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| The person who convinced Billy Wagner to come to Boston | 09.25.09 at 11:50 am ET |
It’s a good thing Sarah Wagner chose psychology as a major at Ferrum College. Otherwise there’s a good chance Billy Wagner would still be a Met.
Among the twists and turns that came with the hours leading up to the 1:30 p.m. deadline for the Mets to trade Wagner to the Red Sox back on Aug. 25, there isn’t any part of the story that was as important as a phone call the reliever made to his wife just hours before his decision to accept or reject a trade had to be made.
Ironically, that phone call by Billy Wagner was supposed to be to tell Sarah that he was going to stay in New York.
“I wasn’t going to go to Boston,” Wagner said. “I wanted to try and stay healthy, get through the year, and I didn’t know what I had to offer. I didn’t know if I could stay healthy. And the trainers and doctors said it probably wasn’t in my best interest that I pitch into late October or November.”
Backing up…
At 7 a.m. that morning, on decision day, Wagner woke up to find a message from his agent, Bean Stringfellow, who wanted to gauge where his client was at. The pitcher called back, informing Stringfellow of his decision.
“I said, ‘Bean, I’m not going,’ ” remembered Wagner. “He said, ‘Good, that’s great. That’s good for you.’ ”
A little while later, Stringfellow told Wagner that Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona would like to talk to him. So the hurler touched base with the two Sox decision-makers, listening to what they had to say, but not hearing anything that was going to change his mind.
“They’re telling me all the good things,” Wagner said. “They were telling me all the things you need to say, but it’s one of those things that you’re asking me to be in midseason form or shape in the middle of a pennant race and all I’ve had was a few meaningless innings. It was difficult.”
Now it was late morning, and just one last call had to be made — to Sarah.
“I call home and tell my wife, ‘I’m not going to go.’ I just wanted to kind of be reassured I was making the right decision,” Wagner said.
And that’s when the 38-year-old found himself hearing things he didn’t expect.
“She’s the shrink of the house and she started saying, ‘Well, let’s look at the doctors who told you you weren’t going to pitch, aren’t they the same ones who are saying something could go wrong? What if it doesn’t? What if you go out there and you do well and don’t get hurt? Isn’t that worth a chance? You can go to a playoff team and go to the World Series. You can retire and be content.
“It’s so funny because she’s been counting the days down [to retirement]. You can tell, we’ve got four kids and she’s got a lot on her plate. But now she was saying, ‘You should go and play.’ She was the one who was saying, ‘You should do this, go to Boston, take a chance. So what? What if you blow out? But what if you don’t and they go to the World Series or win the World Series, you’d be kicking yourself.’ She was playing devil’s advocate, saying ‘What if?’ The whole time I’m thinking, ‘You’re right.’ It was long enough of a conversation that during it I’m thinking, ‘I have to call Bean.’ She was making sense. But still, the whole time we’re talking she is still saying, ‘Whatever decision you want to make, we’re behind you.’ ”
It was time to make one last call.
“I get off the phone with my wife and I call my agent, saying, ‘I think I’ve changed my mind,’ ” Wagner said. “He’s like, ‘No, no, no!’ But I’m just like, ‘That’s it, Bean, I’m going to Boston and that’s it. What if nothing happens? What if I do make it through and everything is fine?’ He said, ‘I’m not going to change your mind, am I?’ I said, ‘No.’ So he said, ‘All right, but you know what the doctors are saying. You heard your career’s over.’ I just said, ‘So be it.’ ”
And so it was.
16 Comments for “The person who convinced Billy Wagner to come to Boston”
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September 25th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
“No, no, no!” hmmm….I wonder why his agent is so opposed? Sounds like the agent is putting his interests (money) before Billy’s.
September 25th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I like Wagner’s wife!
September 25th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
She sounds like the anti Mrs. Teixeira
September 25th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Same thing happened with Texiera…..in the end it was his wife that helped him make his decision. In the end it’s the husband/wife combo that is the real team.
September 25th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Be a REAL MAN and do what your wife tells you to do! ha ha..thanks, Mrs. Wagner!
September 25th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Yes, but unlike Mrs. Teixeira, who was pushing New York because of the extra dollars, Mrs. Wagner’s decision was based on what would make her husband feel fulfilled and content. Maybe that’s because she is a professional too, with her own income, and not just another pretty face who is mainly interested in her husband’s paycheck.
September 25th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Do you think that Mrs. Wagner is looking at the payoff if he does well. You could say that both wives are going for the money or maybe they both knew what would make their husbands happy. Money may have been the reason but I believe they did what would make them happy.
September 25th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Decisions are best made on the each person’s best long-term interest. The agent isn’t for it because his best interest is for a full-year contract next year, not to blow the player’s arm out on the remaining contract. The doctors gain very little from being wrong about a short-term goal, rather are better about being conservative for a normal rehab for next year. Wagner is thumbs-down because his closest advisors are counseling him “no”. Only the wife can objectively see the intangibles, the value of the tradeoff of the current opportunity vs. the long-term. Good for her.
Mrs. Tex probably understood shopping better than the quality of baseball organizations, and the money was better. That was an easy decision as opposed to the better decision. That’s OK, the wife and Texeira are neither organizational brain surgeons, like e.g. Schilling and his wife were. And things will work out fine for them both and God bless them. Except when the organizations meet and the quality hopefully wins out…
September 25th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
The Reason Ms. TEx did not want to come to boston was she did not like the shopping on Newbury St. I kid you not, that is what it is.
September 25th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I’m not going to say that his decision was right or wrong but if given a chance too play for a pennant contender or continue playing for a team mired in mediocracy,see ya wouldn’t want to be ya, and where do I sign up!
September 25th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Tex stated he wanted to stay with the Angels however $$$$$ money won out. We beat the Angels with Tex and we can do the same to the Yankees.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Thank you Sarah Wagner!
September 25th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I believe Chris Warren or some other pretty solid RB came out of Ferrum College.
September 26th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Bean Stringfellow ??? LOL
September 26th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
My hats off to Sarah Wagner, she knows her husband well and knows what really makes him tick.
September 27th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Good for Mrs. W, giving her partner excellent advice with his spirit and longterm well-being foremost in mind. Even the worst case scenario–i.e., if Billy injures himself pushing his body too hard in postseason play–is still better than ending a great career playing out the string with the Mets; and the truth is, the Sox are VERY good about taking care of their pitchers’ health, pennant race or no pennant race. This was a low-risk, high-reward choice for him, and his wife’s advice on top of reasonably hopeful conversations with the Sox officials evidently made this clear to him. I’m grateful it came out this way–both for Billy’s sake and for the sake of the Sox. It’s a neat opportunity for the player–a great chance at a possible championship, and, should he choose to play another season, this gives him a whole lot of positive exposure toward that objective, with a club that will not ask him to pitch too much for his rehabbing arm’s health– and it’s a very valuable move for the club.