Before it releases the results of its Hall of Fame voting next month, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America should ask itself a simple question: If the second-best closer of all time can’t be easily inducted on the first ballot, let alone languish around 20 percent support in his fifth year of candidacy, what’s the point of having a Baseball Hall of Fame at all?
I ask because it’s not a hypothetical situation. Entering his fifth year of Hall of Fame eligibility, Wagner is almost certain not to be inducted. According to the Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker, Wagner has been named on only 24.