Billy Wagner

Billy Wagner
Atlanta Braves – No. 13
Relief pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Left
debut
September 13, 1995, for the Houston Astros
Career statistics (through August 20, 2010)
Win-Loss	47-40
Earned run average	2.34
Strikeouts	1,169
Saves	415
Teams
Houston Astros (1995–2003) Philadelphia Phillies (2004–2005) New York Mets (2006–2009) Boston Red Sox (2009) Atlanta Braves (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
7x All-Star selection (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010) 1999 NL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year

William Edward Wagner (born July 25, 1971, in Tannersville, Virginia) is a professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Previously, Wagner had pitched for the Houston Astros (1995 - 03), the Philadelphia Phillies (2004 - 05), the New York Mets (2006 - 09), and the Boston Red Sox (2009) teams During his career, Wagner has established himself as one of the best relief pitchers in pro baseball, and he is sometimes known for his ability to occasionally throw a fastball at a speed of 100 m.p.h., despite being relatively short for a Major League Baseball player. Wagner is one of the few Major League relief pitchers to accumulate a total of 400 or more saves in his professional career.

Career

Wagner was a natural-born right-handed person, but after breaking his right arm twice in accidents, he taught himself to throw baseballs using his left arm by throwing thousands of balls against the wall of a barn, and then fielding the rebounds, and repeating.

Wagner went to school in the Tazewell school system, and he graduated from the Tazewell High School, where he was named the Baseball Player of the Year in 1990. He next attended Ferrum College, a quite small college in Virginia, and in his one year as a student-athlete there, he recorded a record of 16 wins and four losses. Wagner also set single-season N.C.A.A. records for strikeouts per nine innings, with 19.1 in 1992, and fewest hits allowed per nine innings, with just 1.88. Wagner holds the N.C.A.A. Division III mark for career strikeouts, with 227 in 182 1/3 innings pitched.

Wagner was selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft in June 1993 by the Houston Astros, and he played exclusively as a starting pitcher in minor league baseball. In 1994, Wagner led all of the minor league pitchers - in every league - in strikeouts, with 204.

Wagner made his first Major League appearance with the Astros, as a late-season promotion from AAA baseball, on September 13, 1995, pitching against only one batter late in a 10 - 5 defeat by the New York Mets. This was his one and only opportunity to pitch for the Astros that season.

Houston Astros

Wagner began 1996, once again in the minor leagues as a starting pitcher, but he finished the season by becoming a relief pitcher for the Astros. He accumulated a 6 - 2 won/loss record with a 3.28 ERA, in twelve starts for the AAA Tucson Toros. His baseball contract was purchased by the Astros on June 2, 1996, and Wagner was then assigned exclusively as a short-relief pitcher by the Astros manager. He finished the Major League with nine saves in 13 opportunities, allowed only 28 hits, and he struck out 67 hitters in 51 2/3 innings - giving him an outstanding rate of 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. His opponents had a batting average of only 0.165 against him.

In 1997, Wagner played his first full season in the Major Leagues. He accumulated 23 saves from 29 opportunities for saves, and he struck out 106 batters in just 66 1/3 innings. This set a Major League record of 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings, which broke the old record of 14.1 set by the former Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Rob Dibble in 1992 (with 110 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings).

Wagner struck out the side 13 times in his 66 innings pitched, and his season total of 106 strikeouts set a Houston Astros record for relief pitchers.

In 1998, Wagner posted a 4 - 3 won/loss record with a 2.70 ERA and 97 strikeouts in just 60 innings pitched. He saved 30 games, which was the third-best single season in team history. He converted 19 consecutive save chances between his first "blown save" against the Los Angeles Dodgers, on April 12th, and then his second one facing the St. Louis Cardinals on July 11th. On July 15th, while trying to cling to an 8 - 7 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, he was struck by a batted ball on the left side of his head behind his ear. Wagner was alert and conscious on the ground, and his vital signs remained good.

He was carried off the baseball diamond on a stretcher, and it was found that he had suffered a concussion. He spent the night in the hospital. On the next day, he flew home to Houston, and he was also immediately placed on baseball's 15-day disabled list. Wagner worked on his balance and coordination for weeks before he was cleared by the team physicians to embark on a "rehabilitation" assignment with a minor-leagye team. After pitching there in three games, Wagner was recalled to the Astros on August 6, and he completed the rest of the baseball season there without incident.

Wagner had an outstanding 1999 season. He captured the Relief Man of the Year Award in the National League. He saved 39 games and struck out 124 in only 74 innings (15 SO/9), establishing a new major league record for strikeouts per 9 innings (50 innings minimum), including the side 15 times. Wagner posted a 4-1 record with an ERA of 1.57, and actually had more saves than hits allowed (in 74.7 innings, he allowed 35 hits).

The 2000 season started off in typical fashion for Wagner, who saved three of the Astros' first four wins while retiring 16 of the first 20 batters he faced. However, after recording a save on May 4 against the Chicago Cubs, he suffered back-to-back "blown saves" on May 12 - 13 against the Reds. While he was still occasionally throwing 100 m.p.h. as measured by radar, he wasn't throwing his slider at 85 to 90 m.p.h. as much as had tone. Wagner continued to struggle before going on the disabled list with a torn flexor tendon in his pitching arm and would miss the final three and a half months of the season. He finished with 2-4 record, a 6.18 ERA, and six saves in 15 opportunities, striking out 28 and walking 18 in 27.7 innings. He would rebound in 2001. Coming off elbow surgery, he posted a record of 2-5 with 39 saves in 41 chances, and an ERA of 2.73. He was one of the leading candidates for TSN Comeback Player of the Year in the National League. In 62.7 innings, he struck out 79 hitters.

In 2002, Wagner went 4-2 with a 2.52 ERA, 88 strikeouts, and 35 saves in 75 innings. Then, he enjoyed his best season in 2003, when he reached career-highs in saves (44), innings pitched (86.0) and games (78), and got 105 strikeouts while leading the league in games finished. In that year, he also cemented his status as the hardest-throwing man in baseball by leading the major leagues with 159 pitches at 100 mph or above. Second on the list was starter Bartolo Colón with 12.

On June 11, 2003, Wagner closed out a no-hitter thrown by a record six pitchers. To date, it is the most recent Astros no-hitter.

Philadelphia Phillies

Wagner was traded to Philadelphia before the 2004 season, only to have his season shortened by a strain in his throwing shoulder. He had the best ERA of his career in 2005 and again led the league in games finished. Wagner became a free agent after the 2005 season and signed a four-year, $43 million contract and a one-year club option, for 2010 with the New York Mets on November 28, 2005.

In a May 7, 2006 interview, Wagner stated that he was confronted by all of his former Phillies teammates in September 2005 after Wagner criticized their performance in the media by repeatedly saying that the Phillies had "no chance" of making the playoffs, with Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell reportedly calling Wagner a "rat." The confrontation reportedly was one of several factors that drove Wagner from Philadelphia in the 2005-2006 offseason.

New York Mets

Wagner finished 2006 with 40 saves and a 2.24 ERA and recorded his milestone 300th career save on July 4, 2006, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. His performance contributed to the New York Mets first division championship in 18 years. However, Wagner did not have a hot post-season performance: he recorded three saves, but he lost one game and allowed six runs in the 5.7 innings that he pitced - an ERA of 10.4.

Wagner had a good first half of the season in 2007. He was successful in 17 out of 18 save chances, and his ERA was 1.94. July was his best month, when he recorded eight saves in eight chances; did not allow a run scored; and he won the D.H.L. "Delivery Man of the Month" Award. During this month, Wagner's ERA was a rock-bottom of 0.00, he gave up giving just two hits, and he pitched just enough innings to be equivalent to a complete game pitched. His performance in 2007 was excellent enough to earn him a slot on the National League All-Star Team.

The second half of Wagner's baseball season was not nearly as successful. In this half, he was successful on just 13 out of 17 chances for a save, and his ERA was 3.90. Wagner's pitching performance declined during the final two months of the season. On August 30, Wagner failed to save the crucial fourth game of a four-game series between the Phillies and Mets. The final result was four-games to none sweep by the Phillies in this series. This sweep turned out to be the difference in the season: the Mets finished one game behind the Phillies at the end of the regular season. One more win against the Phillies would have placed the two teams in an end-of-the-season tie, and both teams into the play-offs.

Wagner totaled a despicable ERA of 6.23 in August of that season, and he suffered from many painful back spasms during September.

On May 15, 2008, Wagner expressed tirade full of profanity against his teammates and coaches following the Mets' 1-0 loss in a game against the Washington Nationals. Some people have speculated that this was directed in particular toward his teammates Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado about their not being available for interviews with the press following games. However, Wagner's pitching performance in April, May, and June was good enough to find him chosen by the All-Star Game's National League manager for his pitching staff.

During this All-Star Game, Wagner, pitching late in the game, surrendered a game-tying double to the American league's third baseman, Evan Longoria, and then the National League lost the ballgame in 15 innings.

In September 2008, the Mets announced that Wagner had torn the ulnar collateral ligament of his left elbow and also his flexor pronator tendon. These injuries required major reconstructive surgery. This surgery, and its recovery, put Wagner out of play for a calendar year.

Wagner had a guaranteed-payment baseball contract, and he was paid a total of $10.5 million by the Mets in 2009. For the baseball year 2010, his contract gave the Mets held an option to pay him $8.0 million for the season, or else to pay him a $1.0 million to terminate the contract.

In the news conference following the announcement of his major elbow injury, Wagner vowed that he would return to playing Major League Baseball. Although he had previously stated that he would not pitch anymore following 2009, Wagner amended this by saying that he did not wish to end his baseball career in this fashion - ending it on a major injury. He also said that he had dreams of winning a World Series, and also of reaching a total of about 420 saves in his career.

However, Wagner stated furthermore that he had "played his last [baseball] game as a Met". Wagner explained that it would not make good business sense for the Mets to guarantee him $8.0 million for 2009, pitching or not pitching.

Despite these statements, Wagner remained on the Mets' 40-man roster on the disabled list at the beginning of the season in 2009, and still drawing his salary. He pitched for the first time in 2009 for the Mets late in the season on August 20, in a game against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched one inning with two strikeouts and giving up no hits or walks.

Boston Red Sox

On August 21, 2009, it was reported that the Boston Red Sox claimed Wagner off waivers from the Mets. After initial reports suggested Wagner would invoke his no-trade clause to veto a trade, he agreed to be traded on August 25 for Chris Carter and Eddie Lora, and with the added stipulation that the Red Sox could not exercise his $8 million option for 2010, but they could offer him salary arbitration. The Red Sox did offer Wagner arbitration, but Wagner declined so the Red Sox received the 1st round draft pick from the team that signed Wagner (Atlanta Braves) and a sandwich pick in the 2010 rookie draft.

Atlanta Braves

On December 2, 2009, Wagner and the Atlanta Braves agreed on a one-year contract worth $7 million that included a $6.5 million vesting option for the 2011 season. On April 30, 2010, Wagner revealed that he would retire at the end of the 2010 season to spend more time with his family. In a game against the Detroit Tigers on June 25, 2010, Wagner achieved his 400th career save, an outstanding career milestone. After the game, he told reporters that he still plans to retire after the 2010 season. On Sunday, July 11, 2010, Wagner was selected as an injury replacement to the 2010 National League All Star roster. Wagner declined the invitation due to an ankle injury. Wagners walk out song when he comes in to close out a game is Enter Sandman.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• Baseball Library (biography and accomplishments)
• The Baseball Analysts (pitch speed data)
• Daddy Wags: A Billy Wagner Internet Resource
• Billy Wagner news conference after elbow injury