Good-bye Number Five
My husband wore all black today - with a grey tie. You see, Jeff Bagwell, first baseman of the Houston Astros announced his retirement officially. Astros fan to the end - Bagwell worshipper, my hubby - so the mourning period has begun.
As I sauteed shrimp in cayenne, Old Bay, and lemon pepper, as the broccoli roasted in the oven and warmed the house, my husband sat at the kitchen table with his arms around the laptop, as if he was hugging an old friend, eyes watery - and watched the coverage of Bagwell speaking to the press about staying within the organization, working with young players, how he learned a lot from Cami (sniff sniff)...and hubby must be very depressed because he had a second helping of jasmine rice with pan juice from the shrimp - something he never does. Carbs were his solace, not his enemy tonight. That is an unfortunate behavior he has adapted from me after seeing me comfort with food for sixteen years. Culinary folie a deux.
It is truly the end of an era. Bagwell's stats: 449 home runs, 1529 RBIs, 1401 walks and 969 extra base hits.
Bagwell has extarordinary character and leadership ability, and the Astros will miss him. Come spring training time and into the regular season, you will hear him referenced many times during Houston games.
I think I have been involuntarily listening to this eulogy through my husband for long enough, don't you think?
Well, if I were an Astros fan I suppose I would be forlorn as well, but after we watched Bagwell talk to the press (we watched the whole thing), I double-clicked on "Padres Introduce Maddux". I find it very hard to be sad, even vicariously for the man I love, when my baseball dream has come true, as his baseball nightmare has begun.
I watched Maddux talk about how good he felt pitching this past year, saying that as long as he can locate his fastball and change speeds successfully, everything would be fine. I know this to be true. He also stated that he loved hitting and facing other pitchers. That gets me fired up and ready for pre-season tomorrow, but alas, I have to wait another few months. I'll be googling Greg daily.
So Goodbye Number Five, Hello Number 31 - one era has ended, another begun.
Too bad...sure would have been fun to see Bags hit against Maddux in San Diego.
