During Friday night’s game between the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox, Baseball Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell showed off a Tony Romo-esque ability to correctly predict a play immediately before it happens.
White Sox reliever Aaron Bummer had a 1-2 count on Astros batter Yuli Gurriel with a runner at first base in the top of the seventh inning. Bagwell, an Astros analyst for AT&T SportsNet Southwest, said, “I could see a wild pitch comin’. Slider in the dirt. There it is, curveball/slider.”
Seconds later, Bummer indeed threw a wild pitch on a slider.
Astros play-by-play man Todd Kalas couldn’t believe it: “You’re amazing, Baggy. Really? You just did that? Have you seen this game before? You just called a wild pitch on the exact pitch.”
Jeff Bagwell predicting a wild pitch 5 seconds before it happens https://t.co/mdo4bBtc96
— APOLLO MEDIA (@ApolloHOU) July 17, 2021
Before that wild pitch, Bummer had thrown 520 pitches this season, with only two of them resulting in wild pitches (granted, an official wild pitch requires a runner to be on base).
So, predicting a wild pitch seconds before there’s an indeed a wild pitch is a pretty incredible call by Bagwell. And having a good feel for what the pitcher is about to throw likely played a big part in his remarkable career, which featured an NL MVP award in 1994 with the Astros.
Bagwell isn’t even the full-time Astros color commentator on AT&T SportsNet Southwest, but he occasionally fills in for Geoff Blum.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.