Jeff Bagwell (2017)


Date of Birth: 5/27/1968
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts
College: University of Hartford

Jeff Bagwell's father was also a baseball player, first in college and then with a semi-pro team. In college, Jeff played soccer, basketball, and baseball. He earned a baseball scholarship to the University of Hartford and switched from shortstop to third base. He was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1988 and 1989.

Bagwell was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1989. After playing in the minors in 1989 and 1990, he was traded to the Houston Astros on August 30, 1990. He won the Eastern League MVP award in 1990.

Houston Astros

Bagwell played with the Astros from 1991 through 2005. In his first season with Houston, he was named the NL Rookie of the Year. He finished the 1991 season with 163 hits, 26 doubles, 15 home runs, 82 RBIs, 116 strikeouts to 75 walks, and a .294 batting average in 156 games. In addition to being MLB's NL Rookie of the Year, he also won the award from Baseball America and Sporting News.

Bagwell continued to play well for the Astros in 1992 and 1993. He finished the 1993 season with 160 hits, 34 doubles, 18 home runs, 96 RBIs, 97 strikeouts to 84 walks, and a .273 batting average in 162 games. The following season was even better, with 171 hits, 37 doubles, 20 home runs, 88 RBIs, and a .320 batting average in 142 games.

Bagwell excelled in the strike shortened 1994 season. That year, he led the NL in RBIs with 116. He was named the NL MVP, Associated Press Player of the Year, Sporting News MLB Player of the Year, and the Players Choice Outstanding Player of the Year. He also won his first of three Silver Slugger awards. He finished the season with 147 hits, 32 doubles, 39 home runs, 65 strikeouts to 65 walks, and a career high batting average of .368 in 110 games.

Bagwell won his only Gold Glove in 1994. In 109 games at first base, he made 120 assists, 94 double plays, 922 putouts, and 9 errors, and he had a .991 fielding percentage.

Bagwell spent time on the DL with a hand injury in 1995. In 114 games, he had 130 hits and a .290 batting average.

From 1996 through 1999, Bagwell showed excellent control at the plate, walking more times than he struck out. He led the NL in doubles in 1996 with a career high of 48. He had 179 hits, 31 home runs, 21 stolen bases, 120 RBIs, and a .315 batting average. He walked 135 times and struck out 114 times.

In 1997, Bagwell won his second Silver Slugger award. He had career highs in stolen bases (31) and RBIs (135). He finished the season with 162 hits, 40 doubles, 43 home runs, 122 strikeouts to 127 walks, and a .286 batting average in 162 games. The following year, he raised his batting average to .304 and he had 164 hits, 33 doubles, 34 home runs, and 111 RBIs in 147 games. He walked 190 times and struck out 90 times.

Bagwell led the NL in walks in 1999 with a career high 149 (to 127 strikeouts). He batted .304 and he won his third Silver Slugger award. He also had 171 hits, 35 doubles, 42 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and 126 RBIs in 162 games. It was the last season in which he had more walks than strikeouts.

Bagwell had career highs in hits (183) and home runs (47) in 2000. He batted .310 with 37 doubles and 132 RBIs in 159 games. It was the last time in his career that he batted over .300.

In 2001, Bagwell batted .288 with 173 hits, 43 doubles, 39 home runs, and 130 RBIs in 161 games. His numbers continued to decline in each of his remaining seasons with the Astros. In 2002, he batted .291 with 166 hits, 33 doubles, 31 home runs, and 98 RBIs in 158 games. The following season, he had more home runs (39), hits (168), and RBIs (100), but a lower batting average (.278). In 2004, his final full season as a major league player, he batted .266 with 152 hits, 29 doubles, 27 home runs, and 89 RBIs in 156 games.

Bagwell spent most of the 2005 season on the DL with a shoulder injury that ended in surgery. In 39 games, he batted .250 with 25 hits. That year, Baseball America honored him with their Lifetime Achievement award.

Awards

  • NL Rookie of the Year
  • Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year
  • Baseball America Rookie of the Year
  • NL MVP
  • Associated Press Player of the Year
  • Baseball Digest Player of the Year
  • Players Choice Outstanding Player of the Year
  • Sporting News Major League Player of the Year
  • 1 Gold Glove
  • 3 Silver Slugger awards

Career Statistics

Batting statistics for Bagwell in 14 full seasons (1991-2004) in the major leagues include:

  • 12 seasons with 150 or more hits, with a high of 183 in 2000
  • 10 seasons with 30 or more doubles, with a high of 48 in 1996
  • 9 seasons with 30 or more home runs, with a high of 47 in 2000
  • 8 seasons with 100 or more RBIs, with a high of 135 in 1997
  • 7 seasons with 100 or more walks, with a high of 149 in 1999
  • 6 seasons with a batting average of .300 or better, with a high of .368 in 1994

Career batting statistics for Bagwell include:

  • 2,150 games played
  • 2,314 hits
  • 488 doubles
  • 449 home runs
  • 202 stolen bases
  • 1,529 RBIs
  • 1,558 strikeouts to 1,401 walks
  • .297 batting average
  • .408 on-base percentage
  • .948 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Bagwell at first base include:

  • 2,111 games played
  • 1,704 assists
  • 1,618 double plays
  • 17,545 putouts
  • 129 errors
  • .993 fielding percentage

Postseason statistics for Bagwell include:

  • 6 postseasons
  • 33 games played
  • 106 at-bats
  • 24 hits
  • 4 doubles
  • 2 home runs
  • 1 stolen base
  • 13 RBIs
  • 25 strikeouts to 19 walks
  • .226 batting average

Post Playing Career

In July, 2010, the Astros hired Bagwell as their hitting coach. He remained in that position for one season. Five years later, he returned to the Astros as a Spring training instructor.

Bagwell was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 with 86.2% of the vote on the seventh ballot.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Jeff Bagwell
ESPN - Jeff Bagwell
Baseball Reference - Jeff Bagwell

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