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.