Tim Kurkjian and the greatest SS's

[Peter_Spaeth]

"You have to understand, when I wrote in 1998 that Craig Biggio was one of the five greatest second basemen of all time, people thought I was nuts. Very few people at that time saw him as a special player. I liked that, too—I liked people thinking I was out on a limb about something when I knew I was right. I loved doing a point-by-point summary comparing Craig Biggio to Ken Griffey Jr., and showing Biggio was actually as valuable, in his best seasons, as Griffey. Griffey at that time was generally regarded as the best player in baseball. In 1997 Griffey outhomered Biggio 56-22, in 1998 56-20. But Biggio had a higher batting average, more doubles and triples, more stolen bases with a better stolen base percentage, was hit by pitches an additional 20 times a year and grounded into fewer double plays. He had as many walks and fewer strikeouts. It was pretty obvious that, if you added together all of Biggio's advantages, Biggio was, at a minimum, on the same level."

Here is a link to the actual analysis on Google books.

http://books.google.com/books?id=3uS...riffey&f=false

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

"You have to understand, when I wrote in 1998 that Craig Biggio was one of the five greatest second basemen of all time, people thought I was nuts. Very few people at that time saw him as a special player. I liked that, too—I liked people thinking I was out on a limb about something when I knew I was right. I loved doing a point-by-point summary comparing Craig Biggio to Ken Griffey Jr., and showing Biggio was actually as valuable, in his best seasons, as Griffey. Griffey at that time was generally regarded as the best player in baseball. In 1997 Griffey outhomered Biggio 56-22, in 1998 56-20. But Biggio had a higher batting average, more doubles and triples, more stolen bases with a better stolen base percentage, was hit by pitches an additional 20 times a year and grounded into fewer double plays. He had as many walks and fewer strikeouts. It was pretty obvious that, if you added together all of Biggio's advantages, Biggio was, at a minimum, on the same level."

Here is a link to the actual analysis on Google books.

http://books.google.com/books?id=3uS...riffey&f=false

Biggio was sneaky good. And one word I love using to describe far too few baseball players is utility. Biggio brought utility to the team. The Brewers have a guy that reminds me a lot of Biggio in Jonathan Lucroy. He's really coming into his own. He's a really good defensive catcher (will probably win the Gold Glove in the NL this season). He's going to hit between 15-20 home runs. Luc's already got 38 doubles, 56 runs and 54 RBI. And he's walked 45 times while striking out only 54 times.

Luc's rookie year, 2011, he hit .265 with 12 HR and 59 RBI
2012 he hit .320 with 12 HR and 58 RBI. Missed more than a month and a half with a broken bone in his hand.
2013 he hit .280 with 18 HR and 82 RBI. He stole 9 bases in 10 tries.
2014 he's hitting .307 with 12 HR and 53 RBI, and an .852 OPS. He catches primarily, plays first base. He can also play third base, but has only done so in spring training.

Biggio was a throwback player. That's the feel I get when Lucroy plays. And I love those kinds of players. They make the game fun. Those are the guys that will do whatever it takes to win.

I think I'll do an analysis of Biggio vs Jeter, too. That sounds interesting to me.