The Forgotten Man

Between ESPN and the New York Times, coverage of Derek Jeter's 3000th hit has reached epic proportions. I'm pretty tired of all Jeter all the time and would rather just give him the three hits he need to reach 3000 and be done with it.

It's not that the accomplishment itself is not worthy of mention. It's that the coverage is so over the top that you'd think he was the only player in recent history to reach the 3000 hit mark. Jeter is, to borrow a phrase, likeable enough. Especially when compared with some of his teammates - the one who lied about taking steroids or the one whose shaving commercial can only make you cringe, for example. And I'm okay with hearing what a great guy he is and how he's played for the same team his whole career and how hard it is to get 3000 hits.

But what I what to remind all those folks who want to nominate Jeter for sainthood is that just a few years ago another guy reached that mark and nobody outside of Texas seemed to notice. Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros joined the 3000 hit club in June of 2007. Biggio spent his entire twenty year career with the Astros, coming up as a catcher, moving to the outfield when they asked him to and moving again, this time to second base, where he spent most of his time. He was always diving after balls or sliding headfirst to try to take an extra base.You could always pick out Biggio even without your glasses: his uniform was the dirtiest.

He performed on a smaller stage than Sir Derek. He and Patti raised three kids in Houston and became the spokesman for The Sunshine Kids Foundation, which provides support for children with cancer. By the time he retired, Biggio had raised $2 million for the Sunshine Kids. He seldom appeared without a small yellow sun on his cap.

And his 3000th hit? Oh yeah, I remember. Tagged out at second trying to stretch a single into a double.