Wade Boggs

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Wade Anthony Boggs (born June 15 1958 in Omaha, Nebraska) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball, primarily with the Boston Red Sox, whose hitting in the 1980s and 1990s dominated the American League in much the same way as his National League contemporary Tony Gwynn. Boggs was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. With 12 straight All-Star appearances, Boggs is second only to Brooks Robinson in number of consecutive appearances as a third baseman.

He currently resides in the Tampa, Florida neighborhood of Tampa Palms, and is the head baseball coach at Gaither High School, also in Tampa.

Contents

1 Career

1.1 Superstitions

2 Trivia
3 Bibliography
4 See also
5 External links

Career

A left-handed hitter, Boggs won five batting titles starting in 1983. He also batted .349 in his rookie year which would have won the batting title, but was 121 plate appearances short of the required minimum of 502. From 1982 to 1988, Boggs hit below .349 only once, hitting .325 in 1984. From 1983 to 1989, Boggs rattled off seven consecutive seasons in which he collected 200 or more hits, an American League record for consecutive 200-hit seasons. Boggs also had six seasons with 200 or more hits, 100+ runs and 40+ doubles. Although he would not win another batting title after 1988, he regularly appeared among the league leaders in hitting.

Boggs admitted in 1988 to 12 counts of adulterous affairs, and many baseball observers felt a lawsuit filed against Boggs by a former mistress in 1989 distracted Boggs that year.

In 1992, Boggs slumped to .259 – one of only three times in his career that he failed to reach .300 – and at the end of the season left the Red Sox, with whom he had spent his entire career. He was heavily pursued by two teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees - he chose the Yankees when they added the third year to the contract that the Dodgers would not offer. Boggs rewarded the Yankees' faith with three straight all-star appearances, four straight .300-plus seasons and even collected two Gold Glove Awards for his defense.

In 1996, Boggs helped the Yankees to their first World Series title in 18 years. It was the first (and only) World Series title earned by Boggs. He memorably celebrated by jumping on the back of a NYPD horse, touring the field with his index finger in the air.

Boggs signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the final two seasons of his career, in 1999 collecting his 3,000th hit. Ironically, given his deserved reputation as a singles hitter with limited power, he was the first (and as of 2005 only) member of the 3,000-hit club to reach that total with a home run. Boggs received some criticism for skipping road games to ensure he would get No. 3000 in Tampa Bay and after hitting the home run he knelt down and kissed home plate to celebrate. Boggs retired in 1999 after sustaining a knee injury, leaving with a career batting average of .328 and 3,010 hits.

Boggs is credited with teaching the Yankees their current pitch-selection technique; swinging only at perfect pitches and fouling off close but tough to hit pitches, forcing teams to go to their usually weak bullpens. Before Boggs joined the Yankees, they were 14th in pitches per plate appearance, and 4th and then 1st after he joined. In addition, the Yankees were 12th and 8th in on base percentage the two years prior to Boggs joining the team and 2nd the year he came on board (1993), followed by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 1st.

In 1987, Boggs – who was up for a new contract following the season – hit 24 home runs, easily the most in any year of his career.

His #12 has been retired by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although he has not had his number retired by the Boston Red Sox, he was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in 2004.

Boggs caused a stir when he insisted that he be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame wearing a Devil Rays cap. The Hall interceded and declared he would be inducted with a Red Sox cap. Boggs is reported to have offered the Tampa Bay Devil Rays him choosing to be inducted with their regalia in exchange for an additional million dollars, a term that was reportedly accepted by the owners. When the Hall overruled his decision, it is assumed that Boggs had to give back the million dollars.

Superstitions

Boggs was known for his superstitions as much as his hitting. He ate chicken before every game (Jim Rice once called Boggs "chicken man"), woke up at the same time every day, took exactly 150 ground balls in practice, took batting practice at 5:17 and ran sprints at 7:17. His route to and from his position in the field beat a path to the home dugout. He drew the Hebrew word "חי-Chai", meaning "life", in the batter's box before each at-bat, though he is not Jewish.

Trivia

Wade Boggs once guest starred on Cheers as himself and a former teammate of fictional player (but Cheers main character) Sam Malone. He also made a famous guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, in which he was punched out by Barney Gumble after arguing over who was the best Prime Minister in England's history (Boggs favored William Pitt the Elder, while Barney backed Lord Palmerston). Boggs was also portrayed in an episode of Futurama as a head in a sports museum. When Hank Aaron XXIV drinks out of Wade Boggs's jar he says, "Wade Boggs, goes down smooth!"

Shortly after his election to the Hall of Fame, Boggs appeared on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and refuted an urban legend that he had once consumed 64 beers on a cross-country flight from Boston to Los Angeles. He did not divulge the actual number of beers consumed, but did admit to having "a few Miller Lites".

Boggs also recorded a few innings pitching at the Major League level. His main pitch was a mean knuckleball, which he allegedly used 16 times (along with one fastball) in one shutout inning of pitching for the Yankees against the Anaheim Angels in a 1997 game.

Boggs played in the longest game in professional baseball history as a member of the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1981.

In 1999, he ranked number 95 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Bibliography

Boggs!, Contemporary Books, 1986. ISBN 0809250632.
The Techniques of Modern Hitting, Perigee Books, 1990. ISBN 039951595X. (With David Brisson.)

External links

[Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
[Wade Boggs page at the Baseball Hall of Fame Website]
[The Baseball Cube] MLB and Minor League Stats

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