Bagwell expects to feel relief after vote
Ex-Astro excited about shot at Hall of Fame selection.
HOUSTON — Je f f Bagwell spent a career putting up huge stats, the kind that often get posted on plaques in Cooperstown. In a few days, the former Astros slugger might well hit the big number he needs to reach the Hall of Fame.
Whe t h e r h e ’s e l e c t e d or not, Bagwell says he’ll feel something other than happiness or disappointment when the results are announced Wednesday.
“Honestly,” he said, “relief, both either yes or no.”
This is Bagwell’s seventh try on the ballot — he got just 41.7 percent of the votes the first time and was up to 71.6 percent last year in selections by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. It takes 75 percent to make the Hall.
“I just want to get it over with,” the 48-year-old said. “This is the first year I’ve kind of been keeping track of it and just kind of looking. So I’m excited about it.”
The 1994 National League MVP and four-time All-Star spent his entire career with Houston. The first baseman holds the Astros records of 449 home runs and 1,529 RBIs. In 15 seasons, he had a .408 on-base average, a .540 slugging percentage and batted .297.
If he’s elected, he’ll join longtime teammate Craig Biggio, who was elected in 2015, as the only players to go in as Astros.
“It would be wonderful,” he said. “Was so proud of him when he got in. If I can get in, too, and have two of us there, especially two guys that played together for 15 straight years. That would be very special.”
Biggio has said that there’s “no doubt” Bagwell is a Hall of Famer and has lobbied for him to get in for years.
Bagwell knows the wait on Wednesday will be a long and angst-filled one for him. Far different than how he imagines Ken Griffey Jr. felt last year when he breezed in with a Hall-record 99.32 percent.
“I always laugh at (the) t hought l a s t ye a r of Ken Griffey Jr., who probably had the best time ever,” Bagwell said. “Probably just hung out in the hot tub and waited to get a phone call. Not quite like that with me.”
Modesty aside, Bagwell certainly has a strong case for election.
As one-third of Houston’s famed ‘Killer B’s’ with Biggio and Lance Berkman, he helped build the Astros from a last-place team to the first club from Texas to reach the World Series in 2005. They were swept by the Chicago White Sox in what would be the last of his six postseason trips.
Bagwell was picked in the fourth round of the 1989 draft by the Boston Red Sox and was traded to Houston for reliever Larry Andersen on Aug. 30, 1990. Bagwell was just 22 and a Double-A player at the time of the deal — in his first two seasons of pro ball, he hit well over .300, but with just six home runs in 710 at-bats.
Astros manager Art Howe moved Bagwell from third base to first base to accommodate Ken Caminiti. Bagwell made his major league debut the following season and found immediate success, becoming NL Rookie of the Year after hitting .294 with 15 homers and 82 RBIs.
Bagwell finished his career with 2,314 hits.