This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
HOUSTON – When Astros first-round pick Logan Hughes came to Daikin Park in June for a pre-Draft workout, he had a story to tell Jeff Bagwell, the Hall of Fame first baseman and the club’s senior advisor to ownership and baseball operations.
Hughes told Bagwell they had met many years earlier, when the Astros still held Spring Training at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla. In fact, Hughes had pictures taken with Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Lance Berkman and other Astros players when Hughes was just a toddler and was accompanying his mother on the field to sing the national anthem.
Melissa Hughes frequently sang the "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to Astros’ Grapefruit League games in Kissimmee for 14 seasons, right up until the team left the complex in 2016 (they moved to West Palm Beach, Fla., in ’17). Logan even did the “Play Ball!” chant to the crowd before a game. The Hughes family lives in Deland, Fla., which is about an hour away from Kissimmee in the Orlando area.
“I was a baby running around,” Logan said. “I got pictures with Biggio, Berkman. We had one with Bagwell and we can’t find it, which sucks. We have pictures with all those guys. I idolized Bagwell growing up and now getting to work with him is amazing. I’m excited for it.”
The Astros took Hughes with the 17th overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft out of Texas Tech. It was a full-circle moment for Melissa, who has been an Astros fan all her life. Logan and his parents will be in Houston later this week for the contract signing.
“I think deep down I was hoping the Astros were going to pick him, but we were kind of unsure,” she said. “It was pretty exciting for me, not just for him getting drafted but just being drafted by the Astros because I had a personal relationship with the team and was a fan growing up.”
Melissa’s father worked for the parks and recreation department in the area and would volunteer his daughter to sing before various sporting events. She eventually was recruited to sing at the Mascot Games at Stetson University when she was in high school, which is where someone from Osceola County Stadium noticed her.
“I sang there and the right person heard me, and it just kind of went from there,” said Melissa, who sang in the church choir and Stetson University Children’s Choir growing up. “I never sang professionally. I just volunteered mostly in our community.”
Logan Hughes, a left-handed hitter, batted .375 with 18 home runs and 71 RBIs last season at Texas Tech and showed good plate discipline with 50 walks and only 33 strikeouts. He can play the corner outfield spots, but also plays first base. He wowed the Astros with his power at the workout at Daikin Park.
“The bat is the big [tool],” Hughes said. “I had more power than they realized in the workout, putting balls in the second deck. They were impressed by that. The GM came out when I was at Baylor and I went lefty-lefty [homer] into the river [the Brazos River sits behind right field at Baylor’s ballpark]. They liked it when I played first base and showed off some first-base skills there. Maybe they thought I was a little bit better defensively than they realized.”
The Astros viewed Hughes as one of the best bats in the Draft and were happy when he fell to them at the 17th spot. Astros amateur scouting director Cam Pendino said he is a special blend of high-quality contact and controlling the strike zone. He could move quickly through the Houston system.
And who knows? Perhaps Melissa may get another chance to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" with her son on the field.
“I would never say never,” she said. “I think it would be pretty emotional with my son on the field. I’d have to get back to practicing and see if I can still do it.”