Some fun Billy Wagner quotes

Billy Wagner, on feeling outcasted with the Phillies last year:

"I was never the first guy they called to go get lunch, that's for sure."

On the expected fan reaction when he returns to Philadelphia tonight:

"If they throw money at me, I'm keeping it."

More on the expected fan reaction, from Newsday:

"I hope I pitch three straight days. I hope they boo the hell out of me three straight days."

About his choice to leave Philly for division rival Mets, from Newsday:

"Picking the Mets, it's going to be, 'I hope you die.' And you know what? That's fine. I'm excited. I know that's part of the game. You expect to be booed in Philadelphia.

"So I expect about 35,000, 38,000 people excited about Billy Wagner being there. I don't like being the villain. I'm just a stupid baseball player. I'm not a rocket scientist. I'm not curing cancer ... If that's how people choose to spend their money and come out and boo Billy Wagner, well, thank you very much."

(Billy Wagner talking in the third person makes Billy Wagner sound very annoying).



Finally, two interesting tidbits from the Daily News:

A Philly mole said stadium personnel plan to greet Wagner, who uses metal anthem "Enter Sandman" as his theme song, with the standard "Mr. Sandman" when he enters a game, unless they get overridden by the highest-level execs.

As for the Phillie fans' tough rep, Wagner recalled a conversation with Phillies bullpen catcher Mick Billmeyer. When the closer learned Billmeyer had been raised in Philly, he asked him: "When you were born, was the doctor going, 'You suck'"?