A Way Out: Faith, Hope and Love of the Game

You will never amount to anything. ... You are not good enough. ... Those stinging words stuck with Billy Wagner as a young boy growing up in Virginia. But he refused to let those words define his existence, resulting in one of the greatest relief pitchers in Major League Baseball history.

While Wagner may have achieved the pinnacle of the American dream, his story began more like a nightmare. Bouncing around from home to home, wondering if there would be food on the table when he got home each evening -- things kids should not have to experience. Despite the naysayers and the odds stacked against him, Wagner channeled all his pent up anger toward his arm and developed into a fireball pitcher.

Relying on the simple faith planted in his life as a twelve-year-old boy, Wagner s story chronicles how he survived some of the most gut-wrenching trials on and off the field, like the line drive that nearly killed him or the shocking murder of his beloved in-laws.

Through every challenge and turn, his faith has been his guiding light, proving over and over again that everything in life happens for a reason.

This is the story of a transformed man, a man whose job was to put out fires in the most tense moments in a game on the field, yet relied upon his faith in God to get him through the fiery trials of life off the field.

During sixteen seasons in the Major Leagues with the Astros, Phillies, Mets, Braves and Red Sox, left-handed relief pitcher Billy Wagner amassed an impressive professional record, earning 422 saves and being named to seven All-Star teams. But behind those numbers and the incredibly talented professional athlete is a man whose life experiences tell a different story, one of deep pain and suffering. Yet his abiding faith served as the sustaining strength he needed to endure a mountain of problems and find solace on a small hill sixty feet away from home plate.

Wagner cares deeply about giving back to the community and will be giving profits from this book to non-profit educational organizations that focus on helping people learn to read.