Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506260100
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Yet, with all the left-hander from Tazewell County has been through this year, he has shown remarkable self-control.
Wagner has pitched extremely well for the Jackson (Miss.) Generals of the Class AA Texas League, despite having to endure a spring spent trying to cope with the shooting deaths of his wife's father and stepmother.
Wagner had gone 2-2 with a 2.57 earned run average and led the league, too, and they help.''
Word that the Quesenberrys had been found slain in a car parked in Hillsville on May 16 reached Wagner when he was with the Generals on a trip to Wichita, Kan. He took the first flight to Dallas, where he faced a three-hour layover before he could catch the connecting flight to Jackson.
From there, he and Sarah made the 10-hour drive to Dublin.
``She doesn't really mind flying and neither do I, but sometimes she doesn't want to worry about falling a long way,'' Wagner said.
According to Hillsville police, the Quesenberrys had become involved in a domestic dispute between Dennis Earl Stoneman of Surry County, N.C., and his estranged wife, Theresa Stoneman.
The Quesenberrys were helping Theresa Stoneman move into a Hillsville apartment when Dennis Stoneman confronted them, police said. An argument ensued. The Quesenberrys' 6-year-old child was in the car when his parents were shot but was unharmed.
Dennis Stoneman was arrested and has been charged with capital murder.
For a week, the Wagners stayed in Virginia, going back and forth between Dublin and Hillsville. Wagner never touched a baseball, which presented problems for him when he made his next start after his return to Jackson.
``I pitched only four innings and struck out five and walked six,'' he said. ``I was sort of out of shape and I had no feel for the ball.''
The next time out was substantially better. Wagner fanned six and walked only one in seven innings. He has pitched well since.
``Mentally, more than anything else, I had to get back in shape,'' Wagner said.
There have been other stressful moments this spring for the country boy with the 95-mph heater. Among them were the six games he left with a lead, only to watch the Generals' bullpen blow it. He could, in other words, be 8-2 instead of 2-2.
``My pitching coach, Charley Taylor, told me I'm not here to win games but to progress to the next level,'' Wagner said.
He'll be there before long. Judged the No.2 prospect in the Houston Astros' organization by Baseball America, Wagner is anticipating a promotion to the parent club when major-league rosters are expanded in September.
``We're extremely excited,'' Wagner's manager, Tim Tolman, has been quoted as saying. ``He's got a long way to go with some of his pitches, but the thing that's so encouraging is he's shown improvement almost every time out.''
This is only Wagner's second full season of professional ball. A year ago with Class A Quad Cities, he went 8-9 with a 3.29 ERA and led the minors in strikeouts (204) and strikeouts per nine innings (12).
This year, opponents are batting .199 against him.
But there's more to it than those pitching numbers. Swinging a bat for the first time since his one at-bat in college (pitchers hit against National League affiliates in the Texas League), he has gone 4-for-14 (.285) with a triple and an RBI.
``I was doing good until they started throwing me curveballs,'' he said.
Curveballing a fellow pitcher usually is considered dirty pool, but Wagner, who has a deserved reputation as one of the all-time nice guys, isn't complaining.
The ones who have a right to complain are those who have to contend with Wagner's unnerving bouts with wildness.
``Sometimes it benefits me to be a little wild,'' he said. ``You don't want them [hitters] digging in up there. I like to rear back and throw and let the hitters know that I don't exactly know where that ball's going sometimes.''
by CNB