To Boggs-y

Sporting Goods

On the day he rightfully goes into the Hall of Fame, a few reasons that I am a huge fan of Wade Boggs. When I think of Wade, I think of:

-Chicken for lunch, arriving at the park at the same time, and doing his wind sprints at the same time, EVERY game day. Makes my "lucky underwear" when I was a young baller seem pretty normal.

-Two strikes. I loved that the guy would let you put two strikes on him, and then became impossible to put away. He would foul off pitch after pitch, letting bad pitches go by, just waiting for that one he could drive the other way. Like he was toying with the pitcher. I think I read somewhere that he batted .945 with two strikes on him.

-The wall. I remember he drove fans crazy by refusing to pull the ball, even in the face of huge shifts. But he just loved to bang it off the monster, as if he was playing a different game where only monster-shots counted.

-The star. Before Clemens was huge (both figuratively and literally), before Bonds won that first MVP award, he was the first great but flawed player that I ranked among my favorites. On that list of three, he's definitely risen back to the top.

-1987. I had this weird card game where you had player cards with stats listed, and you basically played "War" with them. Boggs was nearly unbeatable with that card of his.

-.328. OK, maybe I think more of .360, which he surpassed four times in the mid '80s. Not many players from the last 50-60 years hit higher for their career. Williams, Musial, Gwynn, that's about it.

-The awkwardness. This guy really need a PR man. Even when it came to talking about his hat for the Hall, he still couldn't say the right thing on the day of his greatest honor.

And of course...
-The 'stache.

UPDATE: Reader O in comments reminds us of this classic Cheers episode that Boggs guest-starred in. That in turns reminds me of Boggs's role in one of my favorite all-time Simpsons episodes, where Mr. Burns assembles an all-star softball team. But do you remember why Boggs doesn't show up for the championship? answer is in the comments.