Craig Biggio--king of hit batsmen: Astros veteran is closing in on 3,000 safeties, while setting a painful record for most times being plunked by a pitch.(Houston Astros)

EIGHTEEN SEASONS IN THE MAJOR leagues, and Craig Biggio has never done an endorsement for Timex.

That's too bad because soon no player in the modern era (since 1901) will have taken more of a ticking and kept on ticking.

Biggio, who has played catcher, outfield and second base for the Houston Astros, this season hadn't just drawn within 282 hits of 3,000. The future Hall of Famer was closing in on surpassing Don Baylor's career mark for getting hit by a pitch.

"It's definitely hard earned, no doubt about that," said Biggio, who, through games of June 28, had 267 career plunkings, tying Baylor's record. "If you would have told me a 185-pound man would get hit 250-plus times in his career and still be walking, I'd say you're crazy. I've been lucky, I guess."

While longtime Astros running mate Jeff Bagwell (tied for fourth on the active list) twice suffered a broken hand from getting hit at the plate, Biggio has never landed on the disabled list due to his strange forte. That doesn't mean he hasn't paid the price, however.

No doubt he has swallowed his share of Advil over the years as he has played through the bruises and welts that have lined nearly every sector of his body.

"I take a lot in the back or the butt or the arms, stuff like that," Biggio said recently. "They moved all over, but they don't hurt as bad if you score. That's the truth."