Billy Wagner’s path to the Baseball Hall of Fame was far from simple. The post “To Have Your Career Scrutinized for Ten Years”- Teary-Eyed Billy Wagner Looks Back at His Humbling Struggles appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced Jan. 21 three new members had been voted in as part of its 2025 class, with one of them having a hard time keeping his composure. Former reliever Billy Wagner broke down in tears when he got the call that he had been elected into the hall.

Ichiro Suzuki wants to raise a glass with the voter who chose not to check off his name on the Hall of Fame ballot.

In electing Wagner, the BBWAA has defined the modern-day closer as its own entity, with candidates’ credentials measured not against the whole of the body but against this specific peer group.

Two Houston Astros' Hall of Famers came out to give shoutouts to Billy Wagner for being inducted into Cooperstown this week

For the fourth time in the past eight years, the 10 th and final shot was on the money for a would-be- Baseball Hall of Famer.

Billy Wagner anxiously waited for his moment, but not just for himself, for what it meant to the future of baseball.

Brad Lidge joins MLB Network Radio to discuss Billy Wagner being voted into the Hall of Fame and how waiting ten years on the ballot impacted him

There is something about a player who thrives in high-pressure moments, the kind of player who can decide the outcome of a match with a single pitch. The post MLB Hall of Fame News: Billy Wagner Bursts Out in Tears After His 10-Year Battle Ends With a Cooperstown Entry appeared first on EssentiallySports.

On January 21, 2025, all-time great closer Billy Wagner was elected to the Hall of Fame. A version of this story originally ran in December 2020.

Wagner, one of the game's all-time great relievers, made the cut during the final year of his eligibility on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot, receiving 82.5% of the vote. Wagner would've been removed from the ballot if he didn't meet the voting requirement in 2025, and it's clear just how much it meant to him to get the nod.