Billy Wagner fell just five votes short of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame last January, making 2025 his 10th and final eligible year on the ballot for enshrinement in Cooperstown. The former Houston Astros closer finally broke through Tuesday night.

For Billy Wagner, once more, prestige lay in the final frame. Wagner, the former Houston Astros closer, was elected Tuesday to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the honor arriving in his 10th and final year of eligibility on the writers’ ballot and ending an agonizing wait for one of the most dominant relief pitchers of his era.