Biggio is #13 on the All Time AB List
If you are an exceptional position player, one who is a great contact hitter, and also one who stays healthy over time, compiling a large total of official time at bat is one career statistic that you shall be assured of racking up on a high digit basis.
In the history of baseball, only 27 players in MLB history have reached and surpassed the five digit figure of 10,000 official at bats and only Craig Biggio, so far, represents the Houston Astros on that countable side of the ledger.
With 10,876 official times at bat beside his name – and also as an “Only Astros” career (1988-2007) player – Craig Biggio checks in at the # 13 spot on the all time list.
If you care to check out the complete list of earnest baseball souls – or meditate through the other fanciful record comparisons at Baseball Almanac, you may wish to click the following link and dedicate the rest of the day to that little hungry fugue into the baseball research project germination room that you shall find there:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/hiatbat1.shtml
Here’s the part of the table that applies to Mr. Biggio’s participation in the all time “at bats” list:
At-Bats / All Time Leaders Excerpt
‘Top 1,000’ Source: Baseball Almanac.Com |
||
Name | At-Bats | Rank |
Pete Rose | 14,053 | 1 |
Hank Aaron | 12,364 | 2 |
Carl Yastrzemski | 11,988 | 3 |
Cal Ripken, Jr. | 11,551 | 4 |
Ty Cobb | 11,434 | 5 |
Eddie Murray | 11,336 | 6 |
Derek Jeter | 11,195 | 7 |
Robin Yount | 11,008 | 8 |
Dave Winfield | 11,003 | 9 |
Stan Musial | 10,972 | 10 |
Rickey Henderson | 10,961 | 11 |
Willie Mays | 10,881 | 12 |
Craig Biggio | 10,876 | 13 |
Again, here are a few questions that sometimes help, if you are looking for a research topic to write about or discuss.
1) Is there anything in the page on screen that simply jumps out and shouts, “Hey! Here I am! Research and write about me?”
2) Are some of the other names on the list pulling you to write about something with them that you haven’t already read elsewhere, many times over?
3) Beyond his exceptional ability, stamina, and career health, what does Craig Biggio’s 10,876 times at bat and 13th spot on the all time list say to us about Craig Biggio?
And, I guess that last question about Biggio contains an answer that applies to just about every name on these “all timer” lists. Every one of these Hall of Fame quality players cared enough about baseball to give the game “a commitment of effort over time with positive results.” Every player on this list, no matter how they differed by personality and social compatibility, was a man who gave himself to the game of baseball in his own unique way.
Think of Craig Biggio’s accomplishment here in this light. Of the few dozen handfuls over 15,000 that have played declared and rated major league baseball since 1871, only an identified single dozen players have played the game at this highest level and achieved a greater number of times at bat than Biggio’s 10,876 official trips to the plate. And, like Biggio, all but 2 of the 12 players with higher At Bat totals are inducted members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. At Bats Leader Pete Rose, of course, remains outside the HOF for reasons tied to his ban from the game for gambling on baseball during his career. AB List #7 man, Derek Jeter, is still too newly retired from active playing status to be on the ballot for deserved induction into the Hall.
Greatness and longevity. Craig Biggio had both. And that’s what he gave us as a twenty-year member of the Houston Astros.
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
December 1, 2017 at 2:44 am |
Pete Rose is not in the HOF & may never get in. Derek Jeter isn’t in yet, but should get in as soon as he’s eligible. Other than those two, all of the top 13 AB leaders are HOFers.
December 1, 2017 at 3:05 am |
Rick –
Thanks for catching my “asleep at the wheel” comment. I do know better about the now HOF cases of Rose and Jeter, and will now take responsibility for the error in a correction which spares me the need to write this same apology to whomever else notices my glaring original “whoops” in this matter.
December 1, 2017 at 4:20 pm |
Bill, I’m assuming this is Official AT Bats and doesn’t include walks.
And where is Lou Gehrig on that list? wayne chandler
December 1, 2017 at 11:01 pm |
Lou Gehrig is way down the line, His 8,001 official “at bats” currently rank him at the # 148 spot among these very biggest totals above the other 15,000 who’ve played the big league brand of ball through 2017. His long consecutive games played streak and his “Iron Horse” nickname most probably contribute to the idea that he was among the top ten in this category too. Not so.