By T. Scott Boatright
Once upon a time, a young Choudrant boy fell in love with baseball because of his father, who had made it to the early “Big Leagues,” as in an early National Leaguer.
That young boy went on to play for Louisiana Tech in the early ‘40s.
Today, 95-year-old Billy Bagwell attends most of Diamond ‘Dogs games perched upon his seat at The Love Shack.
As a Choudrant Aggie, Bagwell was a third baseman before moving on to pitch for Coach Berry Hinton at Louisiana Tech in 1947.
“I never made it to the majors, but I had a good minor league career,” Bagwell said. “I won a lot of ball games. But that was after Tech and the Army. I played freshman ball for Tech in ’44, but I got drafted by the Army. So in 1945 and 46, I served in the Occupational Army in Germany. But I stayed in the States and played baseball until the war was over.
“It was playing Army ball where I changed from an all-round player to becoming a pitcher.”
Bagwell’s love of the game came from his father – William Bagwell –
“I love it,” Bagwell said of the game he’s loved his entire life growing up as the son of a former big leaguer. “My dad was playing in Oregon when I was born. I was real young when he played and don’t really remember much of that. But I did get to see him play a little bit of semi-pro baseball in Ruston. That was in 1931 or ‘32 or so. I was still a kid.”
The elder Bill Bagwell, who was born in 1895 in Choudrant, played one season for the Boston Braves (1931) and another for the Philadelphia Athletics (1931), batting .294 with six home runs and 20 runs batted in.
“He was a good hitter,” Bagwell said about his father. “He hit 11 years in minor league ball and averaged .360 (at the plate). He played two years in the majors, one year with the Boston Braves and another with the Philadelphia Athletics. He couldn’t run, he couldn’t throw, but he could hit. He hit .290 in Boston. I have his baseball card.”
The apple, or baseball, didn’t fall from the tree.
Bagwell – a mere 95-years young – went on to have a decent minor league career, going 128-75 according to Baseball.reference.com, earning a 4.59 ERA while striking out 654 batters during a career that lasted from 1948-56.
After returning to the States and Louisiana, Bagwell’s love for piney, red-dirt hills sports came back as strong as ever. Bagwell said he’s been following Tech baseball ever since coming back from serving overseas.
He lived in Dubach before retiring and now lives in Homer, but still makes most Tech baseball games.
“Forty years ago I moved up to Lake Claiborne and have stayed up in that area ever since,” Bagwell said. “I don’t get around like I used to, but I come to as many Tech baseball games as I can.”
That includes last spring’s NCAA Regionals, where Tech reached the final game before falling to North Carolina State.
“Man, that was really something … a magical time,” Bagwell said. “We lost to a great ball club.”
Bagwell was married to a widow named Joyce Denton, and helped her raise her two daughters.
“She had lost her husband during the polio epidemic in the early ’50s. I have two stepchildren,” Bagwell said. “I didn’t have any children of my own because I played a basketball game with a case of mumps. I didn’t know I had it but it did enough damage so that I wasn’t able to have children of my own.”
And Bagwell’s fountain of youth? Loving sports and competition has played a big role in recent years as Bagwell beat cancer, survived a heart attack and fought off other illnesses.
“I loved all sports growing up,” Bagwell said. “I still love them. I love fishing. But I was born loving baseball. It’s been a part of me (since) before I can remember. So I love coming to these Tech baseball games. This is a great time for the Bulldogs.”
