I recall first watching Billy Wagner pitch in a game late in the 1998 season. I was a university student who spent more time devouring the contents of Baseball America than I did on my proper coursework. The game involved the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals, a National League Central rivalry more lopsided in favor of the Astros that year.
It was Wagner’s third entire season in the Major Leagues, and he was tasked with coming into pitch in a high-leverage, eight-inning situation against highly-touted Cardinals rookie J.D. Drew. Anyone who had followed baseball in the 1990s as closely as I had would have known that to be a dream matchup of two forces of nature.
Like a scene from The Natural, it was to be a battle of two country boys who were recent first-round picks. Either one could have played the role of Roy Hobbs. From tiny Ferrum Virginia, Wagner was a small-statured, mild, and modest lefthander who just happened to be able to pinpoint his four-seam fastball at 100mph, wherever he wanted to in or out of the strike zone. Drew was from slightly larger but still fitting the definition of “country” Valdosta, Georgia.
I sat in my dorm room and intensely stared at the small TV in front of me as these two young studs were about to duke it out with the game on the line. With blazing efficiency, Billy Wagner struck out J.D. Drew, swinging on three high-nineties fastballs that proved unhittable. The late Tim McCarver had the call and said, “Looks like J.D. “Drew” the wrong card in having to face Wagner.”
The pun perfectly described the deflation of my anticipation that led up to what I had thought would be an at-bat for the ages. In many ways, that at-bat personified the level of success that was to come for the young closer.
Billy Wagner had shown his dominance then, as he would repeatedly during his highly successful and decorated 16-year Major League career. He is, without question, worthy of induction into Cooperstown. However, Billy Wagner’s bid for the Hall of Fame now seems to be at a critical crossroads.
The seven-time all-star garnered 73.8% of the ballot votes for induction in 2024. This came painfully shy of the 75% minimum that is required. What can Billy Wagner do in 2025? A year that boasts a strong class. To get over the hump in his final year of eligibility?
The statistics are not in question. Other than Mariano Rivera, Wagner ranks as good or better than any of the eight current Hall of Famers who are categorized as relief pitchers during their careers. His strikeouts per nine innings rate of 11.92 sits second as the highest of any left-handed reliever in baseball history, behind the overall leader, the “Cuban Missile,” Aroldis Chapman, who is likely to make his own strong case for induction someday.
Perhaps what has stood in the way of Wagner’s ultimate induction over the past nine campaigns is what plagues us from similar, humble upbringings. It is a tall order for a pitcher who, for the most part, is introverted, gracious, and humble to turn on a switch toward being widely seen and heard.
In effect, Billy Wagner must now network as much as possible. During his career, his stuff sold itself. He was a player admired and respected for his actions on the field and for his community work off of it, although he preferred that the latter have remained out of the spotlight.
In the era of social media smoke and mirrors, Billy Wagner would benefit from an onslaught of tweets and posts over these next couple of weeks as the writer’s votes for 2025 induction are compiled. The man has come too close to throw in the towel. If you have ever seen and remembered a Billy Wagner pitching performance at any time over his 16-year career, you would likely agree to help him in any way. Spread the word, baseball fans! Billy Wagner deserves to be inducted.
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