{"id":3131,"date":"2010-07-12T00:04:59","date_gmt":"2010-07-12T05:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/?p=3131"},"modified":"2010-07-16T07:21:18","modified_gmt":"2010-07-16T12:21:18","slug":"red-sox-clinch-playoff-berth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=3131","title":{"rendered":"Bagwell Taking Over as Astros Hitting Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Former Astros All-Star Jeff Bagwell is taking over as Houston\u2019s hitting coach after the team fired Sean Berry on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Berry became \u201ca victim of circumstances\u201d as the offense sputtered this season, general manager Ed Wade said. He believes the offense can do more and hopes Bagwell helps that happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we can get better, but we also know there are players here that should be better and hopefully with a different voice in Jeff Bagwell, they\u2019ll recognize the measure of accountability that they have in this whole process so we will get better,\u201d Wade said.
\nAdChoices<\/p>\n

Bagwell had been thinking about what his next challenge would be when Wade approached him about the position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere comes a point in time where you realize you have to do something and that your life has to go on,\u201d Bagwell said. \u201cI\u2019m 42 years old and it\u2019s time for me to do something else. This is what I know. I know baseball. Hopefully we\u2019re going to find out in a couple of months that I know a little about hitting too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move gives Houston hitters a chance to work with one of the most beloved and successful players in franchise history.<\/p>\n

In 15 seasons with the Astros, the former first baseman set club records with 449 home runs and 1,529 RBIs. Bagwell was the National League rookie of the year in 1991, the NL\u2019s MVP in 1994 and a four-time All-Star.<\/p>\n

Berry, who has been the hitting coach the past five seasons, was given a chance to remain with the franchise in a development role. He hadn\u2019t decided if he\u2019ll accept that opportunity.<\/p>\n

Bagwell hasn\u2019t been promised anything past this season and said the remainder of this year will be a sort of test for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is 2 1\/2 months to see if I\u2019m any good at it, can I get some results out of these guys and ultimately is this something that I want to do full time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Wade knows great players don\u2019t necessarily make good coaches, but believes Bagwell will be successful after what he\u2019s shown working with the team as special assistant to the general manager since retiring in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very levelheaded,\u201d Wade said. \u201cHe communicates very well, particularly with regard to the nuances of the game. We\u2019ve seen him have a significant impact on some of our minor league hitters with the information he\u2019s able to convey. So he\u2019s got the interest and the passion in doing this and we think it\u2019s appropriate to give him the opportunity to see if it works or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bagwell was not in uniform for Sunday\u2019s game against the Cardinals and will join the team Thursday in Pittsburgh for a workout. Houston starts the second half on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFans love Bagwell, so that\u2019s the first thing. He\u2019s a legend here,\u201d center fielder Michael Bourn said. \u201c(He) did a lot of damage here, so of course he knows how to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Astros entered Sunday\u2019s game with the second-worst batting average in the majors (.237), the worst on-base percentage (.295) and tied for 28th with just 57 home runs. Only Seattle and Pittsburgh have fewer hits than the 691 that Houston has managed this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be interesting,\u201d Bagwell said. \u201cI\u2019m going to give it everything I\u2019ve got. I\u2019m going to try to prepare the guys the best I can so that when they get in that batter\u2019s box, they have the best opportunity to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Star slugger Lance Berkman entered Sunday\u2019s game hitting .252 and cleanup hitter Carlos Lee is batting .238. Each has 12 home runs. Second baseman Jeff Keppinger has the best average in Houston\u2019s starting lineup at .279.<\/p>\n

Berkman said it stings to know the struggles of the offense cost Berry his job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t hit and Carlos hasn\u2019t hit like he can and others haven\u2019t and it\u2019s not Sean\u2019s fault,\u201d Berkman said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things that when things aren\u2019t going well with the players, you have to shake something up and the most expendable pieces a lot of times are the coaching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he was disappointed to see Berry leave, Berkman looks forward to working with Bagwell.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff has always been one of my mentors in the game and I\u2019m excited that he\u2019s going to be around more,\u201d Berkman said. \u201cI told him (Saturday) that he helps me more than anybody even when he\u2019s not around just from all the things that he told me during the time that we played together. So it will be great to have him around and have his expertise available.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Astros All-Star Jeff Bagwell is taking over as Houston\u2019s hitting coach after the team fired Sean Berry on Sunday. Berry became \u201ca victim of circumstances\u201d as the offense sputtered this season, general manager Ed Wade said. He believes the offense can do more and hopes Bagwell helps that happen. \u201cWe know we can get … Continue reading Bagwell Taking Over as Astros Hitting Coach<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-05 22:25:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3131"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20738,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131\/revisions\/20738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}