Billy Wagner speaks about his family, journey, and more as he addresses Cooperstown at his Hall of Fame induction.
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Ladies and Gentlemen Hall of Famer, Billy Wagner. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. What a humbling moment standing in front of my heroes on the ultimate stage as a former player representing Southwest Virginia and a small division three school Fair College. And it’s nerve racking. But one of my former setup guys , Russ Springer gave me some advice. He said, uh, take a deep breath and remember all the times that he faced the 345 hitter so that I could blow away the 678 hitter teammates, right bullpen guys being up here today, I feel like my baseball life has come full circle. I was a fan before I could play and back when baseball wasn’t so available on TV. Every Saturday morning, I watch Johnny bench and so many of the other greats on a show, the baseball bunch. Now here I am standing among you. It’s really hard to believe. I grew up listening to Braves broadcasters, Skip Carey as well as Pete van Waring, Don Sutton and joe Simpson along the way, the great Milo Hamilton called my games as an Astro. Then chip carry called my last game as a brave full circle and now that my playing days are over and I’m back to being a fan , but I’m lucky enough to be a fan with the inside view of this great game, a kid in a candy shop. This journey was shaped by my love of the game, by the lessons from the game and by the love and support I got from my family , teammates and coaches. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my Lord and Savior. Without you, amen. Without you, none of this would be possible. And with you, nothing is impossible. Not even a 5 ft, nothing. 100 pound. Nothing making the hall of fame. God is great to the Hall of Fame staff, Jane Whitney, josh john, thank you for making this experience comfortable and easy for me and my family. You have truly helped make this a memorable moment to the baseball Writers Association of America. Thank you for recognizing the body of work, the grind and the heart that I put into this game every single day. Jesus Ortiz, you’ve been in my corner through the ups and downs of my Hall of Fame process. I’ll never forget your unbelievable support. I also want to congratulate my fellow inductees. CC. You competed with passion and power. I your row, your elegance and precision was like poultry in motion. I feel like we already have a special bond since being elected together in January #### and Dave. You were more than your numbers for those who speak for themselves. #### was a Trailblazer facing challenges. Most of us can’t imagine. Dave brought strength and swagger during an era that demanded both. I’m honored and shared. I’m honored to share this moment with your families and your legacies. Thank you. There are many to recognize today. First. I’d like to thank some teams, the Houston Astros, Drayton mclean and the organization that took a chance on a small town lefty with a big fastball and a chip on his shoulder. Thank you for believing in me for giving me the opportunity to compete and for letting me grow as a player and a person to Jim Crane, you throw a great party who has continued to make me and my family feel welcome whenever we are in, in Houston. Thank you to my feelings, Bill Giles, dave Montgomery gave me the opportunity to see what true passion looks like, both from the Phillies organization and they’re tremendous fans. Thank you for a small town guy like me going into a big city, Fred Wilpon and his son, Jeff and the Mets organization made it easy to come to the field every day and compete because I got to ride in with Tom, glad they always had a great team surrounding me and that helped me reach this stage today. Thank you guys. The Braves organization made me a kid again, giving me the chance to play for my favorite team growing up playing under legendary manager Bobby Cox was the perfect ending to my career. Thank you guys. But to be fair, there was a lot of coaches that uh gave me this opportunity. I was lucky to have an incredible coach in my early parts of my career. To who shaped who I am today today. Wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for Lou. Perry. Lou, you showed me trust and love. I miss you more than anyone could imagine. Thank you for showing me and my Caswell high bulldog teammates, the love of the game. Your grace on the field inspired me to be a coach. I love you. Rest in peace coach how Abe NF you gave me a hat and an opportunity. I still use those words today, coaching my team don’t have Mavericks you made playing the game easy. Winning was a goal of all my coaches. You hated losing the most. You showed me that winning for our team was more important than winning for yourself. And we always had great teams with players like eric Owens and many, many others that are here today. You gave me a home at Sam and I thank you for our conversations about baseball and about life. I love you. Coach. Thank you and to my big league teammates, managers, coaches who had such an impact on my career. Lance Berkman, you are a hall of Famer to me. You are one of the greatest to play the game and I was happy to be your teammate, your faith and never judgmental attitude. Help keep me accountable with my faith. Faith. Thank you. I love you brother Moises. Alou Moises. You showed me how to appreciate Dominican culture even though I can’t speak a lick of Spanish. I’m sorry, I try, possibly the greatest teammate I ever had. You stood up for me in New York and you kept me company after my surgery. I will never forget that you showed up. Even when you didn’t have to thank you MPAA. Who could have imagined when I debuted in 1995 I would take the field with two future Hall of Famers and now I’m joining them. It was Craig Biggio bit even though you whined and complained about pitchers. I still loved you. You brought consistency every day and your competitive fire help drive me to be my very best. Thank you, baggy. Where do I start? It wasn’t your words? You are a man of few words. It was your look, your glare. That’s what let everyone know if things were ok or if we needed to get our act together. I loved your grip. You taught me one of baseball’s greatest lessons how to show up and play after a bad day. No excuses. You show me what a big leaguer looks like and your friendship means the world to me. Thank you. The best part of my career was being part of the Astros organization with great players like all of you and countless others, including the Great Octavio dotel. Rest in peace, my friend, some of the best relationships are the most unlikely ones and every bullpen has them. For me. It was everyone from Mike Magnanti to Flash Gordon. Then Jay Powell, Tim Tim Worrell , old man Doug Henry Russ Springer Xavier Hernandez, Peter Moyland, Takashi, Saito Roberto Hernandez and brad Lynch and my bullpen catchers always paid the price most of the time by catching me. So I need to recognize them. Stresa and Mick Bilma, thank you for holding, holding the fort down, but thank you the most for holding leads in tight games and for giving up one with four run lead. Thank you. You guys are truly the best. No one, no one who hasn’t lived. It will ever understand the camaraderie of a bullpen bullpen unit and what it takes day in and day out to compete. I love you all. I wouldn’t be here today without my catchers, brad Oss to Savio Jerry Goff, Brian mccann randy, nor Paul Laduca Todd Pratt. There are so many and you made me better and got me where I am today. Thank you and my managers, Terry Collins who called me up to start my first game that I never started because they need an inexorable bullpen arm. It’s hard to believe now, but I was a starting pitcher all through the minor leagues and never started a game in the big leagues. At the same time, I saved 422 games in the majors, but I never closed out a game in the minors. It was Larry Dier who saw that I could succeed as a closer. Thank you, Larry. And you don’t get chances unless you have managers that trust you. And there was Jimmy Williams Charlie Manuel Jerry Manuel Larry Boa, Willie Randolph, Tito Francona and Bobby Cox. You all trusted me with the lead and gave me the confidence to go out every day and compete at the highest level. Thank you to the pitching coaches, Charlie Taylor, Gary Lucas Brent Strom burn rule, Rick Peterson and john Farrell. Bet Hooten Rich, Duby Dan Ween and Roger mcdowell. You are with me on the impossible journey of trying to perfect a craft of pitching. Now, as a high school coach, I understand the suffering and the reward that goes to helping others pursue the unattainable perfection. Thank you for your time and your patience and all your support. Even when I made things difficult. Thank you so much and to the fans, you’re the heartbeat of this game. You shared my journey. Sorry, I think I, sorry, sorry. All right now I’m back. It’s all sticky. Thank you for the cheers and for allowing me to play the greatest game in the world in front of the greatest people in the world without you. There are no memories. No milestones. No hall of fame with all my heart. I am grateful to you. Thank you guys and to my family. Mom, dad, you showed me what it meant to work hard to stay humble and to never let your circumstances define you. I love you. Aunt Sally, Uncle Jack, you stepped in when I needed you the most. Love and support through everything I faced. Rest in peace. Uncle Jack. I came to Jeff Lamie’s family when I was 14 years old. And Jeff was a visual example that I needed to see how to be the best. You’ve always been a great role model and I love you to my kids. Will, Jeremy Olivia and Cason. You are the great. You are my greatest joy, whether it’s on the sports field or off of it. I hope that the lessons of never giving up is the one that you take with you no matter what you do or where your journey takes you. We are so proud of you and we love you. The two, my wife, Sarah, you are the rock of our family. You held it all together while I was chasing a dream. Thank you for your strength, your grace and your love. I couldn’t have done this without you. I love you. In conclusion to every kid out there. This is my message to you. Obstacles are not a roadblock, obstacles are stepping stones, they build you and shape you refine you. I wasn’t the biggest. I wasn’t left-handed. I wasn’t supposed to be here. There were only seven full-time relievers in the Hall of Fame. Now there are eight because I refused to give up or give in. I refused to listen to the outside critics and I never stopped working. That’s what this game does for you. It teaches you about life. It teaches you how to persevere , don’t fear failure, embrace it because perseverance isn’t just a trait. It’s the path to greatness. Thank you to the Hall of Fame for the incredible honor. Thank you to my, every teammate , every coach, every fan, every person who believes in me along the way. I am forever grateful. This game is more than numbers and metrics. It’s winning the moment. It’s being excited for your teammates when they succeed, it’s being crushed when you don’t come through in the clutch. It’s knowing that there is always tomorrow. The love of the game has meaning and it’s not about salaries and rankings. It’s about perseverance, passion , grit, and the pursuit of perfection. It’s about the 123 inning play to win and let God take care of the rest. Thank you and God bless.
