In electing Wagner, the BBWAA has defined the modern-day closer as its own entity, with candidates’ credentials measured not against the whole of the body but against this specific peer group.

To gain entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Billy Wagner completed a climb few candidates have managed. Wagner, the former Houston Astros closer, attained the 75% support from voters required for election in his final year of eligibility on the writers’ ballot.

Billy Wagner received 82.5 percent of the tally from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, after he missed by just five votes last year.

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Miller School baseball coach Billy Wagner, known to the outside world as the best lefthanded closer in MLB history, is a Baseball Hall of Famer.

In his 10th and final year on the ballot, former Astros closer Billy Wagner earned is place in Cooperstown, N.Y. in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Other bits of intrigue ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. announcement: Will CC Sabathia be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is this the year Billy Wagner gets in?

Wagner was elected in his 10th and final year on the ballot with 82.5% of the vote. Chase Utley climbed to 39.8% in his second year.

The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.

In Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, the Baseball Writers Association delivered quite an eclectic trifecta to Cooperstown on Tuesday. The first Japanese player ever elected to the Hall of Fame,

Former Houston Astros closer Billy Wagner reveals his thoughts after being chosen into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Derek Jeter sounds fed up with a lack of Hall of Fame voter accountability, and the Yankees legend wants writers with ballots to be held accountable.