Biggio can’t wear charity pin on his cap

"Craig Biggio was angry at the commissioner’s officeThursday night after he was told to stop wearing a pin on his cap that bears the
logo of a foundation that helps children with cancer.

The Houston Astros star said he has worn the bright yellow, sun-shaped pin,
featuring the logo for the Sunshine Kids foundation, on his hat during spring
training games for the past 20 years without a problem. He is the national
spokesman for the foundation and is very active in its work. "I’m not a disrespectful person and I don’t disrespect the game," Biggio
said. "But I’ve been wearing this pin for 20 years because it puts smiles on
20,000-something cancer patients’ faces."

Biggio said someone in the commissioner’s office contacted the Astros about
instructing him to remove the pin, but he wasn’t sure who it was. He said
Houston general manager Tim Purpura was sent a fax with a picture of Biggio from
Wednesday night’s game.

"Major League Baseball does a lot of good things, but this is one of the
stupid things," Biggio said.

The 41-year-old second baseman, who is 70 hits shy of 3,000, said he wears
the pin in spring training because many of the pictures for baseball cards are
taken during those games and the children like seeing the pin on those cards.

"That’s what it’s about," he said. "If somebody wants to sit in an office
and feel good about themselves, they should feel real bad about this one. They
didn’t think about all the cancer kids that get enjoyment out of it."

Biggio said he was told before the game that he couldn’t wear the pin, and
the umpires approached him on the field to make sure it was gone.

Astros manager Phil Garner was also unsure who contacted the team about the
pin.

"The league has a code where they watch what’s on the uniforms and I don’t
know the full extent of it, but evidently the Sunshine Kids pin is not part of
it," he said."

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Now …. I can sort of see a need for SOME standards as to what you can and can’t wear on the field.  If Biggio was wearing a "Ku Klux Klan" pin on his cap, there would certainly be some uproar.  Legally speaking, Biggio is at his "job", and there is a "dress code" for the job.  But this smacks of pettiness and over-regulation.

Let’s also remember that a few years ago, MLB was willing to deface the bases during regular season games with Spiderman logos in a promotion for the movie, till they got enough negative publicity about it.  So there seems to be a bit of a double-standard.

Anyhow …. if you’d like to contribute to Biggio’s cause, visit The Sunshine Kids website.

Joe Mauer, the Twins All-Star catcher and reigning AL batting champ, has been diagnosed with a stress reaction (the pre-cursor to a stress fracture) in his left leg.  Given his special talents with the bat, and his height (6’4"), there has been talk of eventually moving him out from behind the plate.  The wear and tear of the position is bad enough for anyone, but the toll is greatened based on the height of the backstop.

Add to those considerations the unforgiving artificial turf in the Metrodome (which certainly hasn’t helped players like Torii Hunter and ex-Twins Shannon Stewart and Cristian Guzman), and the injury risk is heightened further.  Given that the Twins will be moving into their new stadium in a couple of years, its doubtful that the present turf will be replaced.

So, can the Twins afford to leave Mauer behind the plate?  History seems to say "no".  Below is the list of most games appeared in for players 6’4" or greater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

		G	HT
	Johnny Edwards	1392	6’4"
	Sandy Alomar Jr.	1353	6’5"
	Tom Haller	1199	6’4"
	Jody Davis	1039	6’4"
	Eddie Taubensee	871	6’4"
	Paul Casanova	811	6’4"
	Jim Pagliaroni	767	6’4"
	Larry McLean	761	6’5"
	Bob Tillman	725	6’4"
	Bob Melvin	627	6’4"

Not the most auspicious list … is it?

Mauer has been behind the plate for 268 games to this point.  The clock is ticking.