Born in Boston, Massachusetts, a graduate of Xavier High School, Jeff Bagwell played college baseball for the University of Hartford. He is one of the thirty two men on the 2016 Hall of Fame ballot.
This is not his first time on the ballot, this is actually his sixth time. Bagwell started off his career when he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the fourth round of the 1989 amateur draft. Soon after he was drafted he was traded to the Astros for Larry Andersen. In 2002, ESPN considered it the second worst trade in sports history behind the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. The following season the Red Sox had lost Andersen to free agency. Bagwell is arguably one of the best players in Houston Astros franchise history. Jeff spent all of his baseball career with the Astros from 1991-2005.
THE BEGINNING:
Jeff Bagwell made his debut on April 8, 1991 against the Cincinnati Reds. In his debut, Bagwell went 0-3 with a walk and the Astros were defeated 6-2. The following game on April 10, he had got his first career hit and also struck out twice in that game against the Reds. On April 15, Jeff had hit his first career home run against the Atlanta Braves. For his rookie year, Bagwell was a .294/.387/.437 hitter in 554 at-bats, with 15 home runs, 82 RBIs, and had won the National League Rookie of the Year. Jeff was developed as a third baseman and was shifted to first base during spring training of 1991.
HIS BEST YEAR:
In 1994 he had his best season of his career, and even though that was his best season something odd happened that year. All Major League Baseball players had their season shortened because of a players’ strike and because of that, the season ended on August 11,1994. During this season, no postseason had been played, including the World Series. In that 1994 season, Bagwell had hit .368/.451/.750 through 400 at-bats, with 39 home runs, 116 RBIs, went to his first All-Star game, won the MVP for the National League, won the Gold Glove for first base in the National League, and lastly won a Silver Slugger award for first base in the National League.
THE ENDING:
2004 could arguably be his last season played, at least in full. In 2004 he was a .266/.377/.465 hitter through 572 at-bats, hit 27 home runs, and had 89 RBIs. In 2005, Bagwell was out for most of the season with an arthritic condition in his shoulder. In September of 2005, he was reactivated by the team as a pinch hitter and played a big role in his team’s pursuit of capturing the National League pennant. He was a designated hitter for the first two games in the World Series games against the Chicago White Sox and was a pinch hitter for two games that were played in Houston. For his 2005 season, he hit .250/.358/.380 through 100 at-bats, 3 home runs, and 19 RBIs during the regular season. In the postseason, Bagwell had hit .377/.467/.844 went 11 at-bats, and only had two hits. The Astros had got swept by the White Sox in 4 games in the World Series. In November of 2006, he had filed for free agency but a month later decided to announce his retirement. On August 26 2007, Bagwell had his jersey retired by the Houston Astros. He was the eighth player in Astros history to have his number retired.
Throughout his 15 year career Bagwell had only played four full seasons (162 games), was a Rookie of the Year winner, a four time All Star, and won the MVP once.
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