Last Updated on July 30, 2017 3:45 pm by admin
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) The Latest on Baseball Hall of Fame inductions (all times local):
3:20 p.m.
Jeff Bagwell has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bagwell took the dais to an extended applause from the hundreds of Astros fans who made the trip.
”You know I don’t like attention,” Bagwell said with a tinge of nervousness. ”I’m so humbled to be here. I’m just really trying to figure out what’s going on.”
Bagwell started his speech by thanking his family, singling out his parents and wife.
”Mom, you are just the most amazing person in the world,” he said. ”You’ve been a pillar for me. I can’t tell you how much I love you and what you mean to me. My father, Bob. There’s something about a dad. You brought me to love this game of baseball. Something my father instilled in me was to never quit. Deep inside, I just never gave up. That drive got me a long way.”
The 48-year-old Bagwell, who played his entire 15-year career with the Houston Astros, was elected in January in his seventh year on the ballot. He’s the only first baseman in history with 400 career home runs and 200 stolen bases.
”I tried to do everything well,” he said. ”I wanted to score for my team and for my other players. I enjoy the stolen bases more than anything else. For a little guy with not much speed, I truly appreciate that. I could help us win in different ways.”
Bagwell ended his career with 449 home runs, was 1991 NL Rookie of the Year and in the strike-shortened 1994 season hit .368 with 39 homers and 116 RBIs in just 110 games to unanimously capture MVP honors.
From 1996-2001, Bagwell had at least 30 home runs, 100 runs scored and 100 RBIs per season, only the sixth player in major league history to reach those marks in at least six straight years.
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2:45 p.m.
Former Atlanta and Kansas City general manager John Schuerholz has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, leading off a ceremony that also will honor Ivan ”Pudge” Rodriguez, Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell, and former commissoner Bud Selig on his 83rd birthday.
In 26 years as a GM, Schuerholz’s teams won 16 division titles, six pennants and two World Series. He was the first general manager in history to win a World Series in each league.
Schuerholz credits divine providence and fate for his good fortune. He says a case of German measles left him deaf in his right ear, forcing him to be more attentive.
Schuerholz, who played second base at Towson University, says he knew where he should concentrate his future in baseball after a two-day tryout when he was told to time the players on the second day instead of taking the field.
”The message was delivered,” Schuerholz said. ”I’d better concentrate someplace other than trying to be a professional baseball player. Divine providence. Fate. I truly believe so.”
His hometown Baltimore Orioles gave him a spot in its minor league system, and in 1969 Schuerholz joined the expansion Kansas City Royals and became the team’s general manager 12 years later, winning the 1985 World Series before leaving for the Braves.
With Schuerholz calling the front-office shots, Atlanta won a remarkable 14 straight division championships.
He joins former Atlanta manager Bobby Cox and pitchers John Smoltz and Greg Maddux, key cogs on those Braves teams.
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2:10 p.m.
Fifty-two living Hall of Famers have been introduced at the Baseball induction ceremony in Cooperstown.
They’re seated behind the dais as the inductions get ready to begin for former players Jeff Bagwell, Ivan ”Pudge” Rodriguez and Tim Raines, along with front-office whiz John Schuerholz and former baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
In the front row are Sue and Ned Raines. They say they’re a bundle of nerves. Ned Raines says he’s been nervous for a decade and was elated when Tim got the call in January in his last year on the ballot.
Also in the audience are Phil Garner, Jose Cruz, Jose Guzman, Larry Dierker, Willie Randolph, Bob Uecker, and golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez.