Love affair with baseball went to a new level due to Bags, Bidge
My sixth grade locker was decorated much differently from the other girls in my school.
They had bright, bold Lisa Frank stickers and photos of their favorite teen heartthrobs such as Will Smith from the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” or Zack and Slater from “Saved by the Bell,” cut out and taped to the cold, gray walls of the locker.
I had black and white, some yellowing, cut-out newspaper photos and articles of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.
This weekend is special for a lot of Astros fans as Bagwell joins Biggio in the Hall of Fame.
The stories, the excitement, the buildup have all brought back a lot of memories for me. Memories of being with my family at Astros games when I was a child. Memories of falling in love with baseball.
The Astros were my first tie to Houston, the city I’ve made my home. And Bagwell and Biggio have a lot to do with that.
My family had always been Astros fans.
A couple of times a year, my parents, my older brother and I would make the drive from San Antonio to Houston.
We’d stay at a Holiday Inn, spend a day riding everything we could at AstroWorld and then catch a game at the Astrodome before heading home.
I loved those trips to Houston.
I loved eating peanuts at the game, taking my softball glove and hoping a fly ball would make it up to the upper deck where we sat.
I loved the Astrodome — it’s cavernous feel, the ramps my brother Chris and I would run up and down to get to our seats.
I liked watching baseball and understood the basics of the game well enough when I was younger, but it was around the early 1990s when I started paying closer attention.
Our local newspaper, the San Antonio ExpressNews, covered the Astros. We’d watch some games on TV, but mostly I would read about them the next day. It was around that time my love for newspapers was developing as well.
It also was a way to communicate with my dad and brother, who were both sports nuts. I liked being able to name players, to rattle off their batting averages. Intriguing stance
I was smitten with Biggio as soon as he started playing with the Astros. He was instantly my favorite player and has remained so to this day.
But a few years later when Bagwell came along, I was intrigued.
I remember asking my dad, “Why does he bat like that!?”
He looked so much different than anyone else with that wild stance. So when he would hit, I was puzzled and entertained and couldn’t wait for more. I was glued. I talked to my dad, my cousins and my uncles about Bagwell. We all loved watching the Astros.
I talked about him at school, too, and few of my classmates cared.
Middle school can be tough. It was for me. I faced some bullying. I was a good kid with good grades who made a couple of poor decisions. Things could have gone in another direction. Ties that bind
But unlike some of my peers, I always had things that tied me to my family. Talking baseball with my dad was one of those. The family trips to Houston meant a lot.
Those things kept me grounded and focused.
I can look back at a few parts of my life and point to them as clear moments that led me down this path.
Being an Astros fan at the beginning of Bagwell’s and Biggio’s careers was impactful.
Watching them play out their careers in Houston was special.
I started at the Houston Chronicle in June 2005. I helped on World Series coverage that year.
I was able to live in this city as both retired.
And now I’ll be able to say I’ve seen them both inducted into the Hall of Fame.
I still have a box of newspaper clippings I’ve kept for decades. Some of the clips are mine — stories I’ve written, events I’ve covered. Others are big news moments — presidential elections, natural disasters.
And a few old cutouts that adorned the walls of my middle school locker.
Astros and Hall of Famers.
Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.