A Southwest Virginia town now has a permanent marker to show where one of Major League Baseball’s best relief pitchers first made his mark.
Saturday’s events included the unveiling of the fifteen-thousand-pound bronze statue of Billy Wagner, the dedication of the park bearing his name, and comments from the Hall of Famer, who pitched for Tazewell High School in the 1980’s.
An emotional Wagner says giving this speech was harder than taking the stage at Cooperstown last year, thanking everyone behind this project, along with numerous coaches and players.
“You guys inspired me to be the best, because I didn’t want to let you down," he said from the podium. "And when I took the field, I played for you guys. Because it’s easier to play for your team than yourself. And when you played for yourself, you have a tendency to become very selfish, and forget the real purpose – winning.”
It's been thirty-three years since Wagner signed with the Houston Astros. He thinks most often of his coach at Tazewell High School, Lou Peery, who passed away in 2019.
"You know, I didn’t know where it was going to lead. Getting drafted at that moment is the biggest that ever happened to me," he explained. "To see where I’m at now, the only thing missing here is Lou Peery.”
He first lived in Marion, but his parents split during an impoverished childhood. Wagner later went to live with his aunt and uncle, Jack and Sally Lamie before playing baseball at Tazewell High School.
“The blessings that I was given – in these odd ways, moving around as I was young, that was just a point to (that) not everything’s going to be roses," he said. "(I'm) just blessed that there’s a lot of guardian angels that steered me in the right direction.”
Wagner pitched for Ferrum College out of high school, and is the first player from a Division-III school inducted into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. He pitched for five teams, with 422 big league saves, retiring in 2010.
The Billy Wagner Park and statue was the vision of a 12-member committee, who started the fundraising after Wagner’s 2025 Hall of Fame induction.
Visitors to Tazewell can now get some idea of what it was like for hitters to face Wagner. A home plate will be attached to a crosswalk on Main Street – 60 feet, 6 inches from the statue of Wagner, in his Astros jersey, throwing a fastball.
