When former Tazewell County and Ferrum College star Billy Wagner joins the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, he apparently will become just the sixth Virginian to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
Here are the others and their Virginia connection. Four of the five were stars in the Negro League.
Ray Dandridge
1913-1994
Born in Richmond
Dandridge had a chance to break the color line in Major League Baseball but turned down the opportunity, thus opening the way for Jackie Robinson. A third baseman, Dandridge was considered a spectacular fielder. Future Hall of Famer Monte Irvin said that Dandridge was the best he’d seen and that Dandridge rarely committed more than two errors per season.