Jeff Bagwell is set to become the second player who played the bulk of his career with the Astros to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bagwell doesn't do a lot of media interviews. He isn't a media hater at all, he just doesn't seek or desire the attention.

"I don't like talking about myself," he said.

In this episode of "Bring It To Jerome" Bagwell does indeed talk about himself – a little – but you will hear nary a bragging word.

He was reluctant to even give himself credit for working hard to become one of the greatest baseball players of all-time; just the 24th first baseman to be inducted into the Hall, and a top-10 first baseman in baseball history by almost any measure.

The Hall of Fame told Bagwell that his induction speech should be from 8 to 10 minutes long, though most speakers go way over. Bagwell was there two years ago when his close friend Craig Biggio, the first Astro to be inducted, went over 17 minutes.

At that same ceremony, Pedro Martinez delivered a speech in English and Spanish and went 25 minutes.

Back to Gallery Astros legend Jeff Bagwell Brings it to Jerome 23 1 of 23 Photo: Karen Warren, Staff Photographer 2 of 23 Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle 3 of 23 Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Chronicle 4 of 23 Photo: Karen Warren, HOUSTON CHRONICLE 5 of 23 Photo: Howard Castleberry, AP 6 of 23 Photo: Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images 7 of 23 Photo: Reinhold Matay, For the Chronicle 8 of 23 Photo: Steve Campbell, Houston Chronicle 9 of 23 Photo: Michael Paulsen, Chronicle 10 of 23 Photo: Brett Coomer, Chronicle 11 of 23 Photo: Karen Warren, Chronicle 12 of 23 Photo: Michael Paulsen, Chronicle 13 of 23 Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle 14 of 23 Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle 15 of 23 Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle 16 of 23 Photo: TONY DEJAK, AP 17 of 23 Photo: TONY DEJAK, AP 18 of 23 Photo: Michael E. Keating, Cincinnati Enquirer 19 of 23 Photo: KAREN WARREN, HOUSTON CHRONICLE 20 of 23 Photo: KAREN WARREN, Houston Chronicle 21 of 23 Photo: Stephen P. O\'Brien 22 of 23 Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle 23 of 23 Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle













































Bagwell laughingly said that his speech is more likely to come in at 8:01.

"I'll be trying to run off there as quick as I can. I'll set my watch."

Bagwell would rather talk about his children, and he offered some entertaining fatherly advice for a rookie dad.

And though his children – the oldest is 18, and Bagwell retired in 2005 – missed most of his playing career, Bagwell says when his daughters started playing softball, they had a familiar look.

"When they first went to play softball, when they were like 5 or 4, they immediately went into my stance. I was like, 'Oh my God, what is that?'" he said. "They had seen it in pictures."

Bagwell talks about his awkward batting stance that was "nothing that any hitting coach in the world would teach," his failures in the playoffs and his greatest loss, the death of teammate Daryl Kile in the middle of the 2002 season.

Bagwell weighs in on arrogant baseball players, sabermetrics – he's not a fan – and, of course, this year's Astros, who have had the best record in baseball for much of the season, with 10 more wins than any team in the American League.

"I haven't watched this much baseball my entire life," Bagwell said. "I've never seen anything like it.

"They keep coming. The biggest thing I see with them, the guys enjoy playing with each other. I can see it in the dugout and when I walk through the clubhouse when I go to games. I can see how much they pull for each other. And they never give up. They're so young and they're so good, they don't know the difference.

"It really is a pleasure to watch."