Sometimes it’s best to listen to your peers rather than the experts.
Take the Hall of Fame candidacy of former Houston Astros reliever Billy Wagner. Based on ballots public ballots, he’s tracking well for the 75% needed for induction. With 125 ballots now made public Wagner is on 80% of them.
But that doesn’t mean that Wagner will hear his named called on Jan. 23 when the Class of 2024 is announced. The only person guaranteed to here his name is former manager Jim Leyland, who was elected on the eras ballot in December.
Ballots were due on Dec. 31 so voting is complete.
Wagner is in his ninth year of eligibility. If he doesn’t get in this year, they he gets one more shot in 2025.
On a recent appearance with Sports Talk Chicago’s Jon Zaghloul, Wagner believe that when talking about his potential candidacy publicly “all I can do … is shoot myself in the foot.”
So, he hasn’t said much. But his peers have, and that’s something that Wagner has found meaningful this time around, the number of former Major Leaguers that he faced or played with that have advocated for him.
Among the former players that have spoken on for Wagner are four Hall of Famers — pitcher, Tom Glavine, outfielder Chipper Jones and two former Astros teammates, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.
“They know you in the locker room, they know you on the bus rides, they know you on the field and off the field, they know all these things,” Wagner said. “So when you get that type of pat on the back from Chipper Jones or Jeff Bagwell (it means something).”
Bagwell told Our Esquina and other media last year that it was time for Wagner to be included.
"I believe that Billy should be in the Hall of Fame," Bagwell said. "He was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era and pretty much all time."
With Houston, he had 225 saves and went 26-29, earning three All-Star Game berths and the 1999 Rolaids Relief Man of the Year award. That season he had 39 saves, went 4-1 and finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting. He finished his career with 422 saves and a 2.31 ERA with stops at Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta and the New York Mets and was a seven-time All-Star.
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