Wade Boggs
His hitting in the 1980s and 1990s made him a perennial contender for American League batting titles, in much the same way as his National League contemporary Tony Gwynn. Boggs was elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
With 12 straight All-Star appearances, Boggs is third only to Brooks Robinson and George Brett in number of consecutive appearances as a third baseman. His finest season was 1987, when he set career highs in home runs (24), RBI (89), and slugging percentage (.588).
He also batted .363 and had a .461 on-base percentage that year, leading the league in both statistics. 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.
He currently resides in the Tampa, Florida neighborhood of Tampa Palms.
Minor league career
Boggs played in the longest game in professional baseball history as a member of the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1981 against Cal Ripken, Jr.
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 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 that was later matched by Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki.
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 (his batting title that year broke Bill Madlock's Major League record of four by a third baseman), he regularly appeared among the league leaders in hitting.
In 1986, Boggs made it to the World Series with the Red Sox, but they lost to the New York Mets in seven, even though they were one strike away from winning it in Game 6.
The photo of him fighting back tears, taken by George Kalinsky, photographer for the Mets, captured the emotions of all Red Sox fans after their team's loss at Shea Stadium.
New York Yankees
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 he 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 went on to be awarded three straight all-star appearances, had 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. At a key juncture in the 4th game of the series, in the 10th inning, Boggs's "sharp eye and patience at the plate" enabled him to draw a bases loaded walk in the 10th inning of a tie game, driving in the winning run and shifting the momentum of the series in favor of the Yankees.
After the Yankees won the series in game 6, Boggs memorably celebrated by jumping on the back of an NYPD horse, touring the field with his index finger in the air - despite his self-professed fear of horses.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Boggs signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the final two seasons of his career, in 1999 collecting his 3,000th hit. Boggs retired in 1999 after sustaining a knee injury, leaving with a career batting average of .328 and 3,010 hits.
Tampa Bay was his favorite team he played for.
Legacy
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.
While not unique among non-pitchers, Boggs also recorded a few innings pitched at the Major League level.
His main pitch was a 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.
His own style included mental preparedness techniques including visualizing four at-bats each evening before a game and imagining himself successfully getting four hits.
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.
On April 7, 2000 his #12 has been retired by the Tampa Bay 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.
The Margo Adams affair
Boggs garnered non-baseball related media attention in 1989 for his four-year extramarital affair with Margo Adams, a California mortgage broker. She argued that Boggs had verbally agreed to compensate her for lost income and services performed while accompanying Boggs on road trips. Boggs' reputation was further sullied when Adams agreed to an interview with Penthouse magazine in which she discussed intimate details of her time with Boggs. While acknowledging the validity of the affair, Boggs went on the offensive in order to combat the wave of negative press, publicly denying many of the claims made by Adams.
The Hall decided that Boggs would eventually be depicted wearing a Boston cap for his 2005 induction, despite his acrimonious relationship with Red Sox management. During the Hall of Fame player introductions of the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, he decided to wear the Yankees cap instead.
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 100 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. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon questioned Boggs on an episode of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption.
He had previously appeared in vignettes with Hennig that aired on WWE programming when he was first introduced, and was close friends with Hennig until his death.
According to Boggs on the "The Life and Times of Mr. Hennig carried him about 3/4 of a mile to safety and, according to the doctors, Hennig saved Boggs from bleeding to death.
Bibliography
Boggs!, Contemporary Books, 1986.