MLB News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Jul 21, 2024; Cooperstown, New York, USA; Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman is introduced during the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Trevor Hoffman joins in celebrating Billy Wagner’s Hall of Fame induction

Originally posted on New York Mets on SI
By John Sparaco | Last updated Jul 25, 2025 12:00 PM ET

There are only a select few relievers who are forever immortalized in Cooperstown, and on Sunday, former New York Mets closer Billy Wagner joins that group.

Wagner, 54, is just the eighth full-time relief pitcher to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Until he got the call in January, no reliever had received the honor since Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera were enshrined in 2018 and 2019, consecutively.

Hoffman, who ranks second on the all-time saves list with 601, debuted two years before Wagner and retired alongside him in 2010. Together, they helped define an era in which closers became one-inning specialists, a departure from the multi-inning roles of earlier greats like Goose Gossage.

When they entered the Hall of Fame ballot in the same year, it signaled a broader reevaluation of the value of modern closers. While Hoffman was elected in his third year of eligibility, Wagner had to wait seven more voting cycles before finally being recognized alongside him.

“I was super happy for Billy. I’m sure it’s a big relief for himself, his family, and those that have helped his career,” Hoffman told Mets On SI. “Watching Billy, there was just this inner confidence he always had. Honestly, with the way analytics has uncovered a lot of things about players, I think it’s only helped Billy’s case. Everything that surrounded being an elite closer, he had.”

A seven-time All-Star, Wagner spent the bulk of his 16-year career with the Houston Astros but pitched in Queens from 2006 to 2009. He finished his tenure with 422 career saves — the eighth-most all time and second-most by a left-hander behind another former Met, John Franco (424).

11/28/2005 Billy Wagner and the Mets agree to a four-year deal worth $43 million. Wagner pitched to a 2.37 ERA and recorded 101 saves in his four seasons in New York. pic.twitter.com/BANmZi0wC5
— This Day in Mets History (@NYMhistory) November 28, 2021

Wagner had a 187 ERA+, meaning he was 87% better than the league-average pitcher over his career. Of all pitchers in the live-ball era with at least as many innings, only Rivera — widely regarded as the greatest closer in history — posted a better mark. Rivera, who was unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019, retired with a 205 ERA+.

Among pitchers with at least 900 innings, Wagner ranks first in opponents’ batting average (.187), strikeout percentage (33.2%), and hits per nine innings (5.99). His 2.31 career ERA is lower than that of other Hall of Fame relievers such as Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers, while his 0.998 WHIP is second-best all time among all pitchers with that many innings.

Despite those numbers, the 5-foot-10 flamethrowing southpaw had to watch his vote total slowly creep up from 10.5% in 2016 to 73.8% in 2024 before finally meeting the necessary 75% in his 10th and final year on the ballot.

“I don't think we put into perspective enough of what that wait means,” Hoffman said. “In his case, the call did come. But, you know, it's 10 January whatevers that the call doesn’t come. We're not just talking 10 days of not getting a call, it’s 10 years of waiting. People start to resign to the fact that it might not ever come, and I'm sure they start to question, ‘Could I have done more?’”

All the emotions for Billy Wagner when he got the call ❤️

: @OrtizKicks pic.twitter.com/ocTG4QRggt
— MLB (@MLB) January 22, 2025

Hoffman, 57, fell short twice on the ballot before making it in, but even he shakes his head at the thought of Wagner’s experience. Though they did not have much of a personal relationship during their playing careers, the legendary San Diego Padres closer long admired Wagner’s approach to the game and the way he deflected his success to his teammates.

Since retirement, the two have crossed paths at several Perfect Game events, and Hoffman enjoyed seeing Wagner in a different setting—teaching the next generation of ballplayers. Wagner’s son, Will, grew up playing in those tournaments and is now an infielder with the Toronto Blue Jays.