Astros Legend's Hall-of-Fame Hopes Down To Wire
In one week former Houston Astros reliever Billy Wagner will know if he will be a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
On Monday, 160 Hall-of-Fame ballots had been made public and tracked on social media. Of those ballots, only 10 were anonymous. The ballot total accounts for 41.7% of the expected ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Ballots were due on Dec. 31. The official results will be announced next Tuesday on the MLB Network.
After 160 ballots, Wagner is tracking well for induction. He had 79.4% of the vote, as his name appeared on 127 of them. Based on the 75% percent needed for induction, Wagner would need to appear on 161 more ballots. Candidates need an estimated 288 votes for induction.
All isn’t lost if Wagner doesn’t make it this year. But, as this is his ninth year on the ballot, 2025 would represent his last opportunity to make it through the normal BBWAA process.
Based on results after 160 ballots, Wagner would be in, along with Adrián Beltré (98.8%), Joe Mauer (83.3%), Todd Helton (83.1%) and Gary Sheffield (75%). Former manager Jim Leyland is already set for induction after he was elected by the Eras Committee in December.
Wagner recently got endorsements for his candidacy from former teammates Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, along with former players Tom Glavine and Chipper Jones. All are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Last year Wagner fell short of induction as he received 68.1% of the vote.
Closers are a rarity in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Wagner has tremendous credentials.
Among left-handed relievers, Wagner’s 422 career saves is second-highest and he is sixth all-time among all closers. His career 2.31 ERA is the lowest among retired left-handed pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched. His 14.95 single-season-strikeout-per-nine innings was the highest among relievers at the time of his retirement.
With Houston, he had 225 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 is already in the Astros Hall of Fame and spent nine years with Houston.
Wagner also played for Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta and the New York Mets and was a seven-time All-Star.
The induction ceremony is set for July 21 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
