uniform and going between the lines anymore.
I'm glad I'm announcing this now, because it'll give me time to say good-bye to the fans and for the fans to say good-bye to me. I hope I'll see you at the ballpark before the year's up. I thank you for letting me in and opening up your lives to me.
It's been an unbelievable ride.
Craig Biggio
I have watched Craig Biggio play baseball since I can remember. I'll always remember him as one of the guys that hustle the most on the field. He definitely has a lot of heart and desire for the game. It's a shame that his career is coming to and end, and to not win the World Series once. Well, at least he helped lead the Astros in the right direction of being the 2005 NLCS Champions, but there isn't much he can do now. He has achieved what he wants to achieve and that's that. On behelf of Arm Chair GM, I just want to say that we love you Biggio, and we're going to keep thinking about you and what you have done for us and for baseball.
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