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EAGLES’ PRIDE
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2015-2016
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newlywed, Holly, were just weeks
removed from their honeymoon
in St. Lucia in the Caribbean.
“Patty really took care of us in
Cooperstown,” O’Neill said.
“She found a family who was
willing to rent out their entire
house for the weekend. We
were able to all stay together
only a block off Main Street.
We had reserved seating for the
induction speeches and were
invited to their private party
the next day. Just some small
examples of how she and Craig
wanted to take care of the St.
Thomas family.”
Patty insisted that her efforts
were drawn from a deep respect
for the STH community, even in
the recent absence of Biggio’s
previous day-to-day association.
“St. Thomas was just a big part
of us, not just where Craig was
coaching,” Patty said. “That’s
where the boys continued their
education and formation. For
that, the community will always
hold a special place in our
hearts. To be able to give back
to the school is something we’ve
always wanted to do. And to
have St. Thomas included in
the festivities just made perfect
sense. Can’t imagine it any other
way.”
Biggio has repeatedly recognized
that some of his greatest
baseball satisfactions didn’t
directly involve the Astros or
influence his Hall of Fame
candidacy, but rather came
after his iconic career came to
a close, when he was able to
recoup some of the up close and
personal dad time with Conor
and Cavan he had sacrificed to
carve the path that led to him to
the HOF.
He deeply appreciated and
embraced making Fr. Wilson
Field a home-away-from-home,
where he shared and contributed
to what his sons and their fellow
Eagles were becoming, not
simply as players, but as people,
young men laying the foundation
for success in baseball and in life.
“I loved all those kids. I looked
at them all as if they were all my
kids,” Biggio said. “My number
one goal was to teach them the
game, push them to become the
best they could be at their talent
level, and for those who had the
skill and desire to continue to
play, find the right program for
them to continue their careers.
And you ask every single one of
them, they have my cell phone
number. I told them if I could
ever help, call me. My memories
of St. Thomas are just as with
the Astros ... part of the family.”
---
Fittingly, like he did for 1,560
games during his 20-year Astros
career, Biggio batted leadoff at
the 2015 induction ceremony to
the National Baseball Hall of
Fame.
Biggio was quick to salute his
close friends … at St. Thomas
... and the late Monsignor Jamail
(St. Vincent de Paul pastor)...and
thanked them for supporting
him in his personal and
professional life.
Biggo proudly told of his
multi-decade relationship with
the Sunshine Kids which was
largely inspired while growing up
on Long Island, New York by
a family on his Newsday paper
route. “They had a boy (Chris)
who came down with leukemia.
It was right then and there that
I understood what a family goes
through day in and day out ...
I made a promise to them that
if I was ever in a situation or