Billy Wagner would pick Astros cap if elected to Hall of Fame

Billy Wagner is taking nothing for granted. Although he’s trending toward being elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the seven-time All-Star remains hesitant to get too excited. He fell five votes shy of election last year, after all, and that snub still burns the proud lefty.

Nonetheless, it’s clear that he hopes to have an Astros cap on his Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July if he’s elected. The Baseball Hall of Fame will announce the results of the 2025 Baseball Writers’ Association of America election on Tuesday night on MLB Network.

Wagner spent nine of his 16 years in the majors with the Astros, who traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 2003 season. The hard-throwing left-hander is the Astros’ all-time saves leader with 225 of his 422 career saves coming in a Houston uniform.

Wagner played two seasons in Philadelphia and parts of four with the New York Mets. He was traded from the Mets to the Red Sox at the end of the 2009 season. Then he spent his final All-Star season with the Braves in 2010 before retiring to focus on helping his wife raise their kids.

Three’s company in Cooperstown

“Hopefully this works out,” Wagner said Thursday on the Our Esquina Podcast Network. “And, you know, I can see myself in Cooperstown as an Astro.”

As far as Wagner can remember, that was the first time he publicly declared his desire to go into the Hall of Fame as an Astro. Craig Biggio became the first Hall of Famer with an Astros cap on his plaque in 2015.

Jeff Bagwell followed in 2017. Both of those franchise cornerstones played their entire careers in Houston. Bagwell has talked to Wagner about going into the Hall as an Astro.

Ultimately, the Hall of Fame makes the decision after consulting with the player. Some players have to logo on their plaques.

“I’ve spoken to (Wagner) about this because I think it would be cool,” Bagwell said. “Three guys wearing the same (Hall of Fame plaque) cap who played nine years together would be great. It means a lot to us as the Houston Astros.”

Wagner, 53, has steadily gained support from veteran members of the BBWAA over the last 10 years. Players need to be named on 75 percent of the ballots to be elected into the Hall. He was named on 284 of 385 ballots last year for 73.8 percent, missing out by five votes.

Considering how well he was trending in 2024, a member of the Hall of Fame called to tell him what would be expected if he were elected. A television news crew was on hand last year to capture his reaction in front of the baseball team he coaches at the Miller School.

‘A lot of anxiety’

Wagner was devastated by the news, but he thought of the example he wanted to set for his players. He hid his disappointment. Now he anxiously awaits the news in his 10th and final year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot.

“Needless to say, being the final writers’ ballot, it’s nerve wracking,” Wagner said. “A lot of anxiety, but, you know, working through all that.”

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According to Ryan Thibodaux’s tracker of public ballots, Wagner has received 142 of 165 ballots so far for 84.7 percent. He has already flipped eight public ballots from voters who denied him last year. Moreover, at least two voters who denied him a vote last year did not vote this year. 

Wagner also has been named on all 13 of the public ballots from first-time voters. Barring some unforeseen trend change, Our Esquina has Wagner on pace to finish with at least 79 percent of the ballots, considering the new voters and the remaining ballots from voters who didn’t vote for him last year.

“I think when you’re down to that last moment to see what your value is, that’s difficult,” he said. 

Bagwell can appreciate how Wagner feels. He wasn’t elected until his seventh year on the ballot.

‘Ridiculous’ numbers’

“Everybody that Billy has been a teammate with or opponent knows he’s one of the most dominating pitchers who ever pitched,” Bagwell said. “You can ask anybody who has ever faced him, and nobody was looking forward to that challenge.”

“Look at his numbers. They’re ridiculous. In ‘99 he had 124 strikeouts in like 74 innings. His numbers are stupid. If that’s not Hall of Famer, I don’t know what is.”

For Billy Wagner, his Hall of Fame candidacy is bigger than himself. It’s about Southwest Virginia, his alma mater Ferrum College and Division III baseball. He doesn’t know if there is a former Division III baseball player in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but he knows there are only three in the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

This vote isn’t just having an effect on him, he says. It is also about young kids in his part of the country who dream of playing Major League Baseball and getting into the Hall of Fame.

“There’s a lot that is attached to this that in the long term may not have this big, dramatic effect,” he says. “But it does have an effect on dreams for people.  And for myself to come from Southwest Virginia in a rural area to be undersized, to get to a Division III school, to move up the line, I think it’s one of those things that nobody’s expecting it.

“And you start to see that having that dream is possible. To have that cherry on top is a blessing just to be this close. You can see what it does for so many people around you.”