Pal Ausmus can just picture Bagwell in Cooperstown
DETROIT — On the eve of Jeff Bagwell being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, who teamed with Bagwell for 10 seasons and has been one of his closest friends for longer, said he bested Bagwell in at least one area.
They have spent more than two decades ribbing each other.
“Mostly me ribbing on him,” Ausmus said with a grin, before Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Astros. “He knows I win that battle.”
Bagwell occasionally texts Astros broadcaster Geoff Blum. If fans ever hear Blum unfavorably reference Ausmus, Blum said, the intel came from a certain source with inside information.
Jokes aside, Ausmus is happy Bagwell finally got voted in, in his seventh time on the ballot. Ausmus had assumed during their playing days that Bagwell would be a firstballot inductee.
“In my mind, it was coming,” Ausmus said. “There’s a lot of reasons he should be in the Hall of Fame. Most of them are on the back of his baseball card. But there’s a big chunk that a lot of people don’t have the slightest inkling about.”
Ausmus watched Bagwell suffer for more than five years from a degenerative right shoulder condition, which began in 2001 and eventually was too agonizing for Bagwell to push through.
He used to tell Bagwell his shoulder was weak because he did not long-toss enough. Then, near the end of Bagwell’s career, Ausmus saw an X-ray of the bone spurs in Bagwell’s shoulder.
“It was almost like stalactites and stalagmites,” Ausmus said.
That’s when the doctor explained that Ausmus’ friend eventually would need shoulder replacement surgery. Bagwell gritted through his mid30s, posting power numbers and not complaining about his shoulder. He retired in 2006 as the franchise leader with 449 home runs and 1,529 runs batted in.
“He was always a consummate teammate and profession,” Ausmus said. “He was accountable within the clubhouse and the media. He answered every question. He never pointed a finger at anyone else, but rather, (he) stuck a mirror in front of his face.”
Ausmus plans to call Bagwell on Sunday before the induction ceremony. He saved his words for then. He also sent a gift. For years, he would use opportunities to prank Bagwell.
Ausmus has a house in San Diego, and in 1998 Bagwell had stayed with him when the Astros played there. In Ausmus’ bedroom he had displayed the famous black and white wide-lens photograph of Michael Jordan with his wingspan spread and a basketball extended from each hand.
Bagwell had mocked Ausmus for hanging the photo above his bed. Later, Bagwell received a Christmas package: It was the photograph from Ausmus’ bedroom, except Ausmus taped an image of his face over Jordan’s.
Bagwell hung the photo in his garage.
“So every time he pulls into his garage, it would be staring at him in the face,” Ausmus said.
Ausmus and his wife mailed Bagwell a gift that will be waiting for him when he returns from Cooperstown.
“This one’s sincere,” Ausmus said. “I usually send gag gifts, but not this time.”
Rookie locked in, at plate and off
Derek Fisher was trapped in a hotel bathroom before Friday’s game. The bathroom was in Joe Musgrove’s room. Fisher labored with the lock and shouted for Musgrove, but help did not arrive.
“Those locks are tricky,” said Fisher, the Astros’ rookie outfielder and a top prospect.
“Fifteen minutes he was locked in the bathroom,” Musgrove said, with a smirk.
Fisher eventually unlocked the door. He suspected Musgrove, one of his best friends since they met in the minors, of chicanery, but he could not prove culpability.
Aside from locks, Fisher has looked comfortable with the Astros through eight games this season. He batted leadoff and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in Friday’s 6-5 comeback victory.
On Saturday, Astros manager A.J. Hinch slotted him at seventh and started him in left. He went 1-for-3 with a triple, raising his average to .281.
Fisher said he is focused on sticking in the majors, regardless of where he may be after Monday’s trade deadline.
Odds and ends
Jose Altuve went 0-for-4 to end his 19-game hitting streak Saturday. He leads MLB with a .365 average. … A.J. Hinch said Colin Moran met with doctors in Houston about the facial fracture he suffered from fouling a ball into his face. Moran will have surgery in Houston, but no timeline has been set. … Charlie Morton and Mike Fiers are scheduled to start against the Rays on Monday and Tuesday, but Hinch is still deliberating about Wednesday. He may push Dallas Keuchel to Thursday.