Billy Wagner notes wisdom from fellow Old-Timers Howard Johnson, Ken MacKenzie

Every so often during a 40-minute Zoom session on Thursday, Billy Wagner — the seven-time All-Star, collector of 422 saves and legitimate Hall of Fame candidate — looked away from the camera, grabbed a pen and scribbled.

He didn’t mean to be rude, he went out of his way to explain. He was just taking notes. His fellow men of the hour on the video news conference were Howard Johnson, a member of the 1986 World Series champion Mets and later the club’s hitting coach, and Ken MacKenzie, a reliever for the original Mets in 1962. The trio was hyping up Old-Timers’ Day, to be held at Citi Field on Aug. 27, but for Wagner, it also was time for class.

Wagner has been the baseball coach at The Miller School, in Charlottesville, Virginia, for a decade, and he always is looking for bits of wisdom to pass on to his teenage pupils. And Johnson and MacKenzie had plenty.

"I don’t know everything, but I know people that do know a lot more than me," Wagner said. "And when I hear them talk, I like to write down what they’re saying. So when I hear HoJo and Ken and these guys say things, I like to put that down and file it back, because those are just the greatest memories."

So when Johnson, who had 231 career steals, described stealing bases as "an act of will," something a player can do even when he isn’t the fastest, Wagner wanted to remember it. And when MacKenzie, 87, said "real pressure" is facing the 0-for-69 opposing pitcher on the last day of the season, or recalled how a coach told him after giving up a long home run that he was throwing "long," Wagner laughed and wrote those down, too.

"That is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard in my life," he said. "HoJo has always been one of my favorites. When he talks about base-stealing and things like that, the art of the grit has changed in the game. So when I’m able to talk to guys like HoJo and guys that are more at my stature that today would’ve been looked down on, I enjoy hearing the references of grit and their will power to do these things.

"I’m always learning and trying to be better. So don’t think I’m not paying attention. I am. I’m really excited to be here and interacting with some of my heroes."

Come Old-Timers’ Day, Wagner will have more chances to glean insights from a collection of players that spans the Mets’ six-decade history. Johnson said he was glad to see the tradition return after it fell by the wayside during his playing days, in part so his grandchildren could see "Grandpa HoJo" on the field. Wagner, 50, said he anticipated stretching a lot beforehand but felt OK about the feat of physicality because he throws batting practice every day.

"My arm is the only thing that doesn’t hurt most days," he said.

MacKenzie is poised to be one of the lesser-known attendees, having played for the Mets in 1962-63 before finishing his career in 1965, but he is in a couple of footnotes in franchise lore.

As the baseball coach at Yale, his alma mater, he recruited Ron Darling, helping to set Darling down the path to Queens. And in each of the Mets’ first two seasons, MacKenzie, a reliever, was the only pitcher to post a winning record, 5-4 in 1962 and 3-1 in 1963. He didn’t have any wins in his other four seasons.

As for that .000-hitting pitcher? It was Bob Buhl, who pitched a complete game for the Cubs against the Mets on Sept. 30, 1962. MacKenzie had the eighth, the last inning by a Mets pitcher that year. Buhl batted with one out — and MacKenzie struck him out swinging. Whew! Buhl finished 0-for-70.

"I’m not giving up a base hit to Bob Buhl," MacKenzie said on Thursday, almost 60 years later. "And that, to me, was real pressure."