ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. THE ROANOKE TIMES
A tough childhood and a family tragedy have shaped the life of former
Ferrum ace Billy Wagner.
On Aug. 4, 1996, at the center of a diamond full of baseball players and
thousands of spectators in the cavernous Houston Astrodome, Billy Wagner felt
totally alone.
Marooned on a pitcher's mound.
He felt as isolated as one could feel when surrounded by San Francisco baserunners and 33,646 fans. That's because Houston Astros star first baseman Jeff Bagwell and second baseman Craig Biggio had unthinkably made ninth-inning errors, leading to a most precarious bases-loaded situation with one out in a one-run game.
Up next were a couple of dudes named Barry Bonds and Matt Williams.
In the midst of Giants, Billy Wagner was completely reliant upon his wits, his guile and a fastball that exploded from his left hand like the NASA rockets that are monitored nearby at mission control.
``Two Gold Glovers make errors,'' Wagner muttered as he stomped around the mound. ``You gotta be kidding me.''
Then he told catcher Randy Knorr, ``Let's see how hard I can bring it.''
Bonds had no chance against three Wagner heaters.
Three more fastballs later, Williams was grabbing bench.
Wagner faced two of the National League's most feared hitters under the most dire circumstances and blew them away on a grand total of six pitches.
``Way to pick us up,'' Bagwell said later.
It was nothing, Wagner would say. If there was anything he had learned in his hard-lived 25 years, it was how to get by on his own. He learned it after his parents split up when he was a youngster in Tazewell County. He learned it by spending his youth being passed from one relative's household to another. He learned it by persevering even when faced with an unspeakable tragedy.
And, after all that, he realized that once in a while you've got to let somebody else pick you up.
Knowing that, facing Barry Bonds and Matt Williams with the bases loaded wasn't that big a deal.
`This should be the year'
Six weeks ago, Wagner and his wife, Sarah, left their home in Dublin to travel to Kissimmee, Fla., for Wagner's most important spring training with the Astros. The southpaw from tiny Tannersville has been a Baseball America cover boy, now he wants to turn the page from Triple-A starter to big-league closer.
The former Ferrum College fireballer made a strong case for getting that job last season by converting nine of 13 save opportunities for the NL Central Division-contending Astros before missing two weeks of action with a groin pull. He and John Hudek have been battling for the closer's job. It appears Wagner will serve as the setup man and Hudek will start the season as the closer.
``This should be the year I start in Houston and end up in Houston,'' Wagner said.
In four minor-league seasons as Houston's best prospect, Wagner had never saved a game, but he owned a 22-19 record as a starter. A fastball that regularly reaches 95 mph and a staggering 478 strikeouts in 402 minor-league innings were adequate credentials for closing.
``I hadn't ever closed until the big leagues,'' he said. ``No groomin', no nothin'. ... They'd always told me, `You've got to have three pitches,' and this and that. Then, June 3, they call me up and say, `We need you in the bullpen. We don't care what you throw.'''
The heat was on Wagner, and Wagner's heat was on. He earned his first big-league win in relief against Philadelphia on June 8. His first save came June 14 when he pitched three shutout innings in San Francisco. He fanned seven of 11 Dodgers in Los Angeles on June 28.
After getting a save in San Diego on July 4, Wagner was congratulated by a Padres player who hadn't faced him that day.
``Kid,'' Tony Gwynn said, ``you've got some great stuff.''
If only colleges had said that when he was in high school, maybe Wagner would have gotten a scholarship. Virginia Tech finally came up with a late offer, but Wagner wasn't sure if he'd get an opportunity to pitch consistently for the Hokies. Other schools balked.
``I went to VMI [for a visit], and they didn't even know who I was,'' Wagner said.
The future Houston Astros phenom wasn't even picked to play in the Virginia High School Coaches' Association All-Star game that summer. Apparently, baseball people weren't overly impressed with Wagner's 5-foot-7, 140-pound frame, even though his fastball was solidly in the 80s.
``I don't know if it was because of our location or what, but I couldn't get people interested to come see what this kid could do,'' said Lou Peery, Tazewell High School's longtime baseball coach.
So, Billy Wagner went to Ferrum where his cousin Jeff Lamie was playing baseball. Lamie had been like a brother to Wagner, who spent most of his teen-age years living with the Lamies after his parents divorced. At Ferrum, he grew as a pitcher and a player.
He also grew 4 inches and added 30 pounds to his frame and more than 10 mph to his fastball. Pretty soon, the whole professional baseball world was scouring road maps for Virginia 40 through Franklin County.
``He was an outstanding talent who didn't have a lot of confidence in his ability or in himself,'' said Ferrum coach Abe Naff, who believes Wagner's velocity comes from tremendous leg strength. ``He just kept improving in all areas - physically, mentally, socially.''
As a sophomore in 1992, he struck out 109 batters in 51 1/3 innings for an NCAA Division III-record average of 19.1 strikeouts per nine innings. In three seasons, 327 batters - then a Division III mark - whiffed against Wagner.
The Astros chose him with the 12th pick of the 1993 amateur draft after his junior season.
The day Wagner signed with the Astros was one of the biggest days in Tannersville history. Wagner returned home and signed his pro contract in the Tazewell High School auditorium during a ceremony organized by the chamber of commerce. Local dignitaries elbowed their way to be photographed with the pride of Tannersville.
``It was a big crowd,'' Peery said. ``We had a big reception.''
Four years later, Wagner is a big-leaguer. It took more than a live fastball to get him there, though.
``Everybody thinks Billy Wagner's greatest asset is his powerful left arm,'' Naff said. ``There's a whole lot more to Billy Wagner than that.''
Learning to be a family
Wagner always has been adaptable. That's why he throws left-handed. Naturally a right-hander, Wagner began throwing lefty after breaking his right arm. Rocks, balls, anything he could get in his hand, he threw left-handed until it became natural to throw that way.
Then, there's the anger.
It probably began after his parents Bill and Yvonne divorced when he was 5. It grew in the next nine years as he was shuttled from home to home - he lived with his father, then with his mother, both sets of grandparents, back to his dad, then his mom again and his maternal grandparents again.
His was a working-class family, and sometimes the Wagners had a hard time making ends meet. His mother had to rely on food stamps when Wagner and his little sister, Chasity, lived with her.
``I know welfare,'' Wagner said.
But he didn't like it. Once, his mother asked him to run into the store and pick up a few items. She handed him food stamps. He refused to go in.
``I'd say, `Uh-uh, no way,''' he said. ``I didn't want my friends to see me. It was miserable for me and my sister. Now that I'm older, I realize it was just as humiliating for my mom. She was just trying to help us.''
When Wagner was 14, Sally Lamie - the sister of Wagner's dad - and her husband, Jack, were granted custody of Billy. For the first time he could remember, Wagner had a settled home life. The Lamies even took out a loan to help Wagner get through school.
``There's an old saying, `It takes a whole town to raise a child,''' Naff said. ``That might be true in Billy's case.''
Still, he pitched mad.
``I threw hard because of my anger,'' Wagner said. ``I was angry at my family and how I thought all the other kids had it better. I used to be real bad. I really think that's why I threw hard.''
At the end of his sophomore year while working at the campus library, Wagner met Sarah Quesenberry, a member of the women's basketball team. She wasn't a baseball fan, so she didn't know who Wagner was. Soon, though, Billy and Sarah were dating.
As they became closer, Wagner was introduced to the rest of the Quesenberry family. He became a regular guest at the Quesenberry home, having dinner, watching sports or playing basketball at the Pulaski YMCA against Sarah's dad, Steven.
``They were the picture-perfect family,'' Wagner said. ``Her dad taught me what closeness of family is all about. My family never had that.''
A big, athletic man, Steven Quesenberry owned and operated a sports shop in Pulaski before he and his wife, Tina, who was Sarah's stepmother, moved to Carroll County. After Billy and Sarah were married in 1994, Wagner kept his father-in-law posted on his journey through the minors. On May 14, 1995, the Astros added Wagner to their 40-man roster, even though he was pitching for Class AA Jackson, Miss.
``Call your dad and tell him I'm on the big-league roster,'' he told Sarah, who called her dad with the news.
It was the last time she would speak with her father.
Steven and Tina Quesenberry were helping Tina's half-sister move into an apartment complex in Hillsville on May 16, 1995, when the half-sister's estranged husband arrived on the scene and began arguing with Steven and Tina Quesenberry.
The husband, Dennis Stoneman of North Carolina, shot and killed the couple in the parking lot outside the apartment. The Quesenberrys' 6-year-old son was in the back seat of their vehicle, but was unharmed. Late last year, Stoneman was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Instead of celebrating his promotion to the big-league roster, Wagner and his wife were in mourning. They made the 10-hour drive from Jackson to Dublin. For a week, they drove back and forth between Dublin and Hillsville and tried to come to grips with what had happened. Wagner said he and his wife talk little about the tragedy.
Billy and Sarah Wagner spend their time together playing video games, surfing the Internet or watching movies - even during baseball season.
``It keeps us going, knowing we've got each other,'' Billy Wagner said. ``I know what a family is like now. We put faith in God and let everything work itself out.''
The Wagners are deeply religious and both have relied heavily on their faith to deal with the murder of Sarah's father and step-mother. This winter, Billy spoke to several youth groups about maintaining faith through tough times.
``I tell kids they've got their own row to hoe and to make the best of it,'' he said. ``Even though they may have a rough life ... I tell them to be strong. Everything's got to happen for a purpose.''
Closing the deal
Wagner also has gone back to patch up old wounds with his parents. He often visits his dad and calls his mom, who lives in Athens, W.Va. His parents even stay in touch with each other.
``Everything's better now,'' Wagner said. ``Nobody has a grudge against anybody.''
Still, he relies heavily upon the lessons learned when he felt like he had to strike out - and strike out at - the world.
``Sometimes a kid who's been pushed around a lot grows up quicker,'' said Peery, his old high school coach.
Suddenly, there's no past. No more talk about being overlooked or pushed aside. Wagner grips the future in his hand like a four-seam fastball.
``I don't get nervous,'' he said. ``I've faced Barry Bonds with the bases loaded and wasn't nervous. I figure everything is all up to me now. I'm ready to get out there.''
LENGTH: Long : 212 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. HOUSTON CHRONICLE A fastball that regularly isby CNBclocked at 95 mph has made Billy Wagner a potential closer for the
Houston Astros. 2. GENE DALTON THE ROANOKE TIMES Former Ferrum
pitcher Billy Wagner and his wife, Sarah, have been through a lot,
including the murder of her father and stepmother, but he says, ``It
keeps us going, knowing we've got each other.'' color. KEYWORDS: PROFILE