Player in the Spotlight: Jeff Bagwell

After my last Player Spotlight that dealt with one of the “Killer B’s”, Craig Biggio (http://athomeplate.com/biggio.shtml), I thought it was time to pay homage to the other lifelong Astro that has given it his all despite having about as much strength in his right shoulder as a 5 year old kid shoveling in the sandbox. Of course I’m talking about Jeff Bagwell, and even though you probably respect him for what he has accomplished in his career, you may not know just how historic his accomplishments really are and that’s the reason for this article.

First off, I truly hope that the surgery Bagwell is to undergo on his ailing shoulder will allow him to continue his playing career next year. This appears to be the last chance that Bagwell has to continue playing and while he has slowed considerably over the past few years, he has still been a productive hitter (even with his terribly injured shoulder he has still managed a .266-27-89-104-6 season in 2004).

Just how effective has Bagwell been? Well, I thought I would put together some numbers to illustrate why I feel that a HOF birth is indicated for Bagwell.

1994-2003
.301-37-116-116-17 with a .420 OBP, .574 Slg%, .994 OPS

I know that Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds received all the talk for player of the 90’s, but Bagwell really should have been included in the discussion too. The above numbers are his yearly average for this ten-year period, and those are some serious numbers. Even though this ten-year span isn’t entirely in the 90’s these numbers still help to support the view that Bagwell has been one of the most dominant hitters in baseball for an awfully long time

Let’s now turn our attention to the overall numbers that Bagwell produced during this ten-year period. Below are Bagwell’s numbers for 1994-2003 followed by his overall rank in MLB. Maybe I wasn’t completely crazy to compare Bagwell to Griffey and Bonds…at least as far as offense is concerned.

1994-2003 RANKINGS OVERALL (Min. 3000 PA)

1495 Games Played, 2^nd
366 HR, 5^th
1155 RBI, 3^rd
1160 Runs, 1^st
166 SB, 31^st
.420 OBP, 8^th
.574 Slg%, 13^th
.994 OPS, 7^th

Surprised are you? Come on now, maybe just a little? You knew that Bagwell was a durable power hitter, so his ranking in those categories (HR, RBI, OPS) probably aren’t overly surprising. But 1^st overall in Runs? Maybe all that talk of Bagwell being one of the best baserunners in baseball wasn’t an exaggeration. Another interesting fact is that Bags was 31^st in SB and I know there is no way you knew that because, admittedly, I had no idea of that myself!

THE 1B COMPARISON

Where does Bagwell fit in the pantheon of all-time great 1B? (see; http://www.athomeplate.com/mcgriffpalmeiro.shtml for a discussion of Rafael Palmeiro and Fred McGriff and their place in history) If you said somewhere in the middle of the pack I think you would be mistaken. A caveat before we move forward: I will be the first to admit that comparing hitters to one another based upon raw overall numbers is exceedingly difficult when the players under discussion played in different era’s. However because I don’t want to write an opus that will put half of you to sleep, like that friend of yours who thinks doing keg-stands til he pukes is “cool”, I will do just that here.

There are only three 1B who have ever had careers that produced the following numbers: .290, 400 HR, 1500 RBI and 1500 Runs. Bagwell is one of them and for some reason I think you might have heard of the other two as well: JIMMIE FOXX and LOU GEHRIG.

***Numbers for this table are only those accumulated when these
three men were actually playing 1B and therefore they
may differ slightly from their overall numbers.

Simply put, the set of skills that Bagwell possesses has only been seen in two other 1B that have ever played the game. If that doesn’t alert you to the greatness of Bagwell perhaps a look at his overall career numbers compared to the other 1B who have graced the right side of the diamond will fortify my contention that he is one of the best ever.

ALL-TIME 1B RANKS

449 HR, 5^th
1525 RBI, 6^th
1517 Runs, 5^th
202 SB, 19^th
.408 OBP, 11^th
.541 Slg%, 12^th
.949 OPS, 12^th

With this cursory overview of Bagwell’s numbers I think you would be safe in saying that Bagwell is one of the 10 best overall 1B that has ever played.


THE ALL-TIME PLAYER COMPARISON

However, the larger question becomes just how many players, regardless of position, can match what Bagwell has done in his career? Would you be surprised to learn that there are only a handful of players, regardless of position, who have had a combination of skills to rival what Bagwell brought to the offensive side of the game?

(1) Bagwell is one of only 5 men, regardless of position, who have career numbers which exceed .290 AVG, 400 HR, 1500 RBI/Runs and 200 SB. The others are some of the greats of all-time: HANK AARON, WILLIE MAYS, FRANK ROBINSON and BARRY BONDS.

(2) Bagwell has the 4^th longest streak of consecutive seasons with a .280 AVG, 30 HR and 90 RBI/Runs producing 7 such consecutive seasons (1996-2002). The other players ahead of, or tied with, him include:
Jimmie Foxx 12 (1929-40), Lou Gehrig 9 (1929-37), BABE RUTH 8 (1926-33), Hank Aaron (1957-63), Alex Rodriguez 7 (1998-current).

(3) Bagwell has the 6^th most seasons in a career with 30 HR, 100 RBI and 100 Runs with 8 such seasons.
The others at the top of the list include: Jimmie Foxx 11, Babe Ruth 11, Barry Bonds 11, Lou Gehrig 10, Hank Aaron 9, Alex Rodriguez 8.

(4) Bagwell has 7 seasons in which he hit 30 HR, 100 RBI/Runs and had 10 SB. Those 7 seasons give him the second highest mark ever (Barry Bonds has 9 while Arod has 7 as well).


So there you have it, a cursory look at just what makes Jeff Bagwell one of the best offensive 1B of all-time. The numbers support what my eyes have long told me…let’s hope they still will have the chance to witness a few more seasons of tremendous production before he is forced to hang em’ up.

Ray Flowers, a member of SABR and FSWA, can be reached with comments/questions or suggestions at: ray@athomeplate.com. Please also visit Ray’s website at: www.wildpitch.blogspot.com for a plethora of baseball related posts and discussions.