The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Craig Biggio Joins Matt Thomas With Some Opening Day Memories

Episode Date: March 26, 2020

Astros Legend Craig Biggio joins Matt and Ross to discuss some favorite opening day memories on what should have been opening day 2020

Check this out. Our new most hated city in Sports Crown matches our 2017 World Series ring. Always nice to match. This is Sports Talk 790. Proud home of your home teams. It is the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790. Our time is 1231. I'm going to ask a tribute question to our next guest.

He is a member of the 3,000 hit club. He's a Hall of Famer. He's one of our favorite all-time ask. Astros. Craig Bizio, do you remember how you did on April 3rd, 2001, and 113 victory of the Milwaukee Brewers? Do you remember that day by any particular chance? What year was it? 2001, April 3rd, Astros 11 Brewers 3. Oh, opening day. Yeah, I did. I was five through five. I just came off. I blew up my, I didn't blow out my ACL. Somebody else blew it off. Yeah, I know. We know. They took me out of second base, and I got hurt. on I think it was August 28th, my wife's birthday in 2000. And the opening day of the next season, I went five for five with five singles.

Yeah, I remember that because it's kind of like one of those things that I've only had five hits twice in my career, and that was one of them. The other one was a 3,000 hit game. Yeah, your OPS was 2000 that day. Congratulations on that. I should have quit and retire that day, you know what I mean? Yeah, you scored three runs. You got no RBIs, which meant the eight, nine guys, and your order sucks. So that's too bad.

You're in the National League. We've got to remember now we're in the National League, and usually you have a catcher that hits eight, and he usually can catch really well if he doesn't hit well. And then you had a pitcher, and pitchers can't hit. All right. One more trivia about that. Your number eight hitter that day was not Brad Osmos.

Ooh, this is a good question. All right, here it is. Your hint is he was a third baseman. Ooh. I was going to say like Mitch Mullusky. No. Hold on, hold on, hold on, Hold on.

So the catcher? Damn. It was Mr. Spring training because he'd have these hellaciously huge numbers in spring spring. That's why you can never believe that spring training. Wind blows out every day. I mean, everything's misleading. You want your younger players to have a good spring.

But, I mean, for your older guys that have been true it, it doesn't matter. It's irrelevant. But who the heck was the catcher? Oh, my God. Oh, it was. He, Osmos caught that he batted seventh. Okay. Oh, okay.

So then somebody else. the third basement hit it. I'd say Morgan Innsburg. Chris Truby. Chris Truby is the one that threw the ball when I got my leg blown out. It was a ball. It was not his, look, it happens. It's just baseball back of the day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of so the throw up the line, and he was the one that threw it the year before. Anyway, I love Truby. He's in Philadelphia doing a great job in Hermita League's, by the way. Nice. All right. Here's the line of bed day. Lugo it's short.

year at second, bags at first. Berkman's in left. Hildago starts the game in center and goes to right. Daryl Ward's in right field. Ossmus catch is bat seventh, Truby's batting eighth. And your opening day starter in 2001. I never would have gotten this one.

I usually would have thought of it in Shane Reynolds during this time of year or that decade. Yeah, that's what I was going to. Scott Ellerton. Ellie, oh, man, okay. He's great. He's a Pittsburgh. He's scouting with pirates and doing a great job with them, by the way. So yeah, good dude, yeah, Colorado guy.

And number one pick, right, back in the day? Yeah. I mean, big tall drink of water too, right? Yeah, he was really a big guy. And, you know, he came up and put him in the bullpen and he did a really amazing job for us that year. And then he kind of had some arm issues after that. The funny thing was I remember when, this is a funny story,

I remember when Ellie came into town for his press conference, him and Drayton because they were super tall people had the same pants on. That's a little awkward. I had a little tan. It was kind of like, you know, tall man's shop. Yeah, I don't, I'm not going any further of that. I just think talking about man's pants is kind of weird. It's great to hear your voice.

I know how much you enjoy going down and working with the guys in spring training to have everything just cut off. Had it been kind of a serious buzzkill. First of all, are you in the family okay? How's Kevin doing? What's he doing in terms of getting himself ready for the season whenever it gets into place? Well, he's, you know, obviously, you know, listen, our thoughts and prayers with everybody here in this community and around the world and getting through this thing. And you watch the news, it really seems like we're all on the same page here in order to, you know, beat this thing.

And, you know, for us in particular, we've got, you know, we got everybody here at the house. I mean, we got Connor, Kevin, and Clint here at the house. And we're trying not to kill each other. We do a lot of, you know, hill hit. We had a little cage here that is a little dangerous for me. So he'll end in this cage here. He'll get some ground balls in. We have a tiny little way room.

He's getting that done. Connor's still at school at Rice. So he's doing that online. She's doing her stuff online from Notre Dame. And, you know, we're just, we're hunkering down and following the rules and staying inside. It's incredible to me because Kevin is a grown man now. He's playing Major League Baseball, but yet he wants to come home and see Mom and Dad. during this time. I find that something refreshing in some small weird way.

Well, I mean, this is where he were still living. He was working on trying to get a place, working on buying a place, but, you know, we're just kind of, we're just waiting on that. But he's got, this is where he lives, and this is where he's at, and mom's an unbelievable cook. And we're making the best of the situation. And, you know, we kind of loaded up with our food, and, you know, we kind of try to monitor that and keep it in the freezer and figure out our meals for the day or the week or whatever we got to do. And, you know, hey, we've got it nice in here with Mrs. B cooking. I will say this, and you don't answer this, but I think I've gained five pounds since this whole

kind of thing is coming to play. They're calling it the Corona 15 for the wrong reasons. And I just think it's 15 pounds, unfortunately. The quarantine 15. Yeah, that's pretty funny. Well, we got, you know what, my wife wanted a Peloton treadmill for Christmas. And that thing seems to be like the greatest gift ever right now because we, everybody's on it. So it's kind of like we, I get on it, obviously, when the sun comes up,

and then when everybody else starts rolling around, everybody takes their turns, and does the Peloton tread, and we're just hoping that we don't become a statistic with the 15. It was going to ask you, Craig. I mean, how do you think in your playing days, of course, there was a strike in 1994? What were you doing? Were you stir crazy? Because we know you're a guy that wanted to play a full 162. What were you doing during those times?

And how do you think you would react to something like this if you were in the midst of your playing career? Well, this is just something that's totally different. This is not a strike. This is not a lockout. This is a worldwide epidemic here. So this is something that, you know, we don't control it. So it is what it is. And we're just trying to get through it like everybody else.

And, you know, I guess you deal with it. I guess I look at it, what Cabin's doing. And he's, you know, he's trying to get a workout in the house. He's trying to get some swings in and try to, you know, play catch a little bit and keep his arm in shape. Because you've got to remember, these guys were, you know, a couple weeks from teeing it up and getting here at opening day, which today is. And then, you know, then it gets all shut down. But, you know, hey, this is what it is, you know, five years now. And we'll all look back and be proud of the fact that this was something that we were all part of.

And we all contributed into the successful on this of hopefully beating this thing. And that's just really just keeping your distance from everybody. I want to let you know the sports talk 790. Your home for the Astros are going to be carrying some of the great games in the history. Recent history of the Astros, including the combined no-hitter against the Mariners. We'll have it for tonight here on 790. Craig Bizzio here with us for a couple more minutes. Craig, and I was living in Minneapolis-St. Paul when you were finished up your career in 2007.

I was seeing most of your crew, but not the last couple of it. Did you know in April of 2007 that was going to be your last year? Refresh people's memory in mind when you decided ultimately that was going to be. going to be your final season. And did you make that proclamation knowing that first time you took the field in 2007? It was going to be the last time? You know, I didn't know. I really didn't know. I kept an open mind. And I think that it happens with a lot of guys that listen. Like, if you go into the season and you're like, listen, I don't really know, you know, I'm kind of getting the inclination. This is what I'm probably going to do. And then once a season

it started, then I was kind of like, okay, you know what? I think it's time for me. It's fine for me to go home. It's fine for me to be a dad. again. It's time for me to be a better husband. It's hot for me just to be around my kids. Because again, you got to remember, like, I was gone. You know, I played for 20 years. So, you know, 20 years of my kid's life. I mean, we're not complaining, but it was, we've, I let a blessed life, especially playing in one, one city for my whole career. But yet again, it was like, you know, your kids are gone every summer. And, you know, I missed out in all of baseball games. I missed out and everything. And, you know,

Connor was going to be a freshman in high school. And it was like, you know, it's time. for me to be around him and get to know him before he goes away to college and becomes his own man, his own person. And it was probably, you know, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. And the other reason why I told, you know, I made an announcement during the course of that years, I heard an interview someday with a person. And they had said, if I only knew that so-and-so was going to retire, I would have went to take my son to another game or a grandfather would have taken his son or grandson to, you know, watch their favorite play. or this and that. So I kind of made the announcements, really, just to let, look, you know, this is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to be good with it, and I'm not going to be coming back, and I'll be done. And that's pretty much how it all played out. If we were to look at your DVR, because everybody's doing their DVR checkups and watching TV shows and whatnot, if I was to pull a definitive Craig Biggio game or moment or series with your team, what would I find on that DVR in terms of, I want to go see some of my good stuff, because that's what we're doing a lot these days. where we're spending a lot of time, Craig, watching MLB network, watching ESPNs to kind of catch some old games. Yeah. Well, I don't even have a VHS in my house anymore, so I can't even put anything in there. Don't age yourself like that, please.

Don't do that. Well, that's what we had, right? I mean, it's kind of like, you know, I think the coolest thing was, like, my kids, I'm on the MLB thing now. One of these video games, these kids play, like MLB old guy can play with the new guys. Yeah, but it looks great. Like, the graphics are incredible. it actually looks like you. It's pretty cool.

I think I, Kevin was playing me in home run derby the other day or something. And I think I beat him. I wasn't playing obviously, but I beat him by one. Well, he's got to fly. It's pretty cool.

See your kid hitting against you in a home run derby? Yeah, but you know, he's not going to play as many positions as you did, right? I mean, that's, he's pretty good. I mean,

I look, what he does, listen, he's uh you know Toronto's got a nice situation going on up there they uh they've their front office done a really nice job they've drafted well they've developed well um you know and for cab be part of this group right now it's it is super exciting it's just like it was without two day springer you know, Bragman Correa and all those guys and watching our guys come into fruition just the same way that Toronto is and um but getting back to my son i mean he's you know

listen it for me he's a second baseman but he can also play third he can play short he can play first. They had them in center for a couple games this spring, just to try it it out, yeah, that goes. And then they can play left and right. So, I mean, what he does is, what I did was I caught for a whole year, and then I played, then after four years,

I went to second and played second for 10 or whatever it was, and then went out to the outfield for a couple years, then came back his second again. But what he's doing at times, by moving around like Marwin Gonzalez, like Cabin, what they do, these guys are gifted, man. It's

so hard to do. Like, I played that one like I was saying for the full year. You know, for him to say like, okay, you're playing second for a week and then also I want to put you a third for a day. You know, the angles are totally different. The speed is totally different. Then all of a sudden, you're going to go on the left or right or, you know,

wherever. It's not as easy as these guys do it. I give him a lot of credit, man. He works his butt off on playing all the positions that he can. But for me, like I said, right now, he's in the second baseman, and he's darn good at it. Hey, it's great to hear your voice.

We want to get you back in uniform, whether you guys go back down to spring training for a few weeks, whatever the case may happen. But thanks for spending some time with us, and we wish you and your family, and I'm sure you echoed the sentiment with the entire audience. Everybody stays safe, stay at home.

We'll get through this, and we'll look forward to baseball resuming at some point this summer. Thank you for the time, Craig, and it's always good to hear your voice, and we appreciate you coming on the show today. Amen to that, Matt. Same thing with everybody.

Thanks, Craig. I appreciate. Craig Bizio with us here on the Matt Thomas show. We certainly appreciate him spending some very have valuable time with us now. 1244 is our time. More on baseball memories if you have such a thing. Craig Bissio has provided a lot of them.