Wagner spent three years at Ferrum College until he was recruited by Houston in the 1993 Major League Baseball draft. His professional career includes stints with the Houston Astros (1995-2003); Philadelphia Phillies (2004-2005); New York Mets (2006-2009); Boston Red Sox (2009); and Atlanta Braves (2010). Wagner now coaches high school baseball at The Miller School in Albemarle County.
“There is absolutely no way somebody that hasn’t been to Ferrum could understand the beauty of Ferrum and what it entails,” Wagner concluded during the interview.
Learn more about Wagner’s athletic achievements here.
Read more about Wagner in this Roanoke Times article.
Billy Wagner
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 College career with a 17-3 record and 1.63 earned run average, and still to this day holds the NCAA Division 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’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.
The 2019 National College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with the College Baseball Night of Champions celebration, November 1-2 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Read the full press release on Ferrum College’s athletics website.
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.
