As a thank you for serving 8 years as the directors of our Sunday school class, the class gave my wife and I tickets to the Astros' game on Sunday, August 17, 2008. That just so happened to be day that the Astros would retire Craig Biggio’s number 7 jersey. My wife, Jen, is a Craig Biggio fan. There are two small posters of Craig hanging in our closet. To put the event in perspective, Jen told me that being at the jersey retirement ceremony would rank just behind our marriage and the birth of our two children on her list of life experiences to date.
The day arrived and it felt strange to skip Sunday school in order to attend a baseball game. However, the class gave us the tickets so we had a good excuse. My parents were gracious enough to watch the children for us again. I grabbed my camera along with an extra battery, and we headed to Minute Maid Park for the event.
We found our seats, great seats by the way, half way between first base and the foul pole, just 7 rows from the field. The ceremony took place around home plate. There were two rows of seats for speakers and invited guests along with a podium behind which were the 3 different Astros’ jerseys that Craig wore throughout his career. The jerseys were the same number, but the Astros changed team colors twice while he was an Astro. They went from the rainbow to the blue and gold to their current “brick” red and white.
The seats were great for the game, but not so great for the ceremony. Luckily for us, and most of the rest of the 42,000 fans, the event was shown on the big screen above center field. Milo Hamilton, voice of the Astros, was the host of the event and he started things off by introducing everyone who was in the two special rows of seats, including the other Astros whose jerseys had been retired. Following the introductions, Matt Galante, an Astros coach who helped Craig learn to play second base, and Jeff Bagwell both spoke about what Biggio meant to them as a person and teammate.
Connor Biggio, Craig's oldest son, then gave a speech that was the highlight of the ceremony in my opinion. Connor spoke about what his Dad meant to him as a father and as someone to look up to and aspire to be like. Connor's delivery was great and he even cracked a few jokes about his Dad. I have no idea how Craig was able to keep his composure while his son spoke about him.
Craig eventually was called to the podium. He spoke about his parents, family, coaches, and teammates. An especially meaningful moment occurred when he spoke about his wife, Patty. Craig explained that she made his career possible by raising the children and running the household while he played baseball. His love and admiration for her was evident in the words that he spoke. That was cool. It is not often that you hear world class athletes sincerely give anyone other than themselves credit. Here was most likely a first ballot Hall-of-Famer saying that he could not have done it without his wife. Impressive.
The ceremony came to a close with the Astros owner, Drayton McLane, saying a few words and then directing the crowd to watch as Biggio's #7 was unveiled in the rafters of the stadium.
I must say that I was not real excited about the event when we received the tickets. When I found out that Roy Oswalt and Randy Johnson were pitching in the game that day after the ceremony, I became a little more enthused. However, after attending the ceremony and hearing Craig and everyone else speak, I can only hope that one day the same things might be said of me or my son. It was a great afternoon and I was very happy to spend it with Craig's #1 fan, my wife.
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