I turn 30 in about a month and remember one of my best friends talking about Biggio all the time when we were about 12 yrs old. That seems like an eternity ago. I was a Will Clark (SF) fan back then and didn't become a Stros fan until the mid-90's. One of my college roomates used to listen to Milo on the radio religiously (if they weren't on TV) and Biggio became my favorite player. I moved to Houston in 2001 and typically go to about 5-8 games a year. Someone from work offered me a ticket to the big game and of course I figured it was doubtful that Biggio would get 3 hits that night. After the Brewers series, I was disgusted and telling myself that it was football season as soon as Biggio got his 3,000. I heard the seats were pretty good but was shocked when they were literally 17 rows directly behind home plate (just outside of the Diamond Club seats). On the way to the game from work, the sports radio guys (610 AM I think) were talking about different scenarios for the big hit. One caller asked if anyone had ever been thrown out trying to stretch an extra base hit for #3,000 but they thought the closest thing was when George Brett was picked off after his 3,000th hit. Another caller said something about hoping it wasn't an error/hit controversy (like #2,999). I think on the other station Charlie Palillo said it was about 1/13 odds that he would get 3 hits. When Biggio grounded out in the 1st, I figured the 1/13 odds were probably closer to 1/100. When #2,999 was ruled a hit, the feeling in the stadium was electric. At that time, I was just happy that we'd be able to give him a big ovation for the chance at 3,000. After ball 2, we were booing the pitcher and I had a feeling he'd get a pitch to hit on the next one. When he made contact, we could tell almost immediately that the ball was going to drop. After the Rockies went up 4-1 the next inning, my ride said he was ready to go home and I figured the excitement was over. Just after we walked outside, the Astros tied it up and one of my friends called that was watching the game at the B.U.S. next door. We ended up watching the rest of the game there although I missed the infield hit from Biggio in the 11th. I still haven't seen the replay. The fact that the game ended up that way makes me think the baseball gods felt Biggio deserved it. I'm usually a pretty optimistic fan but told my wife last year at least 5 times that the Astros season was over if they lost that particular game. When I started saying the same thing after the Brewers series, she said I couldn't watch the Astros anymore (other than the chase for #3,000) if they lost that game. I still think their season is pretty much over but the last couple of games (& Brewers losses) have me wondering if they have any magic left.
