Bret Wagner

Bret Ashley Wagner

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• School Wake Forest University
• High School Red Land High School

• Born April 17, 1973 in New Cumberland, PA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Bret Wagner was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round (19th overall) of the 1994 amateur draft. The Cardinals also drafted his twin brother Kyle Wagner in the 21st round of the same draft, but could not sign him.

The Wagner brothers had been standouts at Red Land High School in Lewisberry, PA, leading the school to a PIAA state championship their senior year in the AAA (big-school) division. They then excelled at Wake Forest University, before Bret became the school's first player to be drafted in the first round.

Bret Wagner was a member of the 1993 Team USA national team, and was routinely clocked in the 93-95 mph range. In the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, he went 1-0 with 2 2/3 shutout innings, fanning four and allowing one hit. He also backed up Todd Dunn in right field and outhit him, going 5 for 7 with a walk. In the Gold Medal game, he tossed a 1-2-3 9th, retiring Lourdes Gourriel Sr., Victor Mesa and Ermidelio Urrutia (with one K) to end a 9-4 loss to Cuba.

Wagner rose as high as Class AA, going 8-8 in 27 starts for the Huntsville Stars of the Southern League in 1996. He had been traded from St. Louis to the Oakland Athletics on Jan. 9 of that year in a deal which sent veteran pitcher Todd Stottlemyre to St. Louis.

However, arm problems the next year forced an early end to Wagner's career at the age of 25.

Wagner returned home to the Harrisburg, Pa., area, and has joined his brother -- who returned to coach at his alma mater, Red Land -- to run a summer baseball camp business.

Bret Wagner resurfaced after a 12-year absence from competitive baseball in May 2009, pitching for one of the top sandlot teams on the east coast, the Mechanicsburg Cardinals of the East Shore Twilight League.

Related Sites

• [1] Go Wags baseball (summer baseball camps)