Remember former hitting coach Tom McCraw?

[Houston]

Mr. McCraw invited my son and I to spend some time with him this past weekend in Virginia to talk about the mental side of hitting. It was an amazing experience! He told us stories that spanned over 50 years, but my favorite one involved Derek Bell and Jeff Bagwell from 1998.

He said there was a runner at second with no outs when Bell came up to hit. He was so intent on hitting a ground ball to the right side that he kept fouling off pitch after pitch until he got one he could handle. Finally after 13 pitches, he grounded out to second and the runner advanced to third. Bagwell then came up and hit a fly ball that allowed the runner to score. McCraw said that Bagwell returned to the dugout and went straight to Bell and hugged him for his unselfish play that led to Bagwell's RBI. McCraw said the whole team noticed that gesture and from that day forward, that team became the most unselfish group of hitters he had ever been around because they realized what they could accomplish together.

When you check out the Astros hitting stats from 1998, remember these numbers were compiled with half of their games in the Astrodome. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1998.shtml

[JimR]

1998 was the best team in the club's history.

[Nate Colbert]

Great story.

[Reuben]

1998 was the best team in the club's history.

They scored 254 more Runs than they gave up. That's insane. Ricky Gutierrez was about the only guy that didn't have a great year.

[Randy Watson]

1998 was the best team in the club's history.

Yes it was.

[Houston]

We talked about different hitters on the team and when I mentioned Carl Everett, McCraw just shook his head and said, "That cat was different."

[Lefty]

Thanks for the memories. 

I remember him, and remember thinking he was some sort of quasi-guru, buddha-like figure sitting in the dugout.  Then he vanished/retired (or my memory is terrible).  What has he been doing since then?   

[Dark Star]

We talked about different hitters on the team and when I mentioned Carl Everett, McCraw just shook his head and said, "That cat was different."

I am old enough to remember McCraw the player, primarily with the White Sox and Indians. He was usually platooned, I believe. I liked watching him hit.

Carl Everett was probably my favorite Astro ever, with the possible exception of Bob "Bull" Watson. I will never forget an August series in Wrigley in the late 1990s. C4 had just come off of the disabled list, and he personally destroyed the FTCubs. That may have been around the same time when some Chicago reporter asked him about the quaint ambiance of Wrigley Field, and Everett told him that personally, he'd like to blow the place up. Anyway, he blew up the Cubs that series. Batting left-handed, he stood on top of the plate, literally. He was daring them to throw at him; and when they inevitably did, he'd step back and rip another long double or home run.  Good times.

[Knoxbanedoodle]

I remember that. He hit a homer to dead center on the first pitch he saw coming off the DL.

[Houston]

Thanks for the memories. 

I remember him, and remember thinking he was some sort of quasi-guru, buddha-like figure sitting in the dugout.  Then he vanished/retired (or my memory is terrible).  What has he been doing since then?

He was the Nationals hitting coach when Frank Robinson was the manager, then he retired a few years ago. He's 75  now and goes around the US and other countries trying to get more kids interested in baseball again. We met him at my son's baseball tournament in Alabama last summer and he was so happy that somebody recognized him that he gave me his phone number and told me to call him sometime. It took me eight months to get up to courage to do so and when I did, he invited my son and I down to Virginia (I live in Maryland) where he has a ranch. He spent five hours with my son (a high school senior) talking about hitting. Probably 4.5 hours of that was the mental side and the last half hour was actually taking swings.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

He was the Nationals hitting coach when Frank Robinson was the manager, then he retired a few years ago. He's 75  now and goes around the US and other countries trying to get more kids interested in baseball again. We met him at my son's baseball tournament in Alabama last summer and he was so happy that somebody recognized him that he gave me his phone number and told me to call him sometime. It took me eight months to get up to courage to do so and when I did, he invited my son and I down to Virginia (I live in Maryland) where he has a ranch. He spent five hours with my son (a high school senior) talking about hitting. Probably 4.5 hours of that was the mental side and the last half hour was actually taking swings.

Wow. Sounds like a really great guy.

[drew corleone]

Great story. Didn't he usually have a big wad of chaw in? And agree with the sentiments about the 98 team. Fucking Leyritz.

[Houston]

Great story. Didn't he usually have a big wad of chaw in? And agree with the sentiments about the 98 team. Fucking Leyritz.

Yes, huge wad.

[Reuben]

Yes, huge wad.

I totally agree, Leyritz was a complete dickwad.