ATLANTA -- Billy Wagner does a great job as a pitcher for Philadelphia, but he would do a lousy job as a pitchman for the city of Philadelphia.

When the Phillies' season is over, Wagner will return to his farm in Crozet, near Charlottesville. The former Ferrum star wouldn't dream of living year-round in Philadelphia.

"Heck no," Wagner said last week in the Phillies' dugout before a game against Atlanta at Turner Field. "I'm from the South. I play baseball up there and that's as far as it goes. I like being from the South. I enjoy the hospitality of the South. I'm not leaving."

So Wagner, a Tazewell High School graduate from the Southwest Virginia town of Tannersville, only lives in Philadelphia during the season. His wife and three children come up and stay with him when school is out.

When he pitched for the Astros, Wagner didn't mind living in Houston during the season because it was "more laid-back" than Philadelphia and the people there were "a little bit more friendly."

But this is now his second season with the Phillies. Surely some part of big-city life appeals to him by now?

"Not at all," said Wagner, who will be a free agent at season's end. "I'm not a city person. I can play there and work there while my career is going, but when it's over, I ain't going to miss the city.

"There ain't no place around in the world like Philadelphia. That's a tough place. I think you got to be from there" to like it.

Wagner, who was traded from Houston in November 2003, had only 21 saves and 45 appearances in his first season with the Phillies. He had lengthy stints on the disabled list because of a strained groin and a strained rotator cuff.

This year, he has been invaluable to a team in the NL wild-card race. The left-hander is 4-3 with 35 saves and 1.50 ERA in 70 games, becoming the sixth pitcher in team history with at least 30 saves in a season. He made the NL All-Star team for the fourth time.

"It's good to come back and be strong and be able to have an impact," Wagner said.

Wagner has blown only three saves this year.

"He's mentally tough," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He loves being a closer. ... Billy Wagner's one of the top closers in baseball."

Wagner, 34, can throw his fastball 100 miles per hour and is regularly clocked at 98 and 99 mph. He has 78 strikeouts and 20 walks in 72 innings this season, and 831 strikeouts in 624²₃ innings in his major-league career.

But he doesn't just rare back and throw.

"That's not as easy to do anymore. When people don't know you, you can do stuff like that," Wagner said. "Now you have to mix it up a little more. You have to look for holes. You have to see what a guy's strength is and where to pitch him a lot more."

So instead of always looking for strikeouts -- he had 124 of them in 1999 -- he has matured into someone who tries to get out of innings with double plays. He studies hitters during batting practice and games.

He also has added an impressive slider, said Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones.

"Hitters up here, they can time a jet plane if you throw it enough," Jones said. "He's starting to develop a pretty good slider that bites down and in. It's very, very tough to lay off it when you have to respect the fact that he throws 100" mph.

Jones also finds the 5-foot-11, 201-pound Wagner hard to hit because of the "deception" in his unorthodox delivery.

"He kind of short arms," Jones said. "He's a short guy and he kind of throws uphill. You think you're onto pitches that are thigh-high when actually they're a little above the belt. You swing through them or they go off the top of your bat. I've heard some guys say that you almost have to swing an inch over the ball to be able to center it. I find that hard to do."

There is plenty of pressure being the closer for a team in a playoff race, but Wagner said his approach to his job hasn't changed.

"You don't try to do a little bit better or anything," he said. "You just keep going and doing the same thing you've been doing all year. ... Every game is like a playoff game for me when I get in."

Wagner had back-to-back losses against Houston on Sept. 6 and 7, only the second time that has happened in his career. The game was tied when he entered in the ninth on Sept. 6, and he blew a lead by giving up a three-run homer in the ninth on the following night. The Sept. 7 defeat ended a string of 23 straight converted save chances.

"You go out there so many times and it's bound to happen," he said of blown saves. "You just go out there and keep pitching. You don't get too high and you don't get too low. You try to stay right in the middle.

"There's tough losses that you're frustrated with, but you also know you've got more games you can have an influence on, so you can't really make more out of one bad game than one good game."

Before becoming a first-round draft pick in 1993, Wagner was an All-American at Ferrum. He used to own the Division III marks for most strikeouts in a career (327) and season (133).

Wagner made his major-league debut with Houston in 1995 and returned to the majors for good in June 1996. He has 281 saves, the third-best total among left-handers in major-league history.

Not bad for someone who pitched at a Division III college.

"Coming from Ferrum College, I didn't know where this career was going to take me," he said. "All I've ever done was work hard and try to get better and stay consistent. What that's allowed me to do is now when you get longer in your career, you're still thankful and you're still humble."