By Gary Brooks
SportsLine Baseball Editor

Wagner takes unusual route to become baseball's most overpowering pitcher

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Billy Wagner isn't far removed from the times he spent passing the time in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, hunting and fishing, not knowing lightning would soon strike his arm.

It wasn't until his freshman year at tiny NCAA Division III Ferrum College when the left arm of the 5-11, 170-pounder, who hadn't really blown anyone away before, began firing baseballs past all comers.

A broken right arm led to Billy Wagner becoming the majors' most dominant left-hander. (Allsport)

There was a magical leap there sometime between being told that he probably wasn't going to make it as an outfielder and instead instructed to see if he could provide Ferrum anything on the mound.

"I didn't start pitching until I was a senior in high school," Wagner said. "Then I went to college going out for an outfield position but I couldn't hit so they said 'Why don't we see what you can do on the mound,' and it all worked out for me."

What may have been the key to Wagner's development was a bad break, literally. Wagner is naturally right-handed, but broke his right arm twice playing a version of football when he was "four or five." He and his buddies would actually throw a cap around since they didn't have a football. He originally broke the arm when another boy fell on him. The day he got the cast off he broke the arm again and since then he's been a left-hander.

"Other than holding a pen (and pitching), I have no function (as a lefty)," Wagner said. "Everything else I do is right-handed."

Who knows? Maybe if he had stayed a right-hander he'd still be at home in Tannersville wondering if the fish were biting.

Instead, he developed into a pitcher who has opposing batters biting on his overpowering fastball.

Wagner's velocity had blossomed from a better-than-average high school figure of low 80's to well past 90. The strikeouts began to stack up in numbers that set NCAA and now major league records.

Nobody had ever struck out batters with the same frequency Wagner did last season for the Houston Astros. Nolan Ryan, Bob Feller, Walter Johnson, Randy Johnson, none of them could keep pace with the 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings Wagner recorded last year as the Astros' closer.

And this season, Wagner feels like he's improved.

"I definitely feel I'm a better pitcher because of the experience I gained from last year and also because of some of the things I'm trying to do this year," said Wagner, who had 30 saves last season as the Astros won the NL Central. "I'm trying not to throw as many pitches. You know it's funny -- I've always been labeled as a strikeout pitcher, but I have never gone for the strikeout, it's just worked out that way. There are only a handful of times where I'll try to go for the strikeout and it's only when I've got someone 0-2 or 1-2 in the count."

In saving 14 games this season, Wagner has struck out 45 in 23 2/3 innings.

And he's giving batters a lot more to think about than just the high 90s fastball.

"I'm trying to incorporate the slider into the game when I feel it is called for," Wagner said. "I only want to throw when I need it, when there's a guy who I feel is on my fastball or when I'm throwing too many pitches. I've actually been too excited throwing it at times this year. It's sort of like a new toy at Christmas -- you want to go out and use it as quick as possible. I want to make sure I'm throwing it correctly. At times, I've been too excited and have overthrown the pitch."

Wagner made a tour of Japan with other All-Stars in the off-season and worked with Cleveland closer Mike Jackson on the slider and San Diego's Trevor Hoffman, who passed along some tips on how he throws his outstanding changeup.

Don't expect Wagner to get too cute with his growing repertoire though. He got to the majors with an overpowering fastball and that's how he'll continue to be one of the game's top closers.

Most major leaguers can catch up to any fastball if it continues to come in at the same speed and location, so Wagner will occasionally mix in the slider and change to keep hitters guessing.

"If someone hits a slider, they've hit a slider," Wagner said. "I don't want to get into a rut where I'm throwing a lot more fastballs than I need. But at the same time, you don't want throw the slider if people aren't catching up to the fastball. You don't want to throw your slider and let them catch up to it and give them a chance if they can't hit the fastball."

Not many batters have been able to hit the fastball since the spotlight found Wagner at Ferrum in 1992, when he averaged 19.1 strikeouts per nine innings as a starter.

Wagner remained a starter through his ascension of the Astros organization -- from No. 1 pick in 1993 to his major league debut in 1995. He was converted to a closer and took the job from Todd Jones in 1996. Since then, Houston has solidified itself as a playoff contender and Wagner, 27, has developed into as sure a thing as closers ever become.