Wagner Selected for A's Hall

Post date: Aug 13, 2011 6:02:38 PM

Closer Billy Wagner named as the A's 2011 John Marzano Award honoree

The Philadelphia Athletics organization have honored closer Billy Wagner by enshrining him in the team Hall of Fame, the 5th individual to receive the honor. Wagner set the club record for WHIP by a relief pitcher with a 0.71 mark in an incredible 1999 season that also saw the undersized fireballer awarded the league's Tug McGraw Award as the top relief pitcher, selected to the WFBL season All-Star team, and be named the team Lefty Grove Award winner as the top A's pitcher. Wagner is 2nd all-time with 181 saves for the A's, and was a starter on both the 2002 & 2008 WFBL championship teams, though he was traded late in that '08 season and not around for the playoff run. Wagner was selected to three WFBL season All-Star teams in his career, including both 1999 and 2003 with Philly.

"Billy was the perfect closer" said his former manager and fellow A's Hall of Famer, Paul Molitor. "You just wrote his name into the lineup, and he answered the call every time with big saves and strikeout numbers, pitching his innings, and keeping his ERA and WHIP low. He left you one less spot to ever have to worry about, and that's really all you can ask of a player." GM Matt Veasey described the original drafting of Wagner: "We knew everyone was looking at hitters and starting pitchers, and knew all along that we were going to pick a couple of strong, young, strikeout-type closers early on. We were happy when the 5th round rolled around and no one had yet moved on a closer. Billy was the best guy out there, and we were ecstatic to get him. He gave us everything we could have hoped for over his career, and more."

Previous entrants into the club Hall of Fame honored with the John Marzano Award have been Paul Molitor, Mike Piazza, Jeff Kent, and Carlos Delgado. Along with the entrance of Wagner into the Hall, the A's also announced the retirement of Delgado's number 25. A dozen years later, the powerful Delgado still owns the club season records for homeruns, rbi, batting average, and on-base percentage. He was the 2002 WFBL Chuck Klein Award winner as the MVP of the playoffs for the league champion Athletics, and the 2003 season WFBL All-Star first baseman. He remains at the top of the A's team all-time homerun and rbi lists, and is 5th on the club's all-time hits list.