That's an absolutely amazing statistic. I knew he threw hard, but 159 pitches over 100mph?! Unreal. Closers are overrated, but Wagner is one of the best, and he sure is fun to watch. He'll be missed, though I think Dotel and Lidge are ready to take over.
So what. Wagner was beginning to be a locker room cancer. (not a typo.) Good Riddance. (not a typo.) Only impressive if he'd've kept his mouth shut about ownership. I don't care how hard you throw, if you're a malcontent, you're gone. A malcontent is a malcontent is a malcontent. Running a negative yap does nothing to improve the team (except get you off of it.)
The 'not a typo' comments I made were because the numbers are quite remarkable regardless of what you think of Wagner. When I first saw them, i found it hard to believe that: A) He actually threw that many B) The rest of the league threw that few It was an easy way to avoid folks wondering whether or not I mistyped something. Wagner was no more of a locker room cancer than Biggio, Bagwell, Alou, Reynolds, Hampton, or the number of frustrated players who tend to mouth off after a major disappointment. I agree that players who make extraordinary amounts of money should not bemoan the fact that their teams do not add players during the stretch run unless they are willing to forego part of their salary to help the team pay those players. The fact is that, although I believe that the 'save' is very overrated, Wagner was a valuable asset to the team. He will be missed but his salary won't.
