Astros Legend Talks Baseball Hall of Fame Disappointment

Former Houston Astros closer Billy Wagner was so close to joining the Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2024.

With some time to reflect, former Houston Astros reliever Billy Wagner knows he has one more year left on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

While there are historical data points one can point to that could lead to Wagner’s election next year, his final year on the ballot, he recently told The Athletic that he knows there are no guarantees, at one point joking that at some point there will be the first player to get 74.9% of the vote and not get in.

Wagner hopes he isn’t that guy. But the pain of getting so close last week was still there when he spoke to The Athletic about getting passed over for the ninth time.

“I mean, you have the NBC Nightly News down,” he said. “They’re following you around. And waiting on that phone call. You know, I’m not going to lie. It was one of probably the most disappointing things that’s happened to me (so) far in my career.”

Wagner will not be part of the Class of 2024, which will include Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer, Todd Helton and former manager Jim Leyland. Beltré and Mauer were elected on the first ballot. He came up five votes short.

His near-miss this year came after he fell 27 votes short in 2023. Wagner keeps making progress but hasn’t gotten over the hump yet.

Wagner is most associated with the Astros, where he saved 225 of his 422 career games. The franchise installed him in its Hall of Fame, orange jacket an all. Teammates like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, along with contemporaries like Tom Glavine and Chipper Jones, all stumped for Wagner’s inclusion.

Entering this season his 422 career saves is sixth all-time among closers and second all-time among left-handed closers. He struck out nearly 15 hitters per nine innings and his 2.31 career ERA is the lowest among retired left-handed pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched.

But closers have difficulty getting in. Former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is the only player in the Hall’s history to be a unanimous selection. Rivera saved 652 games. But the pitcher right behind him, Trevor Hoffman, the only other closer with at least 600 saves (601) waited three years for his election.

Look at the all-time saves list. Only eight of the Top 50 pitchers are in the Hall of Fame. Those left out include the player directly in front of Wagner, John Franco, who had 424 career saves.

As for next year, three players since 2017 have been elected in their final year on the ballot — Tim Raines, Larry Walker and Edgar Martinez. No player has missed election by five votes or fewer and not been elected to the Hall of Fame. Hoffman also fell five votes short in the year before his election.

Wagner is hopeful, but not taking anything for granted.

“There’s just so many things, those irregularities for people that have differences in why they’re in and why they’re not, that you just don’t know,” Wagner said. “I mean, people were telling me last year: ‘Oh, you’re a lock to get in the Hall of Fame.’

“Well,” he said, “there’s always that first guy who doesn’t get in, that’s got 74.9 percent. So …”