WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Astros gathered in the clubhouse to honor Hall of Fame closer Billy Wagner and presented him with a pair of boots, a cowboy hat and a bottle of bourbon. Wagner was touched by the gesture, but that wasn’t even the thing that made him the proudest on Friday.
A few hours later, he was sitting in the stands at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches wearing an Astros hat and watching his oldest son, Will Wagner, who started at first base for the Blue Jays in a Grapefruit League game against Houston. Will singled in his first at-bat, displaying the kind of bat-to-ball skills he flashed in his Major League debut last year.
“He’s young and fighting to make the roster,” Billy said. “He’s playing it like this is Game 7. And that’s good if you’re always fighting, you’re always going to have a shot. He just keeps going out there and doing what he does. I’m proud of him, regardless. I said I just know that [playing indoors in] Toronto is going to be warmer than Buffalo.”
Will, traded from Billy’s Astros to the Blue Jays last year, played only seven games at Triple-A Buffalo before Toronto called him up. In his first Major League at-bat, Will drilled the first pitch he saw for a 104.5 mph double into the right-center gap in Anaheim for his first career hit and went 3-for-4. He slashed .305/.337/.451 in 24 games and put himself in position to make his first Opening Day roster.
“I wasn’t surprised by how well he did,” Billy said. “I'm happy he got that opportunity and glad he showed well. This game is tough. You can’t expect to go out and go 9-for-12 right out of the bat, but you go out and battle big league pitchers and get on base and do what you can and you’ll have a nice little career.”
Billy, a seven-time All-Star who finished his career with 422 saves in 16 seasons with the Astros, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox and Braves, was elected to the Hall of Fame this year -- in his final year on the ballot. Wagner saved a club-record 225 games in his nine years in Houston (1995-03), where his children were born.
His younger sons, Jeremy and Kason, were in the clubhouse with him Friday when the Astros and manager Joe Espada honored him with the presents and a round of applause.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the Astros' clubhouse and when the organization respects what you’ve done and you’re sitting in the clubhouse with [Jose] Altuve and guys who are definitely going to be in the Hall of Fame, it was a great honor,” Billy said. “It’s emotional when you think about your days in this and what it means to you for Joe and those guys to grab me some boots, a hat and a little bit of bourbon. It was a good day.”
Wagner will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., with Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Dave Parker and Dick Allen. He said his acceptance speech is still a work in progress.
“There’s a lot of paper in trash cans,” he joked.
Billy is in his 13th year coaching high school baseball at The Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Va. The team is playing games around Florida as it does each season, allowing Billy the chance to pop into Spring Training and do what he does most -- see his children compete.
“As a father, there’s nothing better than seeing your kids be successful,” he said. “It’s great to come out here and to get to enjoy both sides of this -- he’s playing and I’m sitting with an Astros hat on.”
For Will, any time spent with his Hall of Fame dad is time well spent.
“It’s weird how it worked out,” Will said. “His team always takes a trip down to Florida. I didn’t know we were playing Houston at the time, but the fact that it matched up was pretty cool. I’m glad him and the team could see me play.”