Star closer overcomes excruciating Hall of Fame wait: Happy it’s over’

For the fourth time in the past eight years, the 10th and final shot was on the money for a would-be-Baseball Hall of Famer.

Billy Wagner, faced with his last chance at earning enshrinement to baseball’s hall of immortals in Cooperstown, N.Y., finally vaulted the 75% mark to punch his ticket to athletic immortality, receiving a solid 82.5% of support in balloting released Tuesday evening by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, this one year after missing by a galling five votes.

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