Hall of Fame on a silver platter
Boyhood hero of Astros great has seldom returned to Cooperstown since entering Hall
Mayor Sylvester Turner gives Jeff Bagwell a silver tray at a rally for the Hall of Fame electee Monday at Minute Maid Park.
Hall of Fame weekend isn’t for six more months, but Jeff Bagwell has already begun his efforts to get his childhood hero to attend.
Born in Boston and raised in Connecticut, Bagwell grew up idolizing Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski. The two interacted during Bagwell’s playing career, and the Astros icon — who will be inducted July 30 with Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez — has “been doing a little bit of lobbying,” he said, to get "Yaz” to come to Cooperstown, N.Y.
“Yaz, I think, has only been back to the Hall of Fame twice (since being elected),” Bagwell said Monday during a press conference at Minute Maid Park. “He went back for Carlton Fisk and Jim Rice. So I’m doing a little bit of lobbying to try and get him there.”
Bagwell, 48, was 15 when Yastrzemski retired from playing after the 1983 season. Yastrzemski, 77, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989, the same summer the Red Sox drafted Bagwell in the fourth round out of the University of Hartford.
“He was everything that I wanted to be,” Bagwell said. “Yaz is my size and got every single thing out of his ability.
“For me, my interaction with him has been wonderful. I have a picture of him and I together.
“The biggest thing in my household for my father was Ted Williams. My father got to meet him and hang out a little bit with him. And then for me, it was Yaz. And I got the same opportunity.”
Bagwell got choked up when speaking about his father, Robert, who turned 89 on Jan. 17 — the day before the Hall of Fame results were revealed — and has undergone quadruple bypass surgery.
“I really do believe he’s still alive to see this,” he said. “He’s such a big part of me.”
Bagwell recalled a memorable phone conversation with his dad that took place in the weeks-long
build up to last Wednesday’s election announcement.
“He hates everyone on MLB Network,” Bagwell said. “Because he said, ‘All they do is say bad things about you.’ I said, ‘Dad, if you watch it every day, they’re not going to change their opinion.’ I said, ‘Just relax. It’s going to be OK. The votes were done by the first of the year. So it’s over. So don’t watch.’
“But certainly my dad and my mom, who we just spent a couple days with, it’s everything that anybody’s ever wanted in your life, and I’ve had two of the greatest parents of all time. And I try to do the best that I can to be that same parent for my kids.”
Bagwell arrived back in Houston on Monday after “a whirlwind since Wednesday.” Within a few hours of learning he was elected, he was on a flight to New York City, where the former first baseman and 1994 National League MVP took part in a news conference with his fellow inductees.
Upon his return home, Bagwell was greeted by another news conference with local media, followed by an hour-long pep rally in the Union Station lobby.
Former teammates Craig Biggio, Brad Ausmus and Lance Berkman and former Astros manager Phil Garner were among those to speak to the crowd before retired television broadcaster Bill Brown introduced Bagwell. Former Astros Andy Pettitte, Brandon Backe and Geoff Blum were also in attendance.
Bagwell has until July to write his speech for the induction ceremony. He is expected to serve as a guest instructor at Astros spring training for a third consecutive year and otherwise plans to try to live his life as normally as possible with his wife, Rachel, and five kids.
“What I’ve heard is it slows down until you get to July, and I’m really cool with that,” Bagwell said. “It’s been crazy. But I’m excited. Shoot, we’ve been traveling all day, so it’s just fun to be here.”