Trade to Houston a boost for Bagwell
Drafted by Boston in the fourth round of the 1989 MLB Draft, Connecticut native and life-long Red Sox fan Jeff Bagwell was ready to play for his favorite baseball club. But on his way to fulfill his childhood dream, the future Hall of Famer would never get the chance to throw on a Red Sox jersey in the big leagues.
Two years after he was drafted, Bagwell played 136 games for Boston’s Double-A affiliate in New Britain, Conn., before he was sent to Houston in exchange for veteran pitcher Larry Andersen on Aug. 30, 1990. Andersen would appear in 15 games with the Red Sox down the stretch, posting a 1.23 ERA during his one-month stint and helping Boston win the American League East title. But Andersen signed with the San Diego Padres following the season.
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“I guess we’ll find out in the long run, but in order to get something like this, you have to give up something of value,” said Red Sox manager Joe Morgan, per the Hartford Courant, contemplating the loss of Bagwell. “And that’s the guy [Houston] definitely wanted.”
Bagwell was leading the Eastern League in batting average at a rate of .333 when he was traded. Dealt from the team he grew up cheering for, he tried to look for the positives in this situation.
“Day by day, I feel better and better about it,” Bagwell told the Hartford Courant. “I know I have a better chance to make the major leagues sooner with Houston than I did with the Red Sox. I know this trade could be a blessing in disguise.
“At first, I was confused, I felt unwanted, I guess,” Bagwell added. “But obviously Houston wanted me real bad, because they gave up a major league pitcher for just me.”
Eager to get Bagwell on the field, the Astros sent him to the majors the following season. In his inaugural campaign, he appeared in 156 games, hitting .294 and earning National League Rookie of the Year honors in 1991. Bypassing any sophomore jinx, Bagwell hit .276 and appeared in all 162 games in ‘92, putting him in the conversation for MVP for the first time.
Bagwell finished in the Top 20 for MVP voting for the second straight year in ’93 and came into the 1994 season hungry for more. The first baseman led Major League Baseball in several major hitting categories, including runs, slugging, RBI and OPS – good enough to earn him the NL MVP Award, Silver Slugger Award and his first All-Star Game nod.
From 1996 to 2003, Bagwell would blast over 30 home runs in each season, tallying 100 or more RBI each year – with the exception for ’02 when he drove in 98 runs. Bagwell’s hot bat lit the fire in Houston as the club would make six playoff appearances between 1997 and 2005. This success, along with the Astros’ first World Series bid in ‘05, was propelled by the production from Bagwell and fellow Hall of Famer Craig Biggio – a duo nicknamed the “Killer B’s.”
Bagwell played his last full season in 2004. A season later, he would only appear in 36 games before removing himself from the lineup due to injury.
He finished his career with 449 home runs, 1,520 RBI and a .297 batting average and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.
Aaron McCoy was the 2023 public relations intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development
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