10 moments that defined Jeff Bagwell's career

HOUSTON -- One of the most feared sluggers of his generation, Jeff Bagwell was plucked away from the Boston Red Sox in one of the most lopsided trades in Major League history on Aug. 31, 1990, when the Astros sent veteran reliever Larry Andersen to Boston for the skinny third baseman.

With Ken Caminiti established at third base, the Astros shifted Bagwell across the diamond to first base. He was in the Opening Day lineup in 1991 and would be for 15 consecutive seasons while building a career that landed him in the Hall of Fame in 2017.

Bagwell appeared in four All-Star Games, had 2,314 hits, 449 home runs, 1,529 RBIs, a .948 OPS and helped Houston reach the playoffs six times. The arthritic right shoulder that cut short his career in 2005 robbed him of a chance of reaching 500 home runs and is probably one of the reasons he had to wait so long to get into the Hall of Fame.

Here are 10 moments that helped define Bagwell’s career:

1. Season for the ages
Bagwell was named the unanimous National League Most Valuable Player in the strike-shortened 1994 season after hitting .368 with 39 homers, 116 RBIs and a 1.201 OPS in 110 games, in addition to winning his only Gold Glove. He led the NL in RBIs, runs (104), total bases, slugging percentage and extra-base hits.

His season was cut short when he was hit by a pitch from Andy Benes and broke his left hand on Aug. 10 -- just two days before the players went on strike. His 38th home run of the season on Aug. 5 in the Astrodome broke Jimmy Wynn’s single-season club record that had stood for 27 years. The two-run homer gave Bagwell 112 RBIs -- breaking Bob Watson’s club record of 110 RBIs set in 1977.

2. Smashing debut
Bagwell wasn’t yet the feared power hitter he would later become, but his rookie season in 1991 showed glimpses of what kind of player he was already. Bagwell hit .294 with a .387 on-base percentage, 15 homers and 82 RBIs in 156 games and earned 23 of 24 first-place votes in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

“The fact he was Rookie of the Year for me, that was a pretty good sign of things to come,” said Art Howe, who managed the Astros from 1989-93. “I think it was his first game in the big leagues against the Cincinnati Reds, and the ‘Nasty Boys’ were pitching against us, and I think they had the lead and he’s leading off the top of the ninth. [Rob] Dibble’s on the mound and he’s blowing them away and he knocks Bagwell down. I don’t know how he got out of the way of it. The next pitch, [Bagwell] hit a rocket up the middle. That told me we had our hands on a great player.”

3. In the Year 2000
Bagwell set the single-season franchise record by bashing his 47th homer of the season in 2000, passing his previous record of 43 homers in 1997. Along the way, he set a record by hitting 28 home runs in one season at the Astrodome. He became the first Astros player and 32nd AL/NL player to have five consecutive 30-homer seasons, hitting two homers in a game four times.

What’s more, Bagwell scored a team-record 152 runs, which was the fourth-highest total in NL history and 10th-most in AL/NL history. It was the highest total in a season since Lou Gehrig in 1936. He became the first player in NL history and the fifth in AL/NL history to have at least 45 homers, 100 RBIs and 150 runs, joining Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx and Gehrig.

4. Finally, a World Series
After having played 2,179 games, including the playoffs, in his Major League career, Bagwell appeared in his first World Series in 2005. Bagwell, whose degenerative shoulder condition meant he couldn’t play in the field, was the designated hitter in Games 1 and 2 of the Fall Classic in Chicago. He pinch-hit in Games 3 and 4 in Houston, going 1-for-8 in his only World Series at-bats. The White Sox swept the Astros, winning four games by a combined six runs.

5. Rare company
The peak of Bagwell’s career saw him put up mind-boggling offensive numbers. He had at least 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored for six consecutive seasons (1996-2001), putting him in some rare Hall of Fame company. The only players who had reached those numbers before Bagwell were Foxx, Gehrig and Ruth. When he drew his 100th walk on Sept. 30, 2001, he became the only player in AL/NL history with six consecutive seasons of at least 30 homers, 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 100 walks. He’s the only Astros player with six consecutive 100-RBI seasons.

6. Hitting for the cycle
On July 18, 2001, Bagwell became the fifth player in club history to hit for the cycle and the first since Andujar Cedeño in 1992. Bagwell went 4-for-5 with five RBIs against the Cardinals, becoming the first Astros player to hit for the cycle at Minute Maid Park. Bagwell hit a two-run homer in the Astros’ eight-run fifth inning which helped them rally from 8-6 down and win, 17-11.

7. Upper deck
Bagwell joined Pirates Hall of Fame slugger Willie Stargell as the only players to sail homers into the upper deck of Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh more than once. Bagwell’s first trip to the upper deck at Three Rivers came in his rookie season, May 5, 1991, when he hit a 456-foot homer off Bob Kipper as a pinch-hitter. He bested that on May 29, 1996, by hitting a 459-foot homer off Danny Darwin into the upper deck. Stargell hit the upper deck four times in his career.

8. Windy City slugger
Bagwell bashed three homers in a game three times in his career, including twice during the 1999 season in Chicago -- on April 21 in a 10-3 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and again on June 9 at new Comiskey Park. Bagwell became only the third player in AL/NL history to hit three homers in two games in the same city in the same season, joining Johnny Mize (in St. Louis in 1938) and Ralph Kiner (in Pittsburgh in 1947). In the win over the Cubs, Bagwell slugged his 224th career homer, which sent him past Wynn (223) for most in club history.

9. 1,500 club
On Sept. 18, 2004, Bagwell collected his 1,500th career RBI with a single in the third inning against the Brewers. Two innings later, he homered for his 1,500th run scored, becoming just the 29th player in AL/NL history and the first Astros player to reach both milestones. And he did it in the same game.

10. Walk-off hero
Three months removed from shoulder surgery, Bagwell came off the bench to deliver a dramatic pinch-hit RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning, scoring Willy Taveras from second base, to send the Astros to a 2-1 win over the Brewers on Sept. 16, 2005. It was only Bagwell's third plate appearance since he came off the disabled list Sept. 9, and his first hit since May 2. He had not had a pinch hit since June 22, 2002.

"It's been a long road back," he said. "There's been a lot of questions whether I'd be able to make it. I'm still not all the way back, but when you sit on the DL for four months you don't feel like that much a part of the club.”

The Astros, who improved to a season-high 11 games over .500 with their third consecutive victory, stayed one-half game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card chase.