Houston Astros: The Billy Wagner Only Hall of Fame ballot debuts
By David Hill
There has been a bit of ridiculousness with the Hall of Fame voting this year. Four blank ballots have been submitted. There was Dan Shaughnessy’s ridiculous Jeff Kent Only ballot, the rationale behind which may be questionable at best. But now there is a new ballot that is raising some eyebrows featuring former Houston Astros closer Billy Wagner.
This time, Ryan Purdy has decided to submit a ballot with one name checked off – Wagner. In doing so, he has removed Curt Schilling, and in a slight bit of irony, Jeff Kent from his ballot.
Houston Astros former closer Billy Wagner gets solo ballot
This is another ballot that will not have a positive impact upon the Hall of Fame. Wagner, while he is now at +9 according to Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame Tracker, has 48.2% of the vote. The ballot matters more for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and David Ortiz, all three of which may end up very close to that 75% threshold when the final results are in.
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Wagner may find himself in a similar situation in a year or two. His support has steadily increased from just over 10% in his first three years to 46.4% last year. If he cracks the 50% threshold in this, his seventh year on the ballot, he may end up getting that push he needs to be inducted.
He certainly deserves consideration for the Hall of Fame. Wagner was one of the more dominant relievers of his time, posting a 2.31 ERA and a 0.998 WHiP in his 903 innings, striking out 1196 batters with just 300 walks. Although he never led the league, he notched 422 saves, the sixth most in MLB history. He was a seven time All Star and the 1999 NL Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year.
As impressive as his resume is, Wagner is hardly the only player on the ballot that deserves to be inducted into the Hall. A strong argument can be made for over half of the potential candidates, making the idea that he is the only one worthy of a checkmark that much more preposterous.
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There have been several ridiculous ballots during this year’s Hall of Fame cycle. The most recent one only selected former Houston Astros closer Billy Wagner.