68 / 212
66
/
ST. THOMAS HIGH SCHOOL
/
HOUSTON, TX
Biggio then turned the focus to
those he most cherishes, first
Conor and Cavan, who vaulted
from STH to Notre Dame where
they remained teammates the last
two years. “I’ll never forget the
memories we had traveling with
the team when you guys were bat
boys and enjoying the 3,000 hits
on the field together. Memories
of a lifetime. And (daughter)
Quinn, you’re beautiful and
talented ... (too) young to
remember my playing career but
you sure play like you do. You
are a sweetheart and I love you
all very much.”
Biggio admittedly saved the best
for last. “To my wife, Patty. You
gave me three incredible kids.
But most of all you gave me
my best friend the last 25 years.
You’re a great person. And our
kids are who they are because of
you. The baseball life is a great
life. But it’s a very hard life. I
was always in and out for eight
months. You were the one who
did everything for the kids.”
Closing in grand slam fashion,
Biggio summed his personal
Field of Dreams production
to “giving everything I had
every day ... tomorrow is not
guaranteed and I tried to play
every game as if it was going to
be my last. I want to thank the
game for everything ... my family,
my friends, respect, but most of
all, memories of a lifetime.”
---
The following Monday, the
Eagle crew banked their own
Brinks load of never-to-
forget experiences, mixing and
mingling, singing and dancing,
toasting the day and night away
at Biggio’s private celebration.
Still reverberating were the
high arching themes of Craig’s
10-minute stay at the podium ...
the standards he has lived long
before and after calling a close to
his Astros playing career, values
which were consistent with his
impact at St. Thomas.
Loyalty and commitment.
Charity and community. Ethic
and integrity. Faith and family.
“Those words right there sum
up Craig,” Lousteau said. “The
way he carries himself, what he
endorses, is what we’re trying to
instill in all our guys here at St.
Thomas. If they develop into
a man of Craig’s character then
we’ve done our job the right
way.”
Biggio has remained a significant
Eagle ambassador who
champions the STH experience,
its sacred Basilian mission and
traditions. Netzel steadfastly
believes that the timing that
led Biggio to St. Thomas
in quicksilver fashion after
his retirement was not mere
coincidence.
“Craig and Patty were looking
for the same qualities when
choosing a school for (Conor
and Cavan) that you heard
him reference in his induction
speech,” Netzel said. “They
wanted the same dynamics which
they had already established for
the boys, the dynamics which
have defined St. Thomas for
more than a century. We already
had a thriving community here
which provided the perfect fit
for what they desired and then
the same exact match for Craig’s
later involvement with baseball.”
Biggio’s diamond dust career was
marked by a rare combination
of power and speed with an
unmatched defensive versatility
at three premium positions, a
seven-time All-Star fronting a
star-crossed and success-starved
franchise for 20 years, leading a
charge to its one and only World
Series. A model for the city ...
and then a school ... where he
became ingrained in the culture.
“What I’ll always take from
Craig’s six years at St. Thomas
is how he showed what can be
gained through hard work,”
O’Neill said. “He would be
here six hours before practice,
working the field and just doing
whatever was necessary to make
the program successful. That’s
what all our students saw, an
example of hard work.
“Growing up here, we needed a
guy like him in Houston to flip
the script and make this more
than just a football market. He
was the right guy at the right
time to make this a baseball city.
The right guy for Houston ... for
St. Thomas ... in more ways than
one.”