Terry Collins, Larry Dierker, Jimy Williams, Larry Bowa, Charlie Manuel, Willie Randolph, Jerry Manuel, Terry Francona and Bobby Cox were among the MLB managers to summon relief pitcher Billy Wagner from the bullpen to get crucial outs in the late innings of a tight game over the course of the left-hander’s 16-season big-league career.
Wagner could get the ultimate call Tuesday as the former Tazewell High School and Ferrum College star is on the cusp of being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
“I had the Hall of Fame [officials] call me and they told me they’d like me to stay by the phone on Tuesday,” Wagner said last week in a telephone interview. “They can’t tell me if I am going to be in or not be in, but I am not very good at waiting. We’ve got baseball practice [at The Miller School in Charlottesville, Virginia] so I probably won’t be standing by the phone. If I do make it, I’ll probably miss the call. It’s not possible for me just to sit at home and not do anything and wait for something that may or may not be happening.”