HOUSTON — Billy Wagner, a flame-throwing left-hander who was one of the elite strikeout artists of his generation, will take his place among the game’s greatest players of all time after being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year on the ballot – a down-to-the-wire finish fitting for a closer.
Wagner, who finished five votes shy of election, became the eighth player to be elected in his final year on the ballot by garnering 82.5 percent of the votes revealed Tuesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He’ll be inducted July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., with Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Dave Parker and Dick Allen.