From his customary spot in the last seat of the team bus, Jeff Bagwell would peer down the aisle and marvel at the collection of talent.



It was 1998, and the Houston Astros were loaded. Bagwell and fellow franchise cornerstone Craig Biggio were in the primes of Hall of Fame careers. Moises Alou, Derek Bell and Carl Everett formed an elite run-producing outfield. Mike Hampton, Shane Reynolds and José Lima topped a steady rotation. A young Billy Wagner locked down the ninth innings.



And for the season’s final two months, a third Hall of Famer sat among them. Randy Johnson, all 6-foot-10 of him, came as a hired gun via one of baseball’s highest-profile trade deadline acquisitions. These Astros already featured the best offense in the National League. Now they had a bona fide ace to match up in October against the likes of the Braves and the Yankees.



“Damn, man, we’re good,” Bagwell remembers thinking on those bus rides.