Bagwell credits Wizard, Gwynn with assists
NEW YORK — The election of new Hall of Famers tends to lead to the retelling of countless old stories. Players are asked to rehash notable aspects of their careers, the twists and turns that led them to Cooperstown. On Thursday, Jeff
Bagwell recalled the stories of how two Hall of Famers helped him improve as a young player breaking into the majors.
First it was Ozzie Smith, who offered Bagwell a defensive tip regarding his backhand while the two stood at first base during a pitching change at the Astrodome. The year was 1991. Bagwell was a rookie who, during spring training that year, had moved from third base to first base.
“He said, ‘How’s it going playing first?,’ ” Bagwell recalled. “I said, ‘Well, I mean I’m kind of struggling a little bit with my backhand.’ He said, ‘How are you doing it?’ He goes, ‘Well you’re taking the ball too far back here.’ … He’s showing me how to keep my glove hand out in front.
“I was like, ‘Man, this is cool.’ And then I kind of left, and I was sitting there going, ‘Did I just get like a fielding lesson from Ozzie Smith?’ ”
Three years later — the season Bagwell unanimously won the National League’s MVP Award — it was Tony
Gwynn who lent a hand. Gwynn advised Bagwell
to “keep the same stance,” a message the San Diego Padres great inscribed on a bat that Bagwell still has at his house.
“He used to always see me mess with (my batting stance),” Bagwell said. “Tony was a little spread out (in his stance), so I talked to him about it. He said, ‘It keeps my head still.’ So I said, ‘Well, that makes sense, because I’ve never seen anybody hit a baseball better than Tony Gwynn.’ ”
Raines hears from idol Morgan
Among those to call
Tim Raines when he was elected to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday was Hall of Fame second baseman Joe
Morgan, the former Astro and Cincinnati Red whom Raines considers his idol.
“I hadn’t spoken to him in about three or four years, and I was concerned. I had heard he was having some health issues,” said Raines, who played second in the minors before becoming an All-Star major league outfielder. “To have him call me, especially after I hadn’t heard from him in a long time, meant a lot to me.
“We’ve been friends ever since I’ve been playing in the major leagues, and just to hear his voice kind of made this day so much more special.”
Pudge evades PED question
Ivan Rodriguez danced around a direct question regarding the suspicion he used performanceenhancing drugs. In 2005,he was implicated in Jose
Canseco’s book “Juiced.” “Well basically, what I did was worked very, very hard physically and mentally to play 21 years, and I think that is the key to my career,” Rodriguez said Thursday.
In a response to a followup question, Rodriguez said he was “a player that always played the game the right way.”
Rodriguez is just the second catcher elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, joining Johnny
Bench (1989). Having just turned 45 on Nov. 27, he is also the youngest living Hall of Famer.