Former Mets closer Billy Wagner, on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame a 10th and final time, throws some high heat in a Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby:
Q: Is there anxiety waiting for next month’s Hall of Fame decision after missing by five votes last time and this being your 10th and last chance?
A: Absolutely. It’s probably the most disturbing part of this whole thing. There’s nothing else you can do. It’s a political-type thing. I can’t go out and get saves, I can’t blow any saves, thank God. The kiss of death always, people saying you’re a shoo-in, things like that. I’ve never been one to count the eggs before they hatch. Each year it’s gotten more difficult. I try to kinda stay away from it. This year will be definitely the hardest if this don’t work out. I don’t plan to follow it, or sit by my phone or do any of those things. If it works out, that’s just another blessing from God. If not, obviously there’s one door shut, window’s open somewhere. So I’m just gonna try to stay as positive as I can.
Q: Why should Billy Wagner be in the Hall of Fame?
A: I can’t even answer that.
Q: What are you most proud of about your baseball career?
A: Longevity. Sixteen years.
Q: Give me a scouting report on you as a pitcher.
A: Look hard.
Q: What made your fastball so effective?
A: I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know why hitters couldn’t hit it. Some guys didn’t have a problem.
Q: You were most proud of the .187 batting average against you.
A: Those things don’t lie about how good you are. ERA can, but strikeout for nine and walks for nine and slugging and WHIP, those things right there, they don’t lie.
Q: Why are there only eight relief pitchers in the Hall of Fame?
A: I have no idea. Nobody needs ’em til you need ’em.
Q: You were 5-foot-10, 170 pounds coming out of high school. Did the doubters fuel your fire?
A: Absolutely. What motivates anybody is people who tell you you can’t do something. I think some of the greatest things I’ve heard, and it kinda fits what I went through, was listening to Michael Jordan talk about himself finding ways to be motivated. And the greatest thing was I didn’t look very far to be motivated because once you’ve been on welfare, and you went through a line with a red chip to get free lunch, and had to fight, those are all the motivational things you’ll ever need.
make the Baseball Hall of Fame. Getty Images
Q: Your mound mentality?
A: A lot of BS, I think, self-taught BS out there. When people get to meet me, from what they’ve seen on TV, they see me on the mound as being 8-foot tall, and feisty and whatever as a player, but it was about business, and doing what I needed to do.
Q: Did you feel 8-feet tall on the mound?
A: No. What I was showing was probably everything opposite of what I was … insecure. I’ll be honest with you, 16 years I didn’t realize how good I really was because when you’re fighting lions and stuff like that every day, you’ve got guys like [Barry] Bonds and [Mike] Piazza and [Ken] Griffey [Jr.] and [Mark] McGwire, and you’ve got guys doing stuff to compete with you, so you got the steroid era — you really never knew how good you really were. Once you start getting this type of notoriety as being on the Hall of Fame ballot and stuff like that, you start to look back on, “Hey, you know what? Not half bad.”
Q: Did that insecurity drive you in any way?
A: Absolutely. I think [Dennis Eckersley] said it the best — fear of failure is the most motivating thing in the world, and so coming from southwest Virginia through what I went through, and really not wanting to be embarrassed when I was playing, wanting to do well, I think that was something that drove me to be as good as I was. My thoughts were on making my family proud and making my high school coach and my teammates proud, and just being as good as I could be.
Q: Why did you enjoy being a closer so much?
A: Well, I liked being on the field as much as possible. To have the ability to come in 70 times or more to pitch gets me involved in the game. If I got in the game 70 times, I was probably up another 40.
Q: Who were closers you admired when you played?
A: Mo [Mariano Rivera] is just a different beast. None of us could compare ourselves to Mo … I thought John Wetteland was so much fun to watch. He was so intimidating, I thought Rod Beck was so unique. Of course, my buddy Johnny Franco. I loved his charisma. He walked that mound like he was 10-feet tall and he was a bulldog, I loved that. I thought guys like Trevor [Hoffman] were unique. His aura, his persona. And still, the greatest closer if he wanted to be a closer would have been John Smoltz. Hands down. Would have been the greatest closer ever, ever. I think the thing that probably bothers me the most is that [Eric] Gagne was proven to enhance himself but still got to keep his records.
Q: Was New York what you expected it to be when you signed as a free agent in 2005 with the Mets?
A: The best way to play in New York is to win. I didn’t have too many down moments, but I don’t think it ever was what you quite expect it to be. I think it’s one of those things that you learn as you go.
Q: What was the most unexpected New York thing that happened?
A: (Laugh) Not prepared for the press, and a lot of it just because of my being naive and kind of just thinking what you said was one way but taken another way.
Q: Your favorite 2006 Mets memory?
A: I would definitely say getting back to the playoffs. New York itself is special, but once you get to the playoffs, now it’s a special moment.
Q: The pain of never getting to a World Series and losing Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS to the Cardinals?
A: That would be the most gut-wrenching knowing that ’cause you don’t know what tomorrow brings. I’d been to the playoffs enough to know that was as far as I’d ever gotten, and to know that you’re an out away … man, that’s gut-wrenching.
Q: Your major league debut as an Astro in 1995 at Shea Stadium?
A: Rico Brogna. I remember it, but I don’t think I felt a thing coming out of that bullpen.
Q: What happened?
A: Flew out to left.
Q: You were part of a six-pitcher no-hitter against the Yankees.
A: One of the reporters said, “You know, they say at night, the ghosts of Yankee Stadium come out.” I’ll never forget that. As the game is evolving, you lose track that it’s a no-hitter … to go out there to have that ability to pitch at Yankee Stadium and to do something like that … I think it was 56 years since they’d been no-hit. That was a pretty great, special moment.
Q: The 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium?
A: I think what stands out there is how many unbelievable Hall of Famers and great players that were on that field. When you’re getting announced and you’re hearing the names of Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, you’re hearing Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Johnny Bench … you’re walking around and you’re on proverbial baseball holy land. I think the joy of the game was really amplified by those guys, wearing a nice suit and being able to have a conversation with the fans and enjoy competition. They didn’t fraternize. It was just a different age. For me, like the Ken Burns movies and shows like that amplified what I think is the special part of the game.
Q: Why should Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly be Hall of Famers?
A: That’s who I wanted to be when I grew up. They just did it with such class. They knew they were good, they never had to pound their chest.
Q: Keith Hernandez?
A: Heck yeah. Bulldog, competitor, gamer. Probably the best first baseman to ever play the game that’s not in the Hall of Fame. I don’t know what makes a Hall of Famer. But I know that if I had to put Hall of Famers in, he would probably be my starting first baseman.
Q: Getting hit in the head by a Kelly Stinnett line drive in 1998?
A: It’s not my most favorite memory. We’re about to have our first child, and when he was born I’ve got vertigo, now my vision’s a little weird. That was a scary moment for sure.
Q: How good were the ’98 Yankees?
A: Bernie Williams and [Andy] Pettitte probably should be in the Hall of Fame. They had the glue guys, they had the All-Stars, you name it, they had it, and they just had winners on their team that believed they could win. You can’t take away Joe Torre. No matter how good the Yankees were, if they lost two games in a row, (laugh) you know that the world’s ending.
Q: Juan Soto?
A: He reminds me a lot of Manny Ramirez. He loves the game. He just brings that energy and that love and that big-moment presence into a lineup. He’s a guy you might get out eight times, but all of a sudden in the big moment, he does something. Just the way he looks out at a pitcher … he’s just got a little moxie to him. He has fun. I’d take him on my team. I’d pay him 850 million dollars. I’d pay him whatever he wants.
Q: What would your advice to Hal Steinbrenner be?
A: I would do whatever I had to do to keep him.
Q: Bobby Cox?
A: I grew up when he took over the Braves and went worst-to-first and playoffs, and I was always a Braves fan, to finish my career up as a Brave, for me, it was the cherry on the top … going out with Bobby was definitely a highlight to my career.
Q: Watching your son Will play for Toronto?
A: A lot of joy. He was a late bloomer, overlooked, not many offers coming out of high school, not a lot of expectations.
Q: What did working on an alpaca farm teach you?
A: You have to feed ’em, you have to take care of ’em, you have to make sure they have shots, you have to make sure there’s details that you can’t skip just because it’s cold or too hot or you don’t want to do it. You just learn those details that everything matters. And then when you’re able to deliver an alpaca or an animal, those are the beauties of nature.
Q: You’ve won three state championships coaching the Miller School. What is your motivational style?
A: I’m a definite attention-to-detail type of guy. I know what a winner looks like.
Q: Why are children so important to you?
A: I think there’s a greatness to their opportunities, and when they’re shown guidance and leadership, with love and discipline, they turn out to be understanding and good people. My high school coach, my college [Ferrum College] coach, really inspired me to really try to touch children in a positive fashion, not only as baseball players but as good individuals, and that’s what I try to do.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Jesus; Abraham Lincoln; Sandy Koufax.
Q: Favorite movies?
A: “For Love of the Game”; “Eight Men Out.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Tom Cruise.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Kathy Bates.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: George Strait.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Steak and potatoes.
Q: How did you deal with the double murder of your wife’s stepmom and father in 1995?
A: I wasn’t worried about me as much as I worried about my wife. I wanted to be there for her. I think the thing that helped me was being able to play baseball. The hardest part was seeing her and her family have to go through such a blow.
Q: What were some other unforgettable moments of your childhood?
A: Gosh. Watching your stepfather try to drown your mom … being raised by your grandparents or your aunts and uncles. I think you appreciate things when you have it. A lot of that led me to retire so that I could be that parent that was there consistently.
Q: Your aunt Sally and uncle Jack took you in when you were 14.
A: I think they were just as shocked that I became a professional pitcher or player as everybody else. It just takes a small act of kindness to give somebody an opportunity. In a time where I probably needed that guidance the most, they gave me a helping hand, and without that helping hand, who knows where I’d have been?
Q: Were there any good Christmases for you?
A: Oh yeah. It wasn’t a thought that my parents didn’t love me, it was just they were pretty immature. My mom had me when she was 16, my dad 19, in the military. They did what they could.
Q: Why were you never hesitant to wear No. 13?
A: I’d been through so much just growing up and everything, that 13 really signified overcoming and competing … just a part of what I had to battle through.
Q: Why do you think you were able to overcome and persevere?
A: I think the Good Lord has a higher meaning for me. I think going through everything I went through has brought me to the point of being a high school coach, to be able to be a mentor and be somebody that inspires and works with and just sees the good possibilities like my high school coach did. Everything I went through got me to this point to help the kids.
Q: Any regrets?
A: There’s always regrets. I don’t regret leaving when I did. That was about my family and stuff … probably not enjoying the game as much as I should have as far as just having fun and smelling the roses and enjoying it, I felt like I probably pressed and was a little more rigid than I needed to be. I just wanted to be good. And not winning a championship. That’s why you play. You play to win and win championships, and when you don’t, as many of us know, your only value is to win.
Q: What would the movie title about your life be?
A: “Better Lucky Than Good.”