June 7, 2005, 8:14AM

Bagwell at a crossroads as he goes into surgery
The shoulder operation he has today determines if the Astros icon
will play again
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

If it had been up to Robert Bagwell, his eldest boy would have
headed to the disabled list a year ago and stopped taking cortisone
shots and painkillers long before that.


Robert Bagwell knows his son, though. He knew Astros icon Jeff
Bagwell, a potential Hall of Famer, would take a bum right shoulder
as far as he could before finally saying "enough" last month.

Now, Robert Bagwell prays his son gains enough right shoulder
flexibility to play catch with his two daughters.

"Jeff is the kind of kid that never gives up and never quits,"
Robert Bagwell said. "Usually when a father says something to a son,
they do just the opposite. I talked to Jeff and told him to go on
the disabled list last year. I said, 'Geez, Jeff, how can you play
like this?' It's tough to play baseball when you're hurt. He's done
it for four years and may have paid a price for doing it."

Jeff Bagwell, 37, will go for broke today when he undergoes capsular
release surgery on his arthritic right shoulder at Dr. Richard
Hawkins' Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Spartanburg, S.C. The procedure
will either buy Bagwell more playing time or seal his fate and send
him toward retirement.

Bagwell is due about $24 million on the contract that ends after
next season. The Astros have insurance that will pay a great portion
of next year's salary if Bagwell cannot perform.

The 1991 National League Rookie of the Year and 1994 NL MVP already
has secured his legacy as the most feared slugger in Astros history
with a club-record 449 homers, 1,525 RBIs, 1,517 runs, 1,400 walks
and 969 extra-base hits. The only first baseman and one of only 10
players in major-league history with at least 400 homers and 200
stolen bases, Bagwell also ranks 28th on the all-time home run list.


Will have no regrets
Even if he never plays again, Bagwell doesn't expect he or his
family will have any regrets.

"I've had a nice career," he said. "If retirement is what's meant to
be, it's what's meant to be. With that said, I'm still hopeful that
this surgery lets me play one more year."

Bagwell, 37, planned to leave Houston with his wife, Ericka, and
Astros medical director Dr. David Lintner on Monday to prepare for
the surgery in South Carolina. Barring any complications, recovery
takes about three months, although it's doubtful Bagwell will return
this season. The big decisions will likely come next spring when he
tries to play again.

Although he has been told there's no guarantee, Bagwell believes
he'll play again.

"I know I'm not going to be 100 percent, and I know I can play not
being 100 percent," he said. "I think that's a positive. There's a
lot of guys that have surgery and would expect to be 100 percent.
Then when they don't get back to 100 percent, they just can't handle
it."

Being less than 100 percent hasn't stopped Bagwell, who has played
with shoulder problems since 2001.

"It's almost relief," Robert Bagwell said of the surgery. "I'm glad
that he's doing something about his shoulder. Letting it go on and
on threatens his entire happiness in the future. He has a lot of
years to live, and you want him to have a good life after baseball.

"He's taken all these cortisone shots, and from what I understand,
you can only take so many cortisone shots before you really destroy
your shoulder. I'm kind of glad that he's doing something with it
one way or another."

Robert Bagwell understands shoulder pain, having had shoulder
problems throughout his college pitching career. He has had back
pain much of his adult life, and he has three surgeries to show for
it. He also acknowledges he's had neck pain, just like his father,
Bernie.

"My dad had arthritis in his neck," Robert Bagwell said. "All the
Bagwell men seem to have arthritic problems, but they say it isn't
genetics."

Robert, who weathered searing pain to throw as many rounds of
batting practice as his sons wanted, fears Jeff won't have the
shoulder strength to play catch with his two girls.

"Every time after I pitched, the pain was terrible," Robert said. "I
had a thing where I couldn't lift my arm over my head because of the
pain. But at least I was able to play pepper and hit him ground
balls. I don't know if he'll be able to do that with his daughters.
He can't throw. He can't raise his right arm, so how's he going to
do that?"

Bagwell, who was hitting .250 (22-for-88) with four doubles, three
home runs and 15 RBIs this season, had surgery after the 2001 season
to reattach the labrum in his right shoulder with screws. Since
then, he has needed cortisone shots — one every six weeks during
the
season — and painkillers to help him play.

"I'm just ready to get this over with," Bagwell, who went on the
disabled list May 11, said of surgery. "There's no other option.
That makes it easy.

"I look at (the possibility that) if it doesn't work out, how am I
going to feel? The other way is, 'What if it does work? How am I
going to feel?' Rejuvenated? Probably. Excited? Probably. It could
be the total opposite and I say, 'Damn, I should have done this a
long time ago.' "

As a first baseman, Bagwell doesn't need a strong arm. All he wants
is a bit of relief.

"If I get back to where I was before and I can finish my career on
my own terms, that's all I want," he said.


Backing from teammates
Bagwell, who has a career .297 average over 2,135 games in Houston,
hasn't suffered alone. The man most of the Astros acknowledge as
their leader has received plenty of support from teammates.
Bagwell's family also has offered moral support. And, in some ways,
Bagwell's family has felt the pain right along with him.

"I said, 'Jeff, you can't get around (on a pitch). You can't reach
the outside pitch with your right arm. You can't extend your right
arm,' " Robert Bagwell recalled.

"Jeff's old swing, he'd corkscrew himself to the ground, and he'd
follow through. He couldn't follow through anymore. ... He was a
liability in the field and couldn't get around (on the pitch), but
he just didn't want to quit."

That's what Robert wants Astros fans to think about today when his
boy goes in for surgery: that Jeff Bagwell endured at a time when
other men would have given up.

jesus.ortiz@...