Craig Biggio had a legendary career with the Houston Astros. The second baseman played his entire 20-year MLB career with the Astros, and his accolades include 3,060 hits, 1,175 RBI, 414 stolen bases, 291 home runs, and a spot in Cooperstown in the Hall of Fame. He also made the All-Star team seven times and won four Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers, so Biggio's career will be remembered for a long time. The longtime Astros star is a staple in Houston for a number of reasons.
But, in a stunning revelation, Biggio admits he was minutes away from joining the Colorado Rockies in MLB free agency. Biggio discussed this during a recent episode of The Road To Cooperstown.
“I think it was ‘97 or ‘98 that I was a free agent. It was kind of like look, I didn’t want to go anywhere, but the organization took a stance and they weren’t moving. So I’m like okay so we don’t really have a choice here. If they don’t want me to stay anymore, I don’t want to leave, I want to kind of finish what we started, which was to get us to a World Series because it’s never been done here in Texas, or Houston, so I wanted to finish that job. Then it was like okay, it’s not going to happen. So you had San Diego and St. Louis, Colorado, the big three teams. Then I was probably minutes away from being a Rockie, honestly.”
In the end, Biggio stayed with the Astros for his entire career, even making a trip to the NLCS in 2004 and 2005 but never being able to get to the World Series despite having a loaded roster full of stars such as Biggio. And, as he mentions, things were almost very different when all was said and done.
Craig Biggio elaborates on near-Rockies choice
As Biggio mentioned, there were a few teams in the running with the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies, although the latter was the most likely landing spot for him due to the roster they had.
“That’s when you had Walker, Bichette, Galaraga, I mean they were missing one dude. They had the Blake Street Bombers back in the day. It was kind of like one phone call hung up, the other one rang, my agent said okay I guess we're staying, and that’s how close it came.”
Just imagining Craig Biggio in that dangerous Rockies lineup is exciting, and it would've made for a difficult National League West division.
Of course, this isn't what Rockies fans want to hear that he was minutes away from going to play home games at Coors Field.
For what it's worth, the Astros made the playoffs a few times as the Rockies didn't make it until the 2007 season, Biggio's final year in the MLB. But, we can only imagine how different things would've been for both the Rockies and the Astros –and Biggio — if the Hall of Famer decided to play games in Coors Field.
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