The former Mets' left-handed closer, Wager is the rags-to-riches story that ends with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and over 400 career saves.

Wagner was born in the tiny rural town of Tannersville, Virginia, and grew up bouncing from relative to relative—he ended up attending 15 different schools. Right-handed at birth, he became a lefty after he twice broke his right arm playing football. After setting a number of strikeout records in college, he signed with the Houston Astros and spent the first ten years of his career with the team. In 2004, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies only to leave under a cloud a year later: After he disparaged their playoff hopes in September 2005, virtually the entire team confronted him and one teammate called him a "rat." He signed with the Mets following the 2005 season. He proved to be a big asset in 2006 when the Mets won their first divisional title in 18 years. But while he started off the 2007 season with promise—he recorded eight saves in eight outings during the month of July—his performance went downhill toward the end of the season, just as the rest of the team came apart at the seams. After losing a year to reconstructive elbow surgery, Wagner left the Mets for the Red Sox in 2009 and closed out his career with a season on the Atlanta Braves. [Image via Getty]