On Bagwells' Health

[redsrbetter]

March 18, 2006, 6:59PM
Everyone's looking over Bagwell's shoulder
Astros slugger can't make a move without scrutiny

By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. - Jeff Bagwell knows what it's like to be a National League Rookie of the Year, an All-Star and an MVP.
Now he's learning how it feels to be one of those tiny organisms that get poked and probed and have their every move examined under a microscope in the laboratory.

Life in the petri dish continued to boil as Bagwell returned to the field for the first time since a shortened stint early this week and played four innings of defense Friday during a 7-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
"Today it wasn't bad, for me to be able to come back after the other night and be able to bounce back," Bagwell said. "I'm happy with it. I don't expect to be able to know whether I can play right now. This is a little too early, I've got to get through my soreness first and then a little later on see what I can do. Right now my main focus is to get out there and throw the ball in between innings, get my legs under me, things like that."
Bagwell, 37, is trying to hold off a forced retirement by Astros management, which filed an insurance claim in January that says he is disabled in order to recoup $15.6 million of the $17 million he is due in the final year of his contract.
What it means is that the veteran first baseman who has been a notoriously slow starter all through his career — but especially since 2001 when a degenerative shoulder condition worsened — is having every at-bat, every step, almost every intake of breath, watched carefully and analyzed by team officials and fans in Houston.
"I thought Baggy looked better today than he has all spring throwing the ball," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "We'll talk to him in the morning and see how he feels.
"But I want to be fair to him and I want it presented in a fair way, too. If I say, 'Wow, this is the greatest thing in the world!' and it's written that way, then the expectations are that Baggy should be fine tomorrow. And if he's not, then it causes these emotional swings with our fans, putting pressure on Baggy."
Bagwell took himself out of the lineup Tuesday after just two innings because he felt soreness. That, of course, just heightened the drama. Bagwell has played 10 innings in the field this spring, but has not had to make a throw in a game.
"I can throw, (but) can I make the play I need to make in a game," he said. "That's going to take awhile until I actually get some balls hit to me."
Garner nodded in agreement.
"We'll get to that point," the manager said. "It's going to come up. To this point, it's probably a good thing he hasn't had to do that. To what extent he could do it if he had to throw hard, I don't know. But when we get to that point, he'll give it a shot. Right now, I'm glad he got through four innings and tolerated it well."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3732104.html

[redsrbetter]

Man I hope Bags has a healthy season. Division rivals or not, I hope the Astros can benefit from Bags for at least one more year. This guy has been so much for this organization.

Do you guys think that Bag pipes will get through this season ?