Billy Wagner
Billy Wagner
William Edward Wagner, nicknamed "Billy the Kid", is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He pitched for the Houston Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox, and the Atlanta Braves. Wagner is one of the only five Major League relief pitchers to accumulate a total of 400 or more saves in his baseball career...
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth25 July 1971
CityTannersville, VA
deal happens listen
Dude, listen to me. You're the best. It happens to all of us. It'll happen again. You have to be able to deal with it.
childhood helped mad matured stay
I've matured a lot. You can only stay mad so long. I think (his childhood) helped me to see how not to do it the right way and to try to do it better when I get a chance.
good thrown
Sometimes it's good to just be thrown into the fire, Did he even know it?
focused game lose next pressure stayed stepped team win
After you lose the first game of a series, the pressure is really on to win the next two. This team stepped up and focused and stayed consistent.
against ball destined faces greatness hit hoping kid might needs next remember stay teams
This kid is destined for greatness. If they stay with him, and he's on teams that get him to the playoffs, he's the next Mariano Rivera , without a doubt. Ever see the hitters' faces when they come up to hit against him? They're just hoping to find one ball they might put in play. He needs to remember that now.
continue focused stay win work
You're not going to win every game. We have to play to win series. We have to continue to stay focused and work hard.
anywhere ball competition conscience consistent face felt good next threw turn velocity
Actually, I thought I threw the ball decently. I just felt in good conscience I wasn't going to be able to turn it up to that next level. I'd say my velocity was anywhere from 92 to probably 96 mph. But that's not as consistent as I need to be to face the competition we're going to have. I couldn't in good conscience go out there and put myself into that situation.
coming definitely family felt good living move spring suitcase taking training
Definitely coming from a different organization and taking a big step, I want to get comfortable and not be living out of a suitcase for the whole spring training and having my family do the same. It was a move that I felt was good for me and for my family.
capable exciting resources
And that's exciting when you know the resources and the things that they're capable of doing.
allowed charlie coaching group guys inspiring last leadership pressure situations staff themselves
This coaching staff has allowed us to grow. We didn't have that leadership last year. Charlie Manuel and his group have been as inspiring as they can be. Last year, guys went out and put a lot more pressure on themselves in situations like these.
bite
They do. If you give up nothing for a while, when they do come, they'll come in bunches and bite you.
against awhile caught finally guys interested meet played playing positive sincerely somebody took truly understand
They finally caught on that this guy's for us, not against us. Charlie's a positive person. And playing in Philadelphia, it's not a positive situation. A lot of these guys haven't played under that positive influence. And when you meet somebody like Charlie, who is truly and sincerely interested in you ... it took awhile for them to kind of understand that.
guys loss month second tough turned
We know how important this month is. Guys turned it up for the second game. We're going to have some tough losses, but we didn't let one tough loss turn into two.
beaten good round second since
We haven't beaten them since I've been here, and they got to the second round since I left. I'm probably no good to anybody.