Retiring Houston Astros star Craig Biggio wins Roberto Clemente Award

Craig Biggio capped his sweat-stained career with one more cherished honor.The longtime Houston Astros star won the 2007 Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a major league player who combines community service with excellence on the field.

Biggio received the award Saturday in a ceremony at Coors Field before Game 3 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies. He was picked from among 30 nominees, one from each big league team, by a committee that included commissioner Bud Selig and Vera Clemente, Roberto’s widow.

The 41-year-old second baseman retired after this season, his 20th in the major leagues – all with Houston. He became the 27th player to reach 3,000 hits on June 28.

Known for his gritty play at several positions, Biggio also is the national spokesman for the Sunshine Kids Foundation, which provides support for young cancer patients. He visits the Sunshine Kids house regularly and often wore the organization’s pin on his Astros cap.

Biggio has hosted a yearly baseball party at Minute Maid Park for more than 100 kids with cancer, along with a celebrity golf tournament that has raised more than $2.5 million for the Sunshine Kids Foundation the past 15 years.

The seven-time All-Star began his career as a catcher before switching to second base, where he won four Gold Gloves from 1994-97. He later moved to the outfield, then finished his career back at second.

Biggio helped the Astros reach their only World Series in 2005, when they were swept by the Chicago White Sox. He finished his career with 3,060 hits, 1,844 runs scored and 291 homers, numbers that seem likely to earn him a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Biggio joins a list of previous Roberto Clemente Award winners that includes 13 Hall of Famers, such as Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. and Rod Carew. New York Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado won the award last year.

Clemente was a Hall of Fame right fielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while trying to deliver relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He finished his career with exactly 3,000 hits.

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