Hall of Fame Near-Miss for Killingworth's Jeff Bagwell

The baseball slogan “Wait ‘til next year!” certainly applies today to one of Connecticut’s greatest players ever.

Jeff Bagwell, a Xavier High School graduate from Killingworth who went on to become one of the greatest first basemen in major league baseball history, narrowly missed election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his sixth year of eligibility.

In voting totals announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Bagwell was named on 315 of the 440 ballots cast, or 71.6 percent.

Players who receive 75 percent or more of the vote are elected to the Hall of Fame. This year, 330 votes were required for election, meaning Bagwell came up just 15 votes short of enshrinement.

Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Piazza were the only players elected this year.

“It’s OK,” Bagwell, who spent his entire 15-year big league career with the Houston Astros, told the Ultimate Astros blog on chron.com. “It’s my sixth time, it’s not like it’s my first. I know there’s a process. I’ll wait my time.”

Appearing on the MLB network Wednesday night, Hall of Fame sportswriter Peter Gammons said Bagwell “is a lock” to be elected next year.

His credentials are certainly apparent: National League Most Valuable Player in 1994, six top 10 MVP finishes, Rookie of the Year in 1990, a .297 career batting average, 449 home runs, 1,529 runs batted in, 2,314 hits, two 30-30 seasons (30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same year), three Silver Slugger awards and a Gold Glove award.

In 1994, Bagwell was on his way to one of the most incredible offensive seasons of the last 60 years when a players’ strike ended the season prematurely on Aug. 12. In just 110 games, he batted .368 with 147 hits, 104 runs scored, 39 home runs, 116 runs batted in and 300 total bases. Translated over a full 162-game schedule, those numbers would read 216 hits, 153 runs scored, 57 home runs, 170 RBI and 441 total bases.

Longtime teammate Craig Biggio, elected in 2015, is the only Hall of Famer with an Astros cap adorning his plaque in Cooperstown. In about 365 days, Bagwell should become the second.

Photo credit: Gary Paul Smith via flickr creative commons