COOPERSTOWN, New York — Billy Wagner waited all 10 years of Hall of Fame eligibility before hearing his name called. But when the call finally came, it meant everything — to him, to his family, and to every underdog who ever believed they might have a shot.
With Billy Wagner, the path to Cooperstown is as unconventional as they come. He stood under six feet tall, played Division III baseball at Ferrum College, and hailed from the small, rural hills of Southwest Virginia. Yet on Hall of Fame weekend, he opened the 2025 induction ceremony as one of the game’s most dominant closers.
“I never started a game in the big leagues,” Wagner joked. “But I led things off here today.”
Wagner was the first of the five inductees to deliver his speech, a lineup that included CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Dave Parker, and the late Dick Allen.
“Everybody wanted that spot,” he said with a grin. “But I’ve waited the longest… it was just good to get that out of the way. I think the longer I had waited, the more emotional I probably would’ve gotten. So they said, ‘Let’s get that guy off the stage as quick as possible.’”
While the speaking order gave him some relief, the emotion of the weekend was real. “You know how hard it is to get in here,” Wagner said. “It’s well worth the wait.”
He had seen players like Lee Smith and Ted Simmons wait years for their call through the Veterans Committee. For Wagner, finally stepping on stage in Cooperstown brought everything full circle.
Wagner wore two pins on his jacket. One representing Ferrum College. The other his home in Tazewell County.
“This is a Division III pin,” he said. “I’m the only Division III player in the Hall of Fame. It just represents a lot of Southwest Virginia and small schools.”
He expanded on that point even more fully, “Well, I think there’s only two pitchers under six foot in the Hall of Fame, and I think that’s Whitey Ford and me. I also think I’m the only Division III pitcher in the Hall of Fame.
And when you grow up in a small rural area… this isn’t something you think about. You don’t see possible in this. For me, my faith was rooted in me from my grandparents on.
My grandparents took me to church every single day it felt like—and twice on Wednesdays. My grandmother was always reading the Bible.
This is meaningful. There is a higher purpose to what I’m doing.
And the Hall of Fame gives me a plateau to be a little bit more of an inspiration and a motivator—and to tell people about my God and how great He has been for me.”
Wagner is now a high school baseball head coach at the Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Virginia. For him, Cooperstown wasn’t just about the past — it was about what the moment could show his players.
“I love coaching probably more than I loved playing,” he said. “Every moment I’m around them is a teaching moment. Being in this environment with them there gave me a chance to show them that the impossible is possible.”
He added, “I always want what I’m doing to be meaningful and inspiring. No matter what you go through, how hard it is — it is achievable. Don’t argue about failure. Just do what you can do.”
One of Wagner’s favorite memories from the weekend came not from the stage, but from the field.
Asked by The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner about throwing batting practice to Ichiro Suzuki during a Hall of Fame event, Wagner laughed and said, “I’m glad I only faced him once during our careers.”
“His work ethic hasn’t changed,” he added. “It was good having my kids around somebody like Ichiro, who’s still so serious about what he’s doing. I throw BP a lot — I’m still a high school coach — so it was weird going from trying to miss bats to trying to hit them.”
In front of legends like Ken Griffey Jr. and Wade Boggs, Wagner soaked in every moment.
“I’m a fan first,” he said. “I love the game. I love the guys who played it. They made it look easy. And so I love being around those guys.”
From Ferrum to Cooperstown, it’s a journey no one could have scripted — but one that couldn’t feel more deserved.
Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Billy Wagner, left, and Ichiro Suzuki, right, talk while gathering for a photo at the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
