November 1, 2019

Wagner joins College Baseball Hall of Fame

More news about: Ferrum

FERRUM, Va. – Former Ferrum College and Major League Baseball standout Billy Wagner has been selected for induction into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The seven-time MLB All-Star had a record-setting baseball career at Ferrum from 1991-93 before being drafted into the pros.

Wagner is one of eight individuals that comprise the 2019 National College Baseball Hall of Fame induction class, including the winningest coach in college baseball history and the player of the decade in the 1990s.

Wagner closed his three-year Ferrum career with a 17-3 record and 1.63 earned run average, and still to this day holds the NCAA Div. III single-season record for strikeouts per nine innings at 19.1 with 109 strikeouts in 51.1 innings in 1992. He was a 1993 first-team NCAA Division III All-American for the Panthers. Wagner was selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball 1993 June Draft by the Houston Astros, as the #12 pick overall.

Wagner also played a year with Ferrum's football team as a starting defensive back in 1990. He has one career interception to his credit.

Wagner's 18-year professional baseball career, 16 in the majors, includes: Auburn Astros (A) 1993, Quad City River Bandits (A) 1994, Jackson Generals (AA) 1995, Tucson Toros (AAA) 1995, Houston Astros 1995-2003, Philadelphia Phillies 2003-05, New York Mets 2005-2009, Boston Red Sox 2009, Atlanta Braves 2010. Wagner made his Major League Baseball debut September 13, 1995 with the Astros. He is a seven-time MLB All-Star (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010), and was the 1999 MLB National League Rolaids Relief Award Winner.

Wagner's MLB Numbers
Career Saves: 422, second best by a left-hand reliever. Fifth best all time.
Career Strikeouts: 1,196, the most ever by a left-hand reliever
Career Earned Run Average: 2.31
2010 Earned Run Average 1.43
Drafted: 1st round in 1993 by Houston Astros as 12th pick overall
Major League Teams (by games pitched): Astros/Phillies/Mets/Red Sox/Braves
MLB career stats: 47-40 record, 2.31 ERA, 422 saves, 11.9 strikeouts per 9 innings

The 2019 National College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with the College Baseball Night of Champions celebration Nov. 1-2 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, This year's class includes former Florida State coach Mike Martin, winner of 2,029 games, and Cal State Fullerton's Mark Kotsay, a two-time All-American and winner of three national player of the year awards in 1995.

Also included in the class are Dave Chalk, a two-time first-team All-American at Texas; Florida A&M's Andre Dawson, a record-setting outfielder for the Rattlers; Southern California's Wally Hood, who posted a remarkable 21-2 record in 1948; Seminole State coach Lloyd Simmons, the winningest coach in junior college baseball history. NCAA administrator Dennis Poppe rounds out the class as the first inductee to be selected from the contributors section of the ballot.

Tickets for the 2019 induction will be available on the Night of Champions website at www.cbfnightofchampions.org. For more information, contact Mike Gustafson, National College Baseball Hall of Fame president and CEO, at gus@collegebaseballfoundation.org.