This could finally be the year that the National Baseball Hall of Fame opens its doors to Billy Wagner.
The former Ferrum College star was named on 68.1% of the ballots cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America a year ago, closer than he has ever been to the 75% needed for induction — and way up from reaping 51% of the votes two years ago. The seven-time All-Star reliever was third in the voting last year with 265 votes, just 27 votes shy of induction.
The new class bound for Cooperstown will be announced Tuesday.
“I’m excited,” Wagner, 52, said in a phone interview this week. “It’s going to be such a nail-biter that it’s not much fun to have to sit here and kind of wait. It’s not a done deal. So I’m just trying to keep myself busy.”