TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

August 31, 1990 the Houston Astros make one of their best trades ever, acquiring minor league infielder Jeff Bagwell from the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Larry Andersen. Refusing to part with Triple-A third baseman Scott Cooper to get Larry Andersen from the Astros for the stretch run, Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman trades the Eastern League’s MVP Jeff Bagwell for the right-handed relief pitcher.The University of Hartford standout will go on to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1991 and we will win the National League’s MVP Award in 1994 and become one of the greatest players in Astros franchise history. Anderson was a key member of the Red Sox bullpen down the stretch and helped Boston capture the the AL East Title. What is also lost is the Red Sox had a future MVP themselves in Mo Vaughn at firstbase who became on of the top offensive players in team history.

More on Bagwell -

One of the game's most consistent sluggers, Jeff Bagwell hit at least 30 homers and drove in at least 100 runs in six consecutive seasons from 1996-2001, and eight times overall. The big run producer in the Astros famous "Killer B's" offense, Bagwell helped the team to four division titles in the 1990s, and won the 1994 National League Most Valuable Player Award. A fan favorite, Bagwell's dismal post-season performances have been forgive by admiring Houston fans. His .750 slugging percentage in 1994 was the second-highest in NL history.

Best Season, 1994
In the strike-shortened season, Bagwell drove in 116 runs in 110, scoring 104, both league-highs. He also slugged .750 and paced the league in total bases and extra-base hits, while batting .368, which ranked second behind Tony Gwynn. He was voted MVP and had 100 RBI by the end of July, the fourth highest total in NL history at the end of that month.

Factoid
Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas were born on the same day: May 27, 1968. Each of them won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1994, Bagwell in the NL, and Thomas in the AL. Through the 2004 season, Bagwell had hit 446 homers, and Thomas had 436.

Post-Season Notes
Entering 2004, Bagwell had been one of the biggest post-season disappointments in baseball history. In 14 playoff games he had batted .174 (8-for-46) with no extra-base hits. Bagwell had driven in just four runs and was largely responsible for the Astros dreadful 2-12 record in playoff games during his career. His longtime teammate and partner in Houston's "Killer B's," Craig Biggio, had similar struggles in the post-season. The two had combined to hit .150 (15-for-100) with one extra-base hit and five RBI in the playoffs for Houston through 2003.

In 2004, Bagwell finally broke through in the playoffs, slugging a pair of homers in Houston's five-game NLDS victory over the Braves. He also stroked a pair of doubles in the NLCS gainst the Cardinals. He lifted his overall post-season average to .232, with 12 RBI in 26 games.

Bagwell will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017.

Todays Podcast

August 31, 1917, 22-year old Red Sox lefty Babe Ruth won his 20th game of the season, defeating the Athletics, 5-3. Ruth won 24 games that season, the second straight year he had reached the 20-win mark. Ruth posted a career 94-46 mark as a pitcher, but earned his fame as a slugger.

August 31, 1937 — Rudy York belts his 17th and 18th homers of the month, to eclipse Babe Ruth’s mark set in September 1927. Establishing a major league record that will not be broken until 1998, when Sammy Sosa hits 19 in June. The rookie catcher’s round-trippers and seven RBI’s against Pete Appleton help the Detroit Tigers maul the Washington Senators at Navin Field, 12-3.

August 31, 1950, Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers ties a major league record by piling up 17 total bases in a game against the Boston Braves. Hodges hits four home runs and a single in leading the Dodgers to a 19-3 win at Ebbets Field.

August 31, 1959 — At L.A. Memorial Coliseum Sandy Koufax fans 18 Giants to set a National League mark in a 5 – 2 Dodger win. The game is witnessed by a crowd of 82,974 spectators (60,194 of whom have paid admission), the largest ever for a regular-season game. Koufax ties Bob Feller’s mark set in 1938 during a 4-1 loss to Detroit. He breaks Dizzy Deans previous NL Mark.

August 31, 1968 — Elroy Face ties Senators’ legend Walter Johnson’s major league mark for appearances with one team when he enters a game for the 802nd time for the Pirates, replacing Steve Blass, who remains in the contest in left field. After the reliever retires one batter to equal the record, Blass returns to the mound, and an announcement will be made before the final out is recorded in Pittsburgh’s 8-0 victory over Atlanta that the Bucs’ right-handed veteran has been sold to the Tigers.

August 31, 1979 — The Phillies fire Danny Ozark, senior manager (since 1973) in the National League. Farm director Dallas Green takes over as interim manager. The Phils will remove the “interim” on October 18 and Green will lead the team to its first World Championship in 1980.

August 31, 1990, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. become the first father and son combination to play together in a major league game. The elder Griffey plays left field and bats second, while the younger Griffey bats third and plays center field. They each pick up one hit in four at-bats.

August 31, 1992, the Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers announce a blockbuster trade. The A’s send outfielder Jose Canseco, an MVP and two-time home run champion, to the Rangers for outfielder Ruben Sierra and pitchers Jeff Russell and Bobby Witt and an undisclosed amount of money. Baseball’s bad boy will hit 45 home runs and bat .269 during his three-year tenure in Texas.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER:  DAN FORD  

- Ans. Ford, the venue’s 2^nd batter ever, homered in Yankee Stadium II, as it come to be called, on 15-Apr-1976. That put the visiting Twins up 2-0 before the first out of the game had been made.

- #1 He was called Disco Dan. The Disco Era was began to peak as he entered the majors in 1975.

- #2 Although Ford never made an All-Star team he transferred to Fremont HS ( not to be confused with Fremont HS in Sunnyvale, California, 350 miles to the north) because he admired the baseball players that he knew some recent Fremont graduates Bobby Tolan, Willie Crawford & Bob Watson who had made the majors. For 60 years, Fremont had been a source a talented baseball recruits.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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