For a few years it has felt like Ketchup made the Condiments Hall of Fame, while Mustard was left waiting…..Like Laurel got a star on the Walk of Fame while Hardy was left on the outside.
When Craig Biggio made the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, fans were left hanging waiting for the other shoe to drop and today that shoe hit the ground in a thundering way as Jeff Bagwell joined his long time playing partner in election to Cooperstown.
ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian even calls it a “good day for baseball”.
Over time seven other former Astro players made it into the Hall. Randy Johnson and Eddie Matthews had partial years here, Don Sutton, Robin Roberts and Nellie Fox all made late career two season tours with Houston and Joe Morgan and Nolan Ryan both had longer term stints with the Astros that made their enshrinement with other caps on their heads painful.
But Bagwell and Biggio were never anything but Houston Astros and now, just as they were conjoined in lording over the Astros clubhouse for many seasons, they will be where they both belong together in the Hall of Fame.
One or the other is the greatest Astro of all time. Bagwell is 1st in HR/RBI/BB/SF and is 2nd in Games/ABs/Runs/Hits/Doubles/HBP and TB to Biggio. He is also 2nd in BA to Jose Altuve and barely 2nd in OBP/SLG/OPS to Lance Berkman. Heck, the medium speed 1B is 6th all time in SBs for the Astros. And obviously he accomplished a ton in his 15 seasons and we can only speculate what he would have toted up in 20 seasons like Biggio and without the injuries.
But it does not matter today. The steroid speculation, the shortened career, the post season struggles all do not matter anymore, because Jeff Bagwell was honored today for what he did and no longer punished for what others thought he might have done.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
31 responses to “And then there were two! Woohoo, Bagwell joins Biggio in the Hall”
Time to break out the Champagne, vodka, milk or whatever you drink and raise your glasses to toast Jeff Bagwell! Salud!. Cheers,На здоровье. Congratulations are in order.
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This was a good day INDEED!! I almost felt sorry for Bagwell this evening. Our local news media wanted to have a press conference with him before he left to go to New York. He stumbled and stamired when he was asked a question……typical Bagwell he has always been a man of few words! He was overwhelmed with all the attention.
Having both of their plaques side by side…..means the world to them, and all of us fans! One day before I leave this earth, I’m going to go to Cooperstown to see the HOF! Cheers!
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Great post, Dan. Aspromonte was first Astros’ crush, but Bagwell was my favorite as a player.
So, a second HOFer, a new spring training facility, a new center field, a new center fielder(that we have waited years for), a new A+ club in a new state in a new league all the way across the country(so we will get their scores before we sleep and not after we wake up), a new lineup, a new DH named Beltran and a new bench coach.
How about we top that off with an MVP trophy and a World Series trophy?
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I’ll drink (sweet tea) to that!!
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I just had a double Latte to that OP1.
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Great news. He was a joy to watch throughout the years. I’ve mentioned this a couple of times, but I wish the Astros would hire him to be a baserunning coach, at least for spring training.
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He usually shows up for at least part of spring training……but you can forget him joining the team full time. They still have young children at home, and he likes being a home body. He generally voices his opinion to the guys while he’s there!!
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Just wish he’d learned to be a homebody sooner.
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And just like short term Astro Randy Johnson joined the Hall with Bidge – short term Astro Pudge Rodriguez joins the Hall with Bagwell.
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He’ll beat you anyway you can be beat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEtTSMwV7m4
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Pretty good baseball fans up in Toronto.
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Dang…I forgot how fast he could run!!!
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My focus now is on getting Billy Wagner to join 5 and 7. I was just looking at his stats at the age of 38. Obviously he could have kept on pitching and padding his stats and pocket book, but instead chose to walk after an incredible year.
ERA of 1.43. WHIP of 0.865. 13.5 K’s per nine. 38 hits in 69.1 innings. He was as dominant as Rivera.
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You’re right, but I think it’s going to be a tough sell. Voters don’t seem to respect closers. Also, it’s amazing that Wagner’s save totals weren’t more inflated during the late 90’s. He finished a lot of games that weren’t save situations through no fault of his own.
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Devin, you’re right, but he’s got better numbers than at least a couple of guys in the Hall that got more headlines during their careers playing in cities that offered more exposure. Time to build some Wagner momentum.
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Yeah…..unless your name is Rivera, or Hoffman your chances are pretty slim.
BUT I agree with you and Dave both……he is worthy of the HOF.
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We have Fiers in the hole [$3.45 Million for 1 year].
McHugh, Will Harris, and MarGo still pending in the arbitration shuffle.
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WOW!!! Correa has a girlfriend, she’s a former Miss Texas USA, and she’s a knockout!! As they say “love is in the air”!!
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It looks like Luis Valbuena is headed to the Angels.
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That stinks. I wasn’t hoping they would bring him back because of 25 man roster issues with doing so, but I’d rather see him play in a different division.
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I was linked to this through Astros County: http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/213947662/brian-mccann-eager-to-guide-astros-pitchers/
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Good article, though I am assuming his Pinocchio nose was growing when he said all the pitchers throw in the mid-90’s. Maybe in the metric system for some of them….
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I love that comment Raines made about Bagwell, that as a 1B himself, Tim would always chat up the runner. He said Jeff never said a word.
That kind of concentrated sellout for the Astros is epitomized by Altuve’s gritty field presence, and by Springer who decided to put TEAM before the 2017 World Baseball Classic. UConn’s Mgr tells the story that the moment George learned the Stros had drafted him and offered $2.5M, he later ran off the field to greet his parents and all he said he was glad the Huskies won the game.
That’s the kind of workmanlike leadership that Baggy exemplified. Guys who are Astros, and who always will be.
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wooohooo Bagwell.
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and i might add Hallelujah and Amen!!!!!
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Yordano Ventura, 25, of the KC Royals has died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic.
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Wow – just a terrible offseason – 2nd big loss.
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Andy Marte also died in a car crash in the DR – different location and unrelated.
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I can not imagine how those mothers feel today…….there are just no words.
I hope it didn’t involve drugs or alcohol. Breaks my heart.
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Unfortunately, with young men it so often comes down to a combination of speed and alcohol. I lost my uncle when he was just 18 (I was 9) when he was drunk driving and speeding. They all think they are invulnerable and they are not.
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Just makes me sooo sad😢😢
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