The Athletic's Jayson Stark took a deep dive into the Hall of Fame chances for a couple modern day closers with Billy Wagner receiving enshrinement this year.
To gain entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Billy Wagner completed a climb few candidates have managed. Wagner, the former Houston Astros closer, attained the 75% support from voters required for election in his final year of eligibility on the writers’ ballot.
In his 10th and final year on the ballot, former Astros closer Billy Wagner earned is place in Cooperstown, N.Y. in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Billy Wagner received 82.5 percent of the tally from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, after he missed by just five votes last year.
Wagner had a 1.98 earned run average and struck out 22 of the 56 batters he faced in his 15 games for the Red sox in 2009.
Other bits of intrigue ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. announcement: Will CC Sabathia be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is this the year Billy Wagner gets in?
After falling five votes short of Baseball Hall of Fame last year, Billy Wagner is hopeful on his final year on ballot.
Suzuki, the first Japanese-born inductee, will be joined by longtime ace left-hander CC Sabathia and hard-throwing closer Billy Wagner ... Suzuki's close call means New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimous electee.
Leading up to the Baseball Hall of Fame class announcement on Jan. 21, we’ve been examining the cases of notable candidates every week. We’ve already covered Fé
The BBWAA recognized CC Sabathia’s prolonged excellence by voting the former Yankees left-hander into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Did Billy Wagner's election just kick open the door for Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel (and possibly Aroldis Chapman, too)?
In electing Wagner, the BBWAA has defined the modern-day closer as its own entity, with candidates’ credentials measured not against the whole of the body but against this specific peer group.