Jun 29, 2007; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets manager Willie Randolph celebrates beating the Philadelphia Phillies with pitcher Billy Wagner (13) at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. The Mets defeated the Phillies 5-2 in the second game of a double header. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2007 Howard Smith
MLB: New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies- Game 2
COOPERSTOWN NY — Billy Wagner is no stranger to the suspenseful situation.
But this time, it’s not in front of 40,000 screaming fans in the 9th inning. It’s the Hall of Fame ballot.
Wagner, in his ninth year on the ballot, fell five votes shy of being inducted into Cooperstown on Tuesday, by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The reliver appeared on 73.8 percent of the ballots with 284 votes, just short of the 75 percent needed.
He’ll have one final chance on the ballot next year. How poetic?
“It’s super disappointing,” Wagner told MLB.com. “You can’t hide it. It’s frustrating, but on the other hand I thank God I had an opportunity to be on that ballot, and I’m really happy for the guys that did get in. They deserve it.”
The three players inducted on Tuesday were Adrián Beltré (95.1 percent), Todd Helton (79.7 percent) and Joe Mauer (76.1 percent), who finished nine votes ahead of Wagner in his first year on the ballot.
“I don’t want to take away from Beltré and Joe and those guys who really earned that opportunity,” he said. “It’s not in the cards [for me] this year. We’ll just deal with this again next year.”
Wagner, a 16-year-veteran, amassed a microscopic career 2.31 ERA and 422 saves across 903 innings — the second-lowest ERA in MLB history for pitchers with at least 900 innings. His 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings and .187 opponents’ batting average are the best career totals of any pitcher in AL/NL history with at least 900 innings.
So why has the 52-year-old not punched in his ticket to Cooperstown? For starters, only eight relivers in the history of MLB have been inducted (Mariano Rivera, Dennis Eckersley, Hoyt Wilhelm, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter.)
Wagner obviously is a baseball great, and one of the top relievers ever. The question is whether he ranks in the top 1.18 percent of players who ever played (that’s the percentage of MLB players who make it to Cooperstown).
Luckily, our questions will be answered next year.
