Houston Astros<\/a> feels less like a fresh start and more like a return.<\/p>\nBiggio, who joined the organization just over a week ago, has major league experience with the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals. But none of those stops carry the personal connection Houston does.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis organization has always been very special to me, and it\u2019s an absolute honor to don the uniform now,\u201d Biggio said.<\/p>\n
The son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, Cavan grew up around Astros baseball, following his father through clubhouses and across spring training fields in Kissimmee before the team moved its operations to West Palm Beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst time in West Palm, you know, I grew up running around the fields in Kissimmee with my brother, and those are some of the best memories of my life,\u201d Biggio said.<\/p>\n
Astros superfan Donna Hopkins, attending another spring training in West Palm Beach, remembers those days vividly. She recalled seeing a young Biggio signing autographs for fans along the fence line \u2014 even when he might not have had permission.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was afraid to because your brother was saying Dad is going to get you,\u201d Hopkins said, recounting the moment. \u201cAnd you said, \u2018I got to give the people what they want.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Biggio said he doesn\u2019t remember the exchange, but the memory reflects the familiarity he has with the organization.<\/p>\n
The Astros did not bring Biggio in simply for nostalgia. Manager Joe Espada cited his left-handed bat, defensive versatility and professional approach as reasons the club sees value in him.<\/p>\n
\u201cLefty bat, can play multiple positions, professional approach from the left side, get on base, he\u2019s got some power, the versatility,\u201d Espada said. \u201cLooking forward to having him here and giving him opportunities to make the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biggio believes Houston offers his best opportunity to earn a roster spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe interest that they showed in me and obviously they needed a left-handed bat and some versatility, and I thought that I fit in really well with that and it gives me the best opportunity to make this club,\u201d Biggio said. \u201cObviously, Houston being home is a big plus for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at\u00a0newstips@khou.com<\/a>\u00a0or call 713-521-4310 and include your name and the best way to reach you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Astros did not bring Biggio in simply for nostalgia. Manager Joe Espada cited his left-handed bat, defensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2389],"tags":[42,5,139,54,3211,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-589276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-astros","8":"tag-astros","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-astros","12":"tag-houstonastros","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116122968580207885","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}