The Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame will soon have two of its members in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Billy Wagner was voted in last week, joining Dave Parker who was selected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee the first week of December.
Wagner is a Class of 2003 member of the S-R Baseball Hall. He’s a graduate of Tazewell High School and was a standout pitcher at Ferrum College before going on to a stellar Major League Baseball career. He was elected Tuesday along with pitcher CC Sabathia and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.
Wagner finished a 16 year big league career with 422 saves while appearing in 853 games, all in relief. He struck out 1,196 batters in 903 innings and thrilled fans with a fastball that often reached the 100 mph mark.
This was Wagner 10th and final year on the ballot, and he needed to be named by 75 percent of the voters to be enshrined. He received 82.5 percent after falling just five votes shy in 2024. Votes are cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Parker and former MLB slugger Dick Allen make five inductees for the Class of ’25, having been selected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee. That committee considers players, managers, executives and umpires whose primary contributions came prior to 1980. A screening committee selected eight distinguished finalists for the final vote, with candidates needing to receive at least 12 votes from the 16-person committee that consisted of Hall of Famers Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Tony Perez, Lee Smith, Ozzie Smith and Joe Torre, plus five executives/owners and five media members/historians. Parker was named on 14 of the 16 ballots, while Allen was on 13.
Parker is a charter member of the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame, being inducted in the initial class in 1992. He played for the Salem Pirates in 1972, leading them to the Carolina League championship. That year Parker was league MVP and missed the triple crown by just one home run.
Parker played 19 seasons in the big leagues with stints in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Oakland, Milwaukee, the Angels and Toronto. He was the National League MVP with the Pirates in 1978 and won two batting titles and three Golden Gloves during his Hall of Fame career.
The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be July 27, 2025 in Cooperstown, New York. The Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame induction banquet will be February 2nd at the Salem Civic Center. This year’s class includes Terry Collins, Ed Culicerto, Casey Hodges, J.D. Mundy and F.L. Slough.
Former big league manager Terry Collins will be the guest speaker for this year’s Hall of Fame banquet in Salem. For information on tickets contact Gary Walthall at 540-427-1977 or John Montgomery at 540-761-6751.
