Billy Wagner anxiously waited for his moment, but not just for himself, for what it meant to the future of baseball.

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.

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.

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.

Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected as the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the museum announced.

Ichiro Suzuki had already cemented a strong, and likely everlasting baseball card market long before Tuesday’s almost unanimous vote for his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, headlining the class of 2025.

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The players and then the public learned the results of the 2025 vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday.

Wagner erupted in tears as he received the news of his induction during a phone call with Hall of Fame representatives in Cooperstown. Our Esquina's Jose de Jesus Ortiz was alongside Wagner in the reliever's home Tuesday night, and Ortiz relayed quite the emotional message.

Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Ichiro Suzuki wants to raise a glass with the voter who chose not to check off his name on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Ichiro Suzuki wants to raise a glass with the voter who chose not to pick his name on the Hall of Fame ballot, leaving him short of being unanimous.