Astros History: Biggio Hits A Ton Of Doubles

There's something I don't think people realize about Craig Biggio. We know he was old for the 2004-05 runs, but he was also old during those 97-99 teams.

I don't mean actually old so much as baseball old. Biggio was 31 in 97 and 33 in 99. That's well past the traditional "prime" years we ascribe to players, which runs anywhere from 26 to 30.

Of course, every player is different and for stars like Biggio, that means seeing his prime last well into his 30s and saw him set a career high for doubles in a season when he was 33. That's when Biggio uncorked a season for the ages, hitting 56 doubles in 1999 to lead the league.

He hit .294/.386/.457 that season with 123 runs scored and 28 stolen bases for good measure. He also hit 16 home runs, which, you know, seems kind of pedestrian. But, it was the second time he hit 50 or more doubles in his career, following the 1998 season when he had 51. That means at Ages 32 and 33, he hit 107 of his career 668 doubles. That's 16 percent for my fellow liberal arts majors.

What's more, only 12 players have topped that 56 double season, but just five players have hit as many or more since 1950. The only player to hit more doubles and be older than Bidge? Tris Speaker. Pretty good company, I'd say.