Wagner joins Ichiro Suzuki and C.C. Sabathia as the Class of 2025
On his tenth and final year on the ballot, Billy Wagner was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame with 82.5% of the vote. Wanger joins first year candidates Ichiro Suzuki (99.7%) and C.C. Sabathia (86.8%) as the Class of 2025.
Wagner’s election shows how far baseball has come in its understanding of relief pitching, as well as their embracing of rate stats versus counting stats. Wanger, eighth all-time on the saves list with 422, is second all time behind former Met John Franco in saves by a left-handed pitcher. But more impressive than that is his 2.31 ERA, the lowest of any retired left-handed pitcher who tossed at least 500 innings, as well as his 0.998 WHIP, best among any relief pitcher with 700 innings under their belt.
The Mets signed Billy Wagner ahead of the 2006 season, and Wagner’s late-inning success is part of the reason that the club made the National League Championship Series for the first time in six years. Over parts of four seasons – with one almost totally lost to Tommy John Surgery – Wagner saved 101 games for the Mets, struck out 10.9 per nine innings, was an All-Star in 2007 and 2008, and came in sixth in Cy Young voting in 2006.
As for the other Mets on the ballot, first time nominee Curtis Granderson fell off with just 3 votes cast. In his third year on the ballot, Carlos Beltran moved up to 70.3%, less than five percent shy of the 75% needed for induction. Both David Wright and Francisco Rodriguez moved up slightly in their second and third years on the ballot, respectively, with 8.1% for Wright (6.2% in 2024) and 10.2% for Rodriguez (7.8% in 2024). However, with further light on the baseball’s issues with domestic violence following the recently revealed allegations against Omar Vizquel, fellow domestic abuser Rodriguez may be nearing his ceiling with voters who keep in mind the character clause.