Houston Astros Legend 'Hopeful' He Gets Into Hall of Fame This Year

In his final chance of getting elected to the Hall of Fame, one of the Houston Astros legends is "hopeful" this is the year he gets the requisite amount of votes.

Aug 7, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros former player and 2021 Houston Astros Hall of Fame inductee Billy Wagner throws out a first pitch before game between the Minnesota Twins and the Astros at Minute Maid Park / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have had plenty of elite players donning their uniform at one point or another, but very few Hall of Famers have been synonymous with the franchise like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell were.

Jose Altuve will also be in that category when he decides to hang up his cleats, and if Alex Bregman re-signs with the organization who drafted him, then he might have a chance to knock on the door of Cooperstown depending on how the rest of his career goes.

One player who might not have ended his career with the Astros but is still one of the greatest that has come through Houston is Billy Wagner.

The dominant left-handed closer finished his playing days with seven All-Star selections, the highest K/9 rate (11.9), strikeout rate (33.2%), lowest hits per nine innings (5.99), and lowest opposing batting average allowed (.187) in Major League Baseball history among pitchers with 800 or more innings.

Yet, Wagner has still not been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

After nine years where he has come up short, and sometimes agonizingly so, the Astros great is now on the ballot for the final time.

There is a strong push for him to finally get the recognition he deserves as one of the greatest relievers of all time, but he won't be the one making the case for himself.

Instead, he believes his body of work speaks for itself.

"I don't think it's a question of my career or my numbers. They are what they are. They stack up with anybody that has ever played the game," he said per Bill Ladson of MLB.com.

That's certainly the case that's being made.

Maybe this is the time he gets the requisite 75% of votes needed to become a Hall of Famer after he finished with 73.8% last voting cycle.

Wagner is certainly hoping he gets good news, telling Ladson, "I'm hopeful this year."

By all accounts the left-hander is a Hall of Famer, dominating opposing hitters from 1995-2010 to put up certain numbers that not even the greatest closers of all time can say they did.

It's time for the Baseball Writers' Association of America to do the right thing and vote Wagner into the Hall of Fame.