HOUSTON -- With time to soak in what it was like to become one of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's latest five inductees, Jeff Bagwell's favorite moment from Sunday's induction festivities wasn't one you'd expect from someone who had a weekend dedicated to applauding his success.
"The favorite moment of the day was when my speech was over," Bagwell humbly said Monday morning on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio.
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After giving his induction speech Sunday with his family nearby and hundreds of orange-and-blue-clad Astros fans watching, Bagwell was able to see his Hall of Fame plaque mounted alongside every other Hall of Famer for the first time on Monday.
"Getting to see it was pretty neat," Bagwell said. "I think they did a great job. I'm happy with that."
The "crazy" part, to Bagwell, is his plaque -- the one alongside so many of baseball most famous and greatest legends -- will always be there.
"I went and took pictures with my plaque today on the wall, which was kind of crazy, that's the culmination of everything just to see it up there," Bagwell said. "It's really weird, you know, even if something happens to me it will always be there. It's a neat deal and was a wonderful weekend, just trying to take everything in.
"Seeing all the Hall of Famers, it really, really was something very special."
Bagwell became only the second Hall of Fame inductee beside Craig Biggio -- a 2015 Hall of Fame entrant -- to have an Astros cap on their Hall of Fame plaque. After several hours had passed since Bagwell's day and weekend settled in Cooperstown, he was able to reflect on how open-armed the Hall of Fame fraternity welcomed one of its newest members.
"It's amazing to see the history of the game, there, at this particular moment," Bagwell said. "Fifty of the guys before we got in came back to be there. They seemed like they truly, truly enjoyed to be there and around each other. It's a nice fraternity to be in."
Now that the weekend with Bagwell as the root of attention has concluded, what's next for the former Astros slugger?
"Well, I've got five kids, so I'm trying to be as good as I can to make them good kids," he said. "I'm doing a pretty good job of it so far, me and my wife. So I'm doing that."
Bagwell will be watching the 68-win Astros continue their rise from one of baseball's worst teams years ago after Bagwell's 15-year career ended to atop the American League this season, too.
"Their team that we have now, watching the growth of [George] Springer and how far he's come along," the Hall of Famer said. "Obviously have a once-in-a-lifetime player in [Carlos] Correa. [Jose] Altuve, he's the most entertaining player to watch, which really shows our game. … To watch those kids grow as a coach or even as a fan, it's been fun."