Japi's Blog

Biggio - leadership, selflessness, sacrifice

Craig Alan Biggio, my favorite Houston Astro (Major League Baseball Team) and one of the most amazing ball-players I have seen play the game of baseball.

Craig was born on December 14, 1965 in Smithtown, New York... less than 5 hours from Cooperstown, New York where he will eventually be immortalized at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

I've been attending baseball games since I was very young.  My father used to take me to games in Venezuela to watch our favorite passtime (Yes, baseball is Venezuela's most popular sport!).

I used to watch my team, Los Leones de Caracas (Caracas Lions), battle against Navegantes del Magallenes, Cardenales de Lara, Tigres de Aragua, Aguilas del Zulia and Tiburones de La Guaira.  Venezuela's league has added some teams since that time... but that's the old-school group of teams!

My Leones had a mix of Venezuelan players (some Venezuelan major-leaguers) and American Major League players - usually young (up and coming) players trying to hone their skills in Venezuela's Winter Ball League.  Some names from the past who have played in Venezuela include: Rod Carew, Dave Parker, Pete Rose, Cecil Fielder, Andre Dawson, Ken Forsch and many more. 

Every Venezuelan player who has been a major leaguer started their career in the Venezuelan League.... including Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio, current White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen, shortstop David Concepcion (member of Cincy's Big Red Machine), magical shortstop Omar Vizquel.

So... with that, I wanted to set the table that I have seen and enjoyed a lot of baseball.  I've watched great players and others that I'd like to forget.  I've enjoyed fantastic playoff runs and heart-breaking seasons.  Through many of these years, there was a constant and his name is Craig Biggio.

My favorite baseball player of all time is Craig Biggio. 

He played his career with the same team, played the game the right way (run out every ball, play hard every minute) and generously gave his time and money to his favorite charity, The Sunshine Kids.

Biggio ended his career with 668 doubles (5th on the Major Leagues all-time) so it was PERFECT that his final hit was a double to complete an amazing career spanning three decades (from 1988 to 2007).  Here are his hitting and fielding statistics (from www.Astros.com) :

Hitting Stats:
SEASON	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
1988	50	123	14	26	6	1	3	5	43	7	29	6	1	0.254	0.35	0.211
1989	134	443	64	114	21	2	13	60	178	49	64	21	3	0.336	0.402	0.257
1990	150	555	53	153	24	2	4	42	193	53	79	25	11	0.342	0.348	0.276
1991	149	546	79	161	23	4	4	46	204	53	71	19	6	0.358	0.374	0.295
1992	162	613	96	170	32	3	6	39	226	94	95	38	15	0.378	0.369	0.277
1993	155	610	98	175	41	5	21	64	289	77	93	15	17	0.373	0.474	0.287
1994	114	437	88	139	44	5	6	56	211	62	58	39	4	0.411	0.483	0.318
1995	141	553	123	167	30	2	22	77	267	80	85	33	8	0.406	0.483	0.302
1996	162	605	113	174	24	4	15	75	251	75	72	25	7	0.386	0.415	0.288
1997	162	619	146	191	37	8	22	81	310	84	107	47	10	0.415	0.501	0.309
1998	160	646	123	210	51	2	20	88	325	64	113	50	8	0.403	0.503	0.325
1999	160	639	123	188	56	0	16	73	292	88	107	28	14	0.386	0.457	0.294
2000	101	377	67	101	13	5	8	35	148	61	73	12	2	0.388	0.393	0.268
2001	155	617	118	180	35	3	20	70	281	66	100	7	4	0.382	0.455	0.292
2002	145	577	96	146	36	3	15	58	233	50	111	16	2	0.33	0.404	0.253
2003	153	628	102	166	44	2	15	62	259	57	116	8	4	0.35	0.412	0.264
2004	156	633	100	178	47	0	24	63	297	40	94	7	2	0.337	0.469	0.281
2005	155	590	94	156	40	1	26	69	276	37	90	11	1	0.325	0.468	0.264
2006	145	548	79	135	33	0	21	62	231	40	84	3	2	0.306	0.422	0.246
2007	141	517	68	130	31	3	10	50	197	23	112	4	3	0.285	0.381	0.251
Career Totals	2850	10876	1844	3060	668	55	291	1175	4711	1160	1753	414	124	0.363	0.433	0.281

Fielding Stats:
SEASON	POS	G	GS	INN	TC	PO	A	E	DP	PB	SB	CS	RF	FPCT
1988	C	50	---	---	323	292	28	3	0	3	---	---	---	0.991
1989	C	125	---	---	792	728	56	8	6	9	---	---	---	0.99
1989	OF	5	---	---	15	14	0	1	0	---	---	---	---	0.933
1990	C	113	---	---	609	546	54	9	4	7	---	---	---	0.985
1990	OF	50	---	---	121	111	6	4	0	---	---	---	---	0.967
1991	C	139	---	---	963	889	64	10	10	13	---	---	---	0.99
1991	2B	3	---	---	14	5	8	1	1	---	---	---	---	0.929
1991	OF	2	---	---	1	0	1	0	0	---	---	---	---	1
1992	2B	161	---	---	769	344	413	12	81	---	---	---	---	0.984
1993	2B	155	---	---	767	306	447	14	90	---	---	---	---	0.982
1994	2B	113	---	---	570	225	338	7	63	---	---	---	---	0.988
1995	2B	141	---	---	728	299	419	10	78	---	---	---	---	0.986
1996	2B	162	---	---	811	361	440	10	76	---	---	---	---	0.988
1997	2B	160	---	---	863	341	504	18	108	---	---	---	---	0.979
1998	2B	159	---	---	764	318	431	15	92	---	---	---	---	0.98
1999	2B	155	153	1351.1	812	370	430	12	117	---	---	---	5.33	0.985
1999	OF	6	3	25.1	7	6	1	0	0	---	---	---	2.49	1
2000	2B	100	99	852.2	471	183	282	6	57	---	---	---	4.91	0.987
2001	2B	154	152	1344.2	680	280	389	11	86	---	---	---	4.48	0.984
2002	2B	142	140	1236.2	673	313	352	8	88	---	---	---	4.84	0.988
2002	OF	1	1	9	1	1	0	0	0	---	---	---	1	1
2003	OF	150	150	1313	336	326	9	1	1	---	---	---	2.3	0.997
2004	OF	149	149	1225	263	250	4	9	0	---	---	---	1.87	0.966
2005	2B	141	141	1172.1	662	250	396	16	82	---	---	---	4.96	0.976
2006	2B	129	127	1062	559	219	334	6	80	---	---	---	4.69	0.989
2007	C	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.5	1
2007	2B	114	111	936.2	468	191	267	10	54	---	---	---	4.4	0.979
Career Totals		2780	---	---	13043	7169	5673	201	1174	---	---	---	---	0.985

photo courtesy of Jeff Balke

Patrick Hughes - amazing musician, inspiring individual

My wife sent me a link to a YouTube video earlier today.  It's definitely a tear-jerker, but it is completely inspirational. 

The story was originally aired on ESPN College Gameday last year (December 2, 2006)... but it's timeless.

Patrick Hughes is a young man at University of Louisville who was born blind and crippled and yet now plays the piano beautifully as well as marches (with the help of his father) in the Louisville marching band.

8 Year Old Football Prodigy

My son showed me this video of an 8-year old kid.  I'm amazed by his vision on the Football field.  I hope he grows some and does not get hurt, because I really want to see him when he gets older.

His name is Cody Paul and the video clip is from the Pop Warner Pee Wee Football championship game in Florida, December 2006.  His team is Los Alamitos Griffins from California.  This video is amazing!

David Avellan Dominates in a Mixed Martial Arts Fight

A second cousin of mine (My Cousin's son), David Avellan, had his latest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight televised last night.

I used to watch boxing when I was younger and I've seen some MMA fights, but I haven't necessarily been a fan.  But since David posted bulletins on his MySpace letting his friends know about the upcoming Bodogfight in Costa Rica... I decided to tune in.

The first fight was not very interesting (Nick Agallar vs Ryan Bow), because it was short and the action was not very impressive.  When the fight between David and his opponent, Frenchman Antony Rea was setup, my interest was definitely peaked.

David is about 3 inches shorter than Rea and does not look as bulked up.  From the descriptions given during the pre-fight, Rea has been a great "stand-up" fighter.  He has a lot of reach and a strong punch.  Avellan has a history of being more of a grappler - if he gets you on the mat, you're done!

So it was a match of very different fighting styles. It seemed like the one who imposed their fighting style the most would likely win.  I believed that David was probably going to be able to impose his style much more than Rea - because it's harder to stay standing if your opponent is looking to bring you down.  I was hoping that was the case, at least.

Well, the fight was crazy intense... David's nose was broken in the first few minutes of the fight and blood was all over Rea and the mat..  That did not stop David from dominating.  Everytime Avellan dropped Rea to the ground, he pummeled Rea's face and body.  I was awed by David's tenacity and high risk, high reward approach to the fight.

My guess is that Avellan's lowerbody strength is outrageous - he was able to toss Rea with such ease everytime he hit the ground.  I was both impressed and proud to see the success he has obviously worked so hard to achieve. 

I hope to see him win many more times!

So glad to have Hunter Pence in the bigs!

Last year I blogged about how the Houston Astros needed to bring Hunter Pence up from their AA club, Corpus Christi Hooks.  In my opnion, if they would have brought him up... he would have helped them win at least one extra game (probably more) and that is all they needed to get into the playoffs.  But that's history.

This year, the Astros were smart enough to invite Pence to their spring training where he hit like a monster and played great outfield.  However, the Astros felt he needed a little AAA level experience.  He went to the AAA Round Rock Express where he continued his torrid pace.  At the same time, the Astros bats got off to a pretty bad start to the season.  I was very happy when they finally brought Hunter to the bigs on April 28.  He has done extremely well since that day. 

Hunter even had a streak of 7 straight at bats with a hit (in two games).  He is currenty hitting .348 with 21 singles, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homeruns and 15 RBI's.  He has made several great plays in the huge and strange Minute Maid outfield. 

The intangibles he brings to the Astros are even more exciting, because he has so much enthusiasm that it is getting the other players pumped.  He has shown great respect for the game - which to me is extremely important.  Hunter is a welcome sight in a year that could be Craig Biggio's last.  Hunter will definitely help to carry the torch for Biggio to keep the Astros a class organization for many years to come.  A core group made up of Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Carlos Lee, Brandon Bakke (currently on disabled list), Adam Everett and Hunter Pence will surely bring us close to winning it all soon!  Let's keep hoping.

Is this the last Astros post of the 2006 season?

I'm really hoping that this is not my last Houston Astros blog-post of the 2006 season.  If they lose to the Atlanta Braves tonight, their season is over.  If they win, there's a chance the Astros could make it to the post-season, but they will need some help.

The last week and a half has been amazing to watch, but it also made me sad to think that they gave away so many games during most of this season.  There have been so many games this season where the Astros have beat themselves by making silly mistakes or not taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

I have mixed feelings about the Astros making the playoffs... don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan and I want their season to last and last and last... and hopefully win the whole thing this year.  But the hitting has been so pathetic this year that I doubt they would get very far in the playoffs.  The reason I would NOT want to see them make the playoffs is that I want Tim Purpura, Drayton McLane and company to FIX the problem.  If the Astros make the playoffs, the Astros braintrust may decide that everything is ok and no changes are needed.

I believe there are many changes needed... we need consistent hitting.  I'd like to see the Astros go with their young guns and rebuild than try to reload with hitters like last year's mistake with Preston Wilson.  We have a number of up and coming outfielders who deserve a shot at showing what they can do.  Luke Scott and Chris Burke should be given a chance to be everyday starters, they've proven themselves this season.  We should also allow hitters like Tike Redman and Hunter Pence to come in and show what they can do.  Leaving good hitters in the minors for too long can be detrimental.

Let's watch what happens tonight and tomorrow... if we win tonight, the St Louis Cardinals will need to lose tomorrow and then we need to win tomorrow as well to open a door to the playoffs for the Astros.... I'll be watching in anticipation for the best and the worst; either way, I'm a HIGE fan... that won't change.

Marathon man, again?

Around 1997 I began "trying to train" to run a marathon after one of my best friends, Ed Schipul successfully ran one in 1995.  I was motivated and physically fit, but not well informed as to what I needed to do.  For 3 years, I would try to train (with no guidance) and would always end up pulling a hamstring or some other muscle that would sideline me for (at least) a month - this would take me out of the training schedule.  What's weird is that my muscle pulls and strains would not happen during a run; I would be walking to my office and all of a sudden, my muscle would tighten up and I'd be in a lot of pain.  Hamstring pulls take forever to heal since it's such a large muscle and it's used everyday to walk.

Then one day (around the year 2000) someone told me that I should stretch AFTER the workout.  I always knew to stretch before, but I NEVER stretched afterwards.  This was a simple solution to my muscle pulls... I tested it and it worked, I would have pains here and there but no muscle pulls.  I was excited that such a simple piece of information would put me back on target to successfully complete a marathon.

So I began my training program in early September of 2000.  My sister Belen had given me a training program put together by Houston Fit - it was tough but do-able.  I worked through the aches, pains and schedule adjustments I needed to make. 

One more thing that helped me get through the months of training was "self forgiveness".  In the past, I would start training and then have to skip a few days or a week for ANY reason and I'd give up the training - I felt ashamed of myself for having skipped some of the training and I'd quit. Self forgiveness gave me an avenue to continue my training even if I skipped a whole week.  I'd just tell myself, "it's alright... I just need to work a little harder to get back on track"... and it worked!

So I continued to run (not as much or as fast as I would have liked)... but my goal was to finish the Houston Marathon in no more than 5 hours and 30 minutes.  If I ran slower than that I would not be considered among the official finishers.

To start off, I trained mostly on a treadmill at Compaq's workout facility (where I worked at the time).  Then came the first big test - in early October, the first marathon pre-race (20k) took place.  After the race, I realized that I needed to mix-in some outdoors training.  I also learned that I needed to get shoes that were about 1 size longer than my shoesize.  I got blisters and burns in places that I won't mention... but I learned that vaseline and band-aids would be my friends.

With the information I learned from the 20k, I was able to run the next pre-race (25k in early November) with less issues. 

I was ill and could not run the 30k in early December, but I continued to train and prepare for the mid-January Houston Marathon. 

I asked some of my family if they could attend the race but they declined since they live in Austin so I decided to sign up and run the Austin Marathon as well, which takes place about 30 days after the Houston Marathon... THIS WAS NOT SMART ON MY PART... but since it was the first time I was running a marathon, I didn't know that one is supposed to wait 2 to 3 months between marathons for the body to recover properly.

I was determined to run and finish 2 marathons in 30 days... quite a big task, but in my case ignorance helped me get through it.

I ran and finished the Houston Marathon in 5.5 hours which was the exact cut-off to be included as an official finisher - my goal.

I rested about 1 week and picked up training again to get ready for the Austin Marathon. 

I ran in Austin - it was MUCH tougher than Houston because there were rough downhill stretches that put a lot of strain on my knees and feet.  I completed the Austin Marathon in 6.5 hours.... painfully rested a couple of hours, drove back to Houston and went to work the next day.  When I got home from work, I could barely take off my shoes because my feet were in so much pain and extremely swollen.  I missed about a week of work because of my stubborn ignorance.

Overall, it was an amazing experience that helped me learn a lot about myself.  I realized that I had the power over my mind to achieve anything.  I battled head trash that tried to beat me down and won.  If you like to run, I highly recommend running a marathon.

At a time when I was doubting if I could finish college and earn a degree, I achieved something that helped me push forward and finish my studies with ease.

Now I am training to run the Houston Marathon in 2007 - maybe that means I'll go back to school to earn my MBA someday soon!

Cy Falls Eagles at the 7-on-7 Football State Tournament

My son's high school football team qualified for the Texas state 7-on-7 tournament.  The tournament took place this past weekend in College Station, the home of Texas A&M University.

The Cy Falls Golden Eagles 7-on-7 team was picked as one of the favorites of the tournament.  The top 64 teams of the state would be divided into groups of 4... the top two teams of each group from group play Friday, July 14th would advance to the Championship bracked Saturday.

Cy Falls ran the table Friday beating El Paso Hanks 40 to 31, Hebron 47 to 36 and Victoria Memorial 35 to 20.

Saturday the Eagles played well, beating Copperas Cove 27 to 19, then beating Alamo Heights 40 to 28.  The quaterfinals game stopped their amazing run... they lost to one of their top rivals, Cy Fair 38 to 36.

Considered one of the top 8 teams in the state is a great precursor to the upcoming regular season.  After last year's great run through the playoffs, most of the starters are back to hopefully be state champions this year!

Good luck Eagles... go Cy Falls!

Can the 'Stros threepeat?

The Houston Astros have had miserable starts to the year the last two seasons, then they have gone on incredible runs to make the playoffs.  This year seems to be a little different because while they have had a number of bad games, overall they have played mediocre ball most of the year.  They've shown flashes of the greatness that took them to the World Series last year, but they can't seem to put together a consistent winning streak.

In the past, the Astros have been very conservative in bringing up their best from the minor leagues... and I've agreed with their philosophy for the most part, it's important to get these young players to properly mature into the major leagues.  As shown in the movie Bull Durham, playing baseball is more than just pitching and hitting... there's the social and psychological part of the game that takes time to learn.  Players need to mature physically, intellectually and even spiritually to be able to handle the bright lights of the major leagues. 

HOWEVER, this year may have to be different... the Astros have an opportunity to win it all with THE greatest Astro of all time (Craig Biggio) who will probably play one or two more years and arguably the greatest right-handed pitcher in baseball history, Roger Clemens.  I really believe this is Roger's last year and we MUST do everything to win the whole enchilada this year.  I'm not saying bring up every potentially good player, but there are several players currently in the minors that are tearing it up and we should take a look at them to see if they can do a better job than the group currently on the roster.... for example:

1. Hunter Pence - he is currently playing on the Corpus Christi Hooks (a team partially owned by Roger Clemens) and has hit 20 home runs in 81 games, that's a pretty good clip.  But he's not just a home run hitter... he has a batting average of nearly .300 and has 93 hits, 18 doubles, 4 triples.  He's considered one of the top prospects in the Astros organization.  I think he should get a shot at showing what he can do.  Since he is currently playing AA ball (and tearing it up), I think he should be moved to the AAA affiliate (The Round Rock Express) and see what he can do there for a few weeks... and if he continues to play at this level or better, bring him up to the majors.  He certainly can be no worse than Willy Taveras, Preston Wilson or Jason Lane.  We need some young blood injected into our lineup.
2. Wade Robinson - He's a shortstop who jumped from A ball (Salem Avalanche) to AAA ball (Round Rock Express) this year!  Wade is hitting .329 in 27 games at the Express so far... and his fielding is pretty good too.  I would hate to lose Adam Everett's defense (he's considered the BEST defensive shortstop in the majors), but we need some offense! 

These are just a couple of players that are worth taking a closer look and see what they can do... I'm sure they aren't the only ones.  Astros GM, Tim Purpura needs to start making some tough decisions.  Since he took over for one of the best GM's Houston has seen (Gerri Hunsicker), Tim has done very little to shake the boat and if he doesn't do something soon, it's going to sink and cost him his young career. 

This is the Astros year!  Purpura... get some of these young players up to the majors and see what they can do.  I'm certain they can do no worse than what some of our players are currently doing.  We need this for Clemens and Biggio!  I'm hoping for a threepeat of the runs they have had the last two years, but this time... WIN IT ALL!

Now that the World Cup is done for me...

I will direct my attention to my beloved Astros.  Let's hope they can pull off a streak similar to the ones they have the last two years to reach the League Championship Series and the World Series.  If all goes as it should (at least in my mind) the Astros should WIN the World Series this year.  Let's hope the Baseball gods are smiling down on Minute Maid Park this year.

My daughter and her boyfriend gave me an awesome birthday present this year... one that I will enjoy for many years.  I guess I'm easy to please... the present was a Craig Biggio jersey.  Craig is probably the greatest Astro of all time.