Posts Tagged ‘Craig Biggio’

Kudos to St. Thomas HS and Coach Biggio!

May 14, 2011

St. Thomas Coach Craig Biggio

Congratulations to Coach Craig Biggio and my old alma mater, the St. Thomas Eagles!

For the second straight year, the Eagles have taken home the State of Texas TAPPS Class 5A state championship. They did it Friday afternoon at Waco ISD’s Veterans Field with a 4-3 win over Bishop Lynch of Dallas. It was a victory that saw the Eagles battling through a windy day and a 4-3 edge from the third inning forward.  After the coach’s younger of two player sons, Cavan Biggio, launched a deep drive in the bottom of the third that bounced off the glove of Bishop Lynch left fielder Lucas Wearden and over the fence for a 4-3 lead, the Eagles protected that early lead for the final score of their big championship haul.

In irony, or simply in tribute to the St. Thomas Biggio family edge, it had been Craig Biggio’s other son, Conor Biggio, that homered a day earlier to give the Eagles a preceding 4-3 semi-final win over Argyle Liberty Christian that placed them in the championship match.

St. Thomas played the final game as the home team, getting off to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After Harrison Ayala and Conor Biggio drew game-opening walks, shortstop Patrick Leonard, a transfer student from Florida playing his first year in Houston, then plated everyone with a blast to left field. The Bishop Lynch Friars then jumped on St. Thomas starter Michael Rodgers for three runs on four hits in the top of the third. Cavan Biggio’s decisive blow then came about in the bottom of the same frame.

Eric Jensen took over on the mound for St. Thomas in the sixth after Rodgers gave up back to back hits. Jensen shut down the Friars the rest of the way on only one hit, chalking up four strikeouts in the process.

The St. Thomas Eagles state title was their 22nd since they started keeping records of same in 1953. It was the second straight title under Head Coach Craig Biggio and the second one in his three seasons as “The Hall of Fame Mentor on Memorial Drive.”

Our hats off to you, Coach Biggio, as well as to the 2011 state champion St. Thomas Eagles!

Eagle alums especially are quite proud of what you guys have done over the three years of your tenure with the Toms – and we wish to thank you, Coach Biggio, for full-bore embracing and embodying the St. Thomas High School motto: “Teach me goodness, discipline, and knowledge.” Once again, you have been just the right teacher and role model for a situation that both required and anticipated that kind of outcome.

The Biggio blessing is a plural one. – St. Thomas High School, the Houston Astros, the Sunshine Kids, and the entire Houston community are the beneficiaries of the presence of you and your entire family in our town. Thanks for being one of us at a high level of aspiration for everyone else. Many of us Houstonians also look forward to the some-year-soon summer afternoon we get to hear you speak in person on the lawn of that little rustic place of baseball dreams up there in Cooperstown, New York. What a grand day that will be.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Quo Vadis, Craig Biggio?

May 25, 2010

5/15/10: The Craig Biggio-coached St. Thomas Eagles defeated Houston Christian, 7-5, in the finals at Waco to take the 5-A State of Texas TAPPS baseball championship.

It only took Craig Biggio two years to lead the St. Thomas Eagles to a state title in baseball, but he and the boys did it in typical Biggio-Astros style over the 2010 season, weathering a phase of doubt and coming back strong to fare even better than Houston’s professional standard bearers. The Eagles went all the way to the top, winning their 23rd state baseball title in the 110th year of the school’s history.

Biggio got involved in helping out as volunteer assistant coach with St. Thomas football while he was still playing for the Astros after his oldest son Conor Biggio entered the school as a freshman. Conor was followed two years later by younger brother Cavan. What a dream opportunity this all turned out to be for retiring super big leaguer Biggio – a chance to watch and even be involved in the ongoing education of his sons as young men and serious ballplayers.

Biggio accepted employment as the St. Thomas baseball coach on May 18, 2008. Three days short of two years later, on May 15, 2010, Biggio and Company were wrapping up that most special prize in Texas high school competition, a state championship. St. Thomas defeated season-long nemesis Houston Christian, 7-5, in the 5-A TAPPS state baseball championship finals at Waco to bring home that very special prize.

Craig Biggio (4th from right in red jacket) & St. Thomas Good Company!

Our hats go off to Craig Biggio and the gang from old St. Thomas (my old high school too) – along with all the questions that Craig Biggio’s coaching success at this level now adds to all those queries that continue to float around about his future as a major league manager.

After Craig Biggio’s probable first ballot induction into the Hall of Fame in 2013, will he be open to managing in the big leagues? If so, will it have to be a term with the Astros – or will he be open to other offers? – Or will Craig Biggio simply prefer to stay where he is – close to home and family, and close to the handles on his favorite charities and involvement in the Sunshine Kids Foundation? I’m sure that St. Thomas High School wouldn’t mind it either if Biggio decided to stay at the helm of our baseball program at STHS far beyond the years that his sons are enrolled as students. He brings class, positive energy, and success to everything he does.

The final answers to all questions about the future of Craig Biggio rest down the road – and that’s where I think he places them too. As with all the rest of us, his best choices rest firmly in the Hand of God – and in his ongoing discovery of God’s Will for him in this lifetime.

God Bless you too now, Craig Biggio, for all you do to make the Houston community a better place.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »