MLB Legend Billy Wagner Bursts Into Tears After Being Inducted Into Hall of Fame in His Final Year of Eligibility

Ahmad Austin Jr.Jan 22nd, 2025, 10:45 am

Billy Wagner finds out he was voted into National Baseball Hall of Fame

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Retired MLB pitcher Billy Wagner couldn’t contain his emotional when he got the call that he’d finally be entering the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced its newest members in the class of 2025. Joining Wagner in the Hall of Fame this year is Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia. While Suzuki and Sabathia were voted into the Hall of Fame in their very first year of eligibility, Wagner was elected in his 10th and final year on the ballot.

For someone to enter the Hall of Fame, they must receive at least 75% of the votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Wagner failed to reach that threshold nine times before earning 82.5% in 2025.

Wagner received the phone call he had been waiting a decade for Tuesday. With his wife at his side, he was overcome with emotion when he was finally told that he was a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Thank you!” Wagner said through tears in a video posted online.

The weight of the long wait was evident for Billy Wagner when he finally got the call from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“Dreams do come true,” he said.#HallofFame pic.twitter.com/ovLCvTANdo

— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) January 21, 2025

Later that day, Wagner joined MLB Network to talk about the moment.

“I don’t even know how to express it,” he said. “From Southwest Virginia. I mean, when I think about what I represent — from Division III to Southwest Virginia to state of Virginia — it’s such a blessing. I mean, there’s so much [more] that’s involved in this than just me. I mean, my wife pretty much throwing every pitch with me and being involved in every step through college and minor leagues. There’s just so much that I’m grateful for.”