Author Topic: Friday Confessional Thread--Baseball Related (Read 9526 times)

NeilT · « **on:** March 31, 2006, 09:26:44 am »

Last Friday of the pre-season, what's your favorite Bagwell moment? Every local column I've read in the local papers is about what a great guy Bagwell was in the clubhouse,but what do you remember on the field?

When I first started watching baseball allot, it had never occurred to me that someone could turn a 3-6-3 double play. About 6 or 7 years ago I saw my first, turned by Bagwell, and I was so amazed by the quickness of it, and its intelligence, and its beauty. The funny thing is, that years later, if I could see Bagwell do one thing again, it would be a 3-6-3 double play. Knowing more than I knew then, what still amazes me about Bagwell turning that play was that he turned it like a shortstop. No first baseman ever turned it better.

lc_db · « **Reply #1 on:** March 31, 2006, 09:44:28 am »

Quote:

...No first baseman ever turned it better.

Maybe no right-handed first baseman did it better. Another topic another time.

Mine actually was last year watching him flip that pinch single into right center to win that game against the Brewers.

Phil_in_CS · « **Reply #2 on:** March 31, 2006, 09:48:03 am »

We were at a game in 2001 or maybe 02. We get there very early since we drive in from so far; and were watching BP. Bagwell hit a frozen rope out that hit one of those banner things attached to the limestone over the Crawford boxes.

Did you know those are metal? Rang like a freaking gong. The whole place; players and fans stopped and listened to it ring.
I know it was just BP, but that ball was smoked.

That's the first one that came to mind...

astrojo · « **Reply #3 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:00:42 am »

Good question. So many come to mind.

One of my favorites had to be the game after DK died when he came off the bench to pinch hit in the 12th inning. He hit the game winning single to beat Seattle 3-2. I'll never forget the emotion he showed as he crossed first with all his teammates there.

Or when he and Biggio hugged after clinching the NLCS.

What an amazing career.

EasTexAstro · « **Reply #4 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:10:17 am »

I remember a game against the Braves, I believe, where Bagwell was charging a bunt attempt with a runner on first. The bunt was popped up and the runner froze. Bagwell stepped aside and let the ball drop, picked it up, and got the double play.

Excellent.

LonghornCDR · « **Reply #5 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:12:22 am »

Summer 1999. I drove 9 hours (2 hours stuck in LA traffic) from Monterey, CA to San Diego to make it for a weekend series between the Pads and Stros. I didn't get to Friday evening's game until the third inning (freaking LA traffic) but got there in time to see Bags hit two no-doubters at Quallcom. Good times... Good times.

T. J. · « **Reply #6 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:14:27 am »

June 24, 1994. I had great seats, third row behind third base. Baggy hits two home runs in the 6th inning (3 total in the game) and drives in 6. Astros humiliate the Dodgers 16-4.

Tralfaz · « **Reply #7 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:22:53 am »

1998. Got some comp seats 5th row between the visitors dugout and home plate. Sparse crowd late in the game. Bagwell up and had just been fooled on a breaking ball from some SF scrub pitcher. He steps out to adjust the giant piece of rubber he wore on his wrist, and I gave him a "COME ON BAGS!" with all the gusto I could muster. I swear to you he looked up and right at me. He stepped back in and freaking CRUSHED the next pitch high into the Left field seats. So of course, in my eye's that one was for me, and always will be. Best NL first baseman ever.

AND, always the last to leave the park and signs every autograph, win or loose.

Fredia · « **Reply #12 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:06:59 am »

very sentemential here but since i am female i am allowed. my absolute favorite bagwell moment is when that last out was made in st louis and the astros where in the world series. the tv cameral panned over to bagwell and you saw the look on his face when you knew he was going
as for plays just the sheer beauty of the years of bidg to baggs or baggs to bidge ..it seemed like a well oiled machine that kept perforing the same task over and over almost with perfection

Ty in Tampa · « **Reply #13 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:10:42 am »

"Anyone? Something-d-o-o economics. 'Voodoo' economics."

S.P. Rodriguez · « **Reply #14 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:18:12 am »

Funny, the strongest memory I have of Bagwell is not directly related to a game. It's the picture of my 2yr old nephew sitting on his shoulder during Fan Fest. That nephew is now a 16yr old malcontent, as all teenagers are, who doesn't fully appreciate that picture. I hope that changes if/when Bagwell goes into the HoF.

MusicMan · « **Reply #16 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:37:20 am »

I have to go with "The Slide" against the Rangers. It so well encompassed his skills as a baserunner and his baseball IQ.

I don't know that I've ever watched a player with a better understanding of how to play the game.

Taras Bulba · « **Reply #17 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:43:52 am »

Maybe not my favorite moment, but one I remember is of him being the first man to the top of the dugout steps after Barrett continued jawing at Oswalt past first base, back in the '04 season. The Cubs pissed off the lion that day and paid the price.

mihoba · « **Reply #18 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:47:49 am »

I agree, I consider him the best baserunner I've ever seen. He never made a mistake on the bases that I can recall.

Jacksonian · « **Reply #19 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:49:32 am »

Mine is not so much a single moment, but a series of games in the mid-90's that taught me something about the dynamics of the game. I sat at home watching the games and really noticed for the first time how a great hitter literally alters the way the other team does business on the field. I watched as the opposing pitchers pitched one way to Bagwell and an entirely different way to the other hitters, including Biggio. And, it wasn't just watching them purposefully avoid Bagwell while daring others to beat them. It was also watching how they pitched to the other Astros hitters knowing that Bagwell could be up that inning or the next or even the next. It was as if the other team broke down the game primarily by how and in what situations it wanted to or had to face Bagwell. It helped me understand better what it means to have a great hitter on your team and the pressure the team can put on the other simply by having him take up 1 spot out of 9.

Foghorn · « **Reply #20 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:50:02 am »

I remember a couple things most vividly:

(1) After hitting for the cycle with a triple, he's standing on 3B when the ump, or the 3rd base coach, or someone wanted to know if he wanted to keep the ball as a momento. He basically said "fuck that shit, we're playing a game. let's get back to work".

(2) The bomb in Three Rivers that was mentioned previously.

(3) the bunted pop up that was mentioned previously.

(4) the slide at home versus the Dodgers (I think) where he basically juked the catcher out and scored the go-ahead run (think this was a Saturday game of the week on Fox)

(5) The hit off Izzi in game 6 of the NLCS in 2004, tying up the game.

astro pete · « **Reply #22 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:57:02 am »

Bagwell's home run against Atlanta in Game 5 of the '04 NLDS. With one swing of the bat, Bagwell ended Atlanta's season, sealed the Houston Astros' first ever playoff series win, and sent a giant "Fuck You!" to all the critics who ever said that the Astros in general, but Bagwell in particular, couldn't win in October. Then, in typical Jeff Bagwell fashion, he simply dropped his bat, put his head down, and ran the bases like he always does.

Crusher_Joe · « **Reply #24 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:00:48 pm »

I remember when Hideo Nomo was taking the NL by storm in 1995. I went to his first ever game in the Dome and there were 40,000+ in the stands when the average crowd that year was somewhere around 14,000 per game (post strike). No team in the NL had been able to figure out Nomo and his herky jerky delivery. Biggio drew a walk, stole 2nd and 3rd on Piazza and then scored on a wild pitch. The Bagwell Moment I most remember was when he absolutely tattooed one of those splitters straight down the left field line and well up into the orange seats. All of the sudden, the crowd realized that the attraction that night would not be Nomo, but Jeffery Robert Bagwell.

Best. First Baseman. Ever.

MusicMan · « **Reply #25 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:11:49 pm »

Oh man... Nomo was Baggy's bitch.

Unorthodox stance > unorthodox delivery.

Alkie · « **Reply #28 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:28:47 pm »

My Favorite Jeff Bagwell Moment is easy.

July 24, 2011.

Me. My wife. My daughter. Cooperstown, NY.

I will cry. Oh yes. It will be beautiful.

Mr. Happy · « **Reply #29 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:32:55 pm »

Jeff Bagwell=Mr. Astro

The man's fielding, baserunning, hitting and just all-around gutsy effort will go down in history. He was just the best.

RunninRaven · « **Reply #31 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:47:14 pm »

Is it dusty in here? I think it must be really dusty in here.

BudGirl · « **Reply #32 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:50:44 pm »

I don't have a favorite moment. (Don't have one for Biggio either.) How do you really pick a moment in all that time to pick one?

Plus, I think I agree with Alkie. That will be my absolute favorite Bagwell moment. Maybe I'll give him some tissues. I know I'll need them.

Waldo · « **Reply #33 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:52:16 pm »

I have a few that have already been mentioned here, but here's one that hasn't.

It was a game in 2001 - Carlos Hernandez's MLB debut, coincidentally. Bagwell was on third and Jimmy Anderson kept throwing to first to check the runner. Between throws, Bagwell went over to Mike Cubbage and said, "If he throws over to first one more time, I'm stealing home." Anderson did, Bagwell took off and he beat the throw back from first.

To me, that event is a microcosm of the kind of player Bagwell is/was.

Foghorn · « **Reply #35 on:** March 31, 2006, 01:48:21 pm »

Here's some more good ones:

(1) The crazy ass beard that one spring training.

(2) "traveling horse shit show"

(3) his Eeyore act every off-season (actually became pretty funny, to me at least)

(4) The 2001 playoffs versus the Braves where he saw maybe 3 strikes the entire series.

(5) the "ya know Alan Ashby, when Jeffrey RObert starts hitting the ball hard to the opposite field, you know he's really seeing the ball well"

(6) The game winner versus Milwaukee last year

(7) breaking the same exact bone 3 years straight

(

Owning Nomo (as someone mentioned)

(9) being owned by Scott Sullivan

(10) checking the box score, watching Sportscenter, during the summer of 1994 marveling at the year he was having.

Reuben · « **Reply #37 on:** March 31, 2006, 02:12:04 pm »

My family moved out of Houston to NC when I was a month old. Twenty years later my Dad and I went back and were able to go to one game, the last year at the Dome. Astros lost to the Mets (Dotel the winner I believe), but Bagwell hit a HR, and I thought at least I got to see Jeff Bagwell hit a homer in the Astrodome.

LonghornCDR · « **Reply #38 on:** March 31, 2006, 02:30:34 pm »

After reading all of this, I've realized one thing. Even though it's been coming for a while now, I'm really not ready for it to be over. Damn.

strobum · « **Reply #40 on:** March 31, 2006, 02:51:32 pm »

Most of my favorite moments have been mentioned. For me, the best thing about Bagwell has always been his instincts. In the field and on the basepaths you could always count on him making the right decisions.

The guy has over 200 career stolen bases and a more than a few of those happened because the pitcher forgot about him, or the middle infielders weren't holding him on second, or he knew the pitcher was about to throw junk.

Easily my favorite Astro of all-time. He will be sorely missed.

Fredia · « **Reply #44 on:** March 31, 2006, 03:24:02 pm »

has to be a case of all of above because remember there is no crying in baseball

HurricaneDavid · « **Reply #45 on:** March 31, 2006, 03:24:47 pm »

NLCS hit off Isringhausen is probably at the top of the list. Izzy's reaction is priceless. I've probably seen this clip 100 times, and I'm not at all tired of it.

Video

Another one of my favorite baseball moments came in a Brewers game in 2004. Bagwell started a run-down on a very weird play where the tying run ended up being tagged out at home to end the game. It was very dramatic, and very heads-up by Bagwell.
Video

Personally, my favorite moment was during batting practice at the Vet around 1998. I was patrolling the LF bleachers with my glove and my Astros jersey. The LF seats were probably 20 feet above the field, so it took a real shot to reach the fans. Bagwell hit one right to me... reached over someone to my left and caught it. About 3 pitches later, he hits another one to me... reached over a railing to my right and caught it. 2 HR balls in a matter of seconds. After he hit the 2nd one, Bagwell pointed the barrel of his bat at me and said something to the rest of the guys in his group. I'd like to think it was something like, "that guy in the Astros jersey caught both of those balls."

Then in 2004, I was at PNC Park, sitting in the front row at the end of the Astros dugout. Oliver Perez was dominating the Stros that night. Bagwell had 2 strikes on him and protected the plate by fouling a weak dribbler down the right side. I reached over the railing and grabbed it... the first and still only ball I've gotten during a game. Out of all the hundreds of players I've seen live, my first foul ball was hit by my favorite player of all time. That's pretty cool.

Also, I was at the Vet at some point in the 90s when Jeff had 7 RBIs in a game. At the time it set a new single-game record for him. I think he got 7 again a few years later... pretty sure he hasn't topped 7 though.

Taras Bulba · « **Reply #46 on:** March 31, 2006, 03:46:34 pm »

Great post. Thanks for sharing all of that.

LonghornCDR · « **Reply #48 on:** March 31, 2006, 03:51:24 pm »

I'm jealous.

The only foul ball I ver got was hit by Rickey Henderson. It was pitched by Mike Hampton, though. So I got that goin' for me... which is nice

JimR · « **Reply #49 on:** March 31, 2006, 03:58:10 pm »

have no idea the year or the opponent, but he charged a bunt hard with a runner on second. he caught a popped up bunt in FOUL territory on the 3B side of home, then doubled the runner off second. i said "holy shit" then, and say it now, about that play.

most of his accolades were for his hitting, but he was a GREAT first baseman.

The Spleen · « **Reply #50 on:** March 31, 2006, 04:09:35 pm »

Don't forget the hit he got off of Jenks to start the tying rally in Game Two of the World Series... the night after that same pitcher blew him away in another clutch situation. That was also (probably) the last hit of his career...

Author Topic: Friday Confessional Thread--Baseball Related (Read 9526 times)

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