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Billy Wagner came through in his final inning.
In his tenth and final attempt on the ballot, the former Mets closer succeeded in securing what essentially counted as his 423rd save. This achievement propelled him over the 75 percent threshold required to be inducted into the esteemed halls of Cooperstown. Wagner now joins the ranks of Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia as the latest members, alongside the already-elected Dave Parker and Dick Allen.
With 82.5 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Wagner was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Last year, he had narrowly missed the mark by a mere five votes, making this victory all the more emotional, as captured in the tearful video footage.
“I felt like the clock stopped,” Wagner said about receiving the phone call that he waited a decade for.
Wagner’s journey to induction was marked by a steady ascent. Beginning with a modest 10.5 percent in 2016, he gradually gained traction. By his fifth year of eligibility, he had garnered 31.7 percent of the vote, and each succeeding year saw a notable increase, ultimately culminating in an impressive 73.8 percent in 2024.
“It’s not been an easy 10 years,” Wagner said in a virtual news conference. “The only thing I thought I did well was I didn’t blow a save for 10 years.”
The southpaw will be immortalized after a career that finished with 422 saves (eighth-most ever), a 187 ERA+ that underscored his excellence and 1,196 strikeouts in 903 innings, an 11.9 Ks-per-nine-innings mark that is the highest for any pitcher who logged 900 innings. His 2.31 career ERA is the lowest among retired southpaws with at least 500 innings pitched since 1920. He held opposing batters to a .187 average and simply was one of the most difficult pitchers to hit ever.
Wagner played nine seasons with the Astros — which likely will be the hat he will wear on his plaque — two with the Phillies and had stints with the Red Sox and Braves. He enjoyed some of his best seasons with the Mets, with whom he pitched to a 2.37 and saved 101 games (including his 300th).
Steve and Alex Cohen congratulated Wagner, a native of small-town Virginia who acknowledged Queens was an adjustment but one that he is happy he made.
“I joined the Mets because I knew that going to New York would be one way to try to get to the Hall of Fame,” Wagner said. “And it wasn’t going to be easy when you got the greatest reliever, closer [in Mariano Rivera] across town. But I also knew that the environment of New York, coming from a small town, was going to be difficult, and I think the Wilpons did a great job of protecting me and my family with understanding what we were up against.
“… I truly enjoyed it. I hated to leave.”
Carlos Beltran, Wagner’s teammate from 2006-09 in Queens, fell short at 70.3 percent in his third year of eligibility, but the now-Mets executive appears to be a lock for eventual enshrinement.
Beltran, who spent seven seasons with the Mets and three years with the Yankees, took a leap after receiving 57.1 percent of the vote last year. On merit alone, Beltran belongs following a 20-year career in which he reached nine All-Star Games, won three Gold Gloves, notched 435 home runs, 1,587 RBIs, an .837 OPS and posted terrific postseason numbers.
But his link to the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal from 2017 might have postponed his induction by a year or two (and cost him a job managing the Mets). Beltran is now a special assistant to David Stearns in the Mets front office.