AL West: Greatest Individual Season In Each Team’s History
Houston Astros – Craig Biggio (1997)
The Houston Astros of the late 1990s and early 2000s, then a member of the National League, were a team characterized by a the superstar duo of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, and later the addition of Lance Berkman. While Bagwell is the franchise’s career leader in bWAR and holds four of the top ten individual seasons in team history, the greatest individual season for any Astros position player belongs to the catcher-turned-second baseman-turned center fielder Biggio.
From 1989 until his retirement after the 2007 season, Biggio was a metronome for Houston. He played in fewer than 134 games only twice, and one of those was the strike-shortened 1994 season, tallied 3,060 career hits and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 1997, Biggio helped power the Astros to a first place finish in the NL Central from his customary leadoff spot, slashing .309/.415/.501 at the age of 31, with 37 doubles, 22 homers, 81 RBI and 47 stolen bases. His 146 runs scored led the league as he made his sixth All-Star team, won his fourth Silver Slugger and collected his fourth Gold Glove award.
Biggio’s bWAR of 9.4 that season was second in the NL to only MVP Larry Walker and still stands today as the high mark in club history. With a talented young core in Houston that includes Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer, though, one must wonder how much longer that will be the case.
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