Groundbreaking ceremony held for Billy Wagner Park in Tazewell
Councilman Zach Cline, Committee Member Jack Pyott, Mayor Joe Beasley, Committee Member Brad Strong, Committee Chairs Brad Pyott and Charity Hurst and Shane Clem pose with a poster before the shovels went to work on Monday at the site of Billy Wagner Park in Tazewell.
TAZEWELL — Less than a year after plans were announced for a park honoring Hall of Fame baseball player Billy Wagner, committee members and town officials broke ground for the project on Monday.Â
After several members of the committee planning the project posed for pictures, the heavy equipment fired up, and members of the town’s public works crew started moving dirt and concrete.
Circuit court clerk Charity Hurst, a member of the planning committee, said the life size statute of Wagner that will anchor the park will be unveiled Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.
Wagner will be in town for the ceremony which will coincide with the Tazewell High School homecoming weekend and the induction ceremonies for the school's Hall of Fame.
Committee chairman Brad Pyott said the project is right on schedule. The statute is in Texas being forged and will come from there to South Carolina where it will get the final changes before making its way to Tazewell.
Maria Kirby-Smith is sculpting the statue of Wagner in a Houston Astros uniform. Kirby-Smith erected the Coal Miners Memorial statue in Richlands, the statues in front of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol and numerous other statues across the Southeast.
The committee has taken on the responsibility of raising the estimated $250,000 to $300,000 needed to pay for the statute and erecting it.
The town put up $25,000 to cover the site work for the park which is owned by its Industrial/Economic Development Authority. The town will also perform routine maintenance for the park.
The county board of supervisors donated $12,500 from its contingency funds toward the project and will consider additional funding at its June 2 meeting. The committee has raised money through donations, selling pavers, and soliciting donations from private sources.
Wagner’s 16-year career featured stints with the Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Atlanta Braves between 1995-2010.
Wagner is the ninth relief pitcher to be elected to the Hall of Fame. His 422 saves are the eighth-most in MLB history and are the second most by a left-handed relief pitcher.
Wagner owns the MLB record for strikeouts per nine innings with an average of 11.92.
The 1990 Tazewell High School graduate was a seven-time All-Star, including during his final season in 2010, where he posted a career best 1.43 ERA as a member of the Braves. Wagner was elected to the Astros Hall of Fame in 2020.
His professional success came after he was selected 12th overall in the 1993 draft by Houston out of Ferrum College. The Ferrum standout is the first Division III player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and the Ferrum College Sports Hall of Fame.
Wagner is the sixth Virginian — the first from west of Culpeper and the first modern-day player — to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
