Wade Boggs

From SoSH

Wade Anthony Boggs (born June 15, 1958 in Omaha, Nebraska) was one of the greatest contact hitters of all time.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Awards 3 Achievements 4 Moment in the Sun 5 Trivia 6 External Links

Overall Career

Wade Boggs was a virtuoso with a bat and one of the game's true masters at striking a baseball between the foul lines at an alarmingly successful rate. Utilizing great bat control and a good eye, Boggs won five batting titles, strung together seven consecutive seasons of 200 or more hits, and earned 100 walks in four straight seasons. With his knack for getting on base, Boggs often batted leadoff, and scored at least 100 runs every season from 1983 to 1989. A member of the 3,000-hit club despite failing to get a chance to play in the big leagues regularly until he was nearly 25 years old, Boggs retired with a lofty .328 batting average.

Awards

• Inducted into the Hall of Fame, 2004 (91.9%)
• 12-Time American League All-Star (1985 - 1996)
• 2-Time American League Gold Glove (1994 & 1995)
• 8-Time American League Silver Slugger (1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994)

Achievements

• Member of the 3,000 Hit Club (3,010 Hits)

• 5-Time American League Leader in Batting Average (1983, 1985-1988)
• 6-Time American League Leader in On-Base Percentage (1983, 1985-1989)
• 2-Time American League Leader in OPS (1987 -1988)
• 2-Time American League Leader in Runs (1988 - 1989)
• 1-Time American League Leader in Hits (1985)
• 2-Time American League Leader in Doubles (1988 - 1989)
• 2-Time American League Leader in Walks (1986, 1988)
• 3-Time American League Leader in Singles (1983 - 1985)
• 8-Time American League Leader in Times on Base (1983 - 1990)
• 6-Time American League Leader in Intentional Walks (1987-1992)
• Career .328 Batting Average (36th all-time), hit .338 as a member of the Red Sox
• Career .415 OBP (27th all-time)
• 12 time all-star (every year from 1985 through 1996)

Moment in the Sun

• Won a World Series Ring with the New York Yankees in 1996, and took lots of idiotic pictures riding on the back of that horse.

Trivia

• Drank 24 beers once during a cross-country flight (Wikipedia notes he refuted this during an appearance on PTI).
• Claimed to have once gone invisible to avoid a bar fight in Tampa.
• Known for his superstitions, including eating chicken before every game.
• Published a cookbook entitled Fowl Tips.
• Jumped out of a moving truck driven by his wife during spring training.
• Injured himself putting on his cowboy boots. Shows that hitting doesn't require brains - just talent.
• Inducted wrestling legend "Mr Perfect" Curt Hennig into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 31, 2007.
• Starred in an Episode of The Simpsons in the Homer at the Bat episode.
• Owns a "Lovely Room of Death," as shown in this October 2006 interview by a sports blog journalist;
  • Boggs: I'm the only professional athlete to ever take the Big Five and Dangerous Seven.
  • SBL: What's the Big Five and Dangerous Seven?
  • Boggs: Lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, rhino, and then the Dangerous Seven add the hippo and the croc.
  • SBL: Holy moly. What was the coolest one for you?
  • Boggs: Probably the elephant. Probably the elephant.
  • SBL: Which one puts up the best fight?
  • Boggs: Actually, they were all one-shot kills.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Wade Boggs: Hall of Fame Page
• 2005 Hall of Fame Class