Little Known Facts About Wade Boggs

Wade Boggs is probably best remembered as the person who jumped atop of a police horse when he found out the team he was playing on, the New York Yankees, had just won the 1996 World Series. However, what many people do not know is that Boggs was a very methodical person. While many people may seem Boggs' behavior as a tad bit on the eccentric side, luck must have been on his side, as he has been one of the greatest players in baseball.

Some of Boggs' routines included eating chicken before every game, batting 150 ground balls at batting practice, waking up at the same time every day, and batting and running at the same time everyday during practices. Perhaps this discipline helped diversify him as a player. Not only did Boggs play an infield position (3rd base), but he also pitched a few innings with the Yankees. As a Yankees team member, he appeared in three consecutive All Star games, had four consecutive seasons where his batting average was at least a .300, and won two Gold Glove awards. While his time with the Yankees (1993-1997) was impressive, no team saw a better performance from Boggs than the Boston Red Sox. Boggs played on the Red Sox from 1982-1992, and was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004. The next year, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, this story had some controversy surrounding it. Boggs played his last year with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-1999), and wanted to wear a Devil Rays baseball cap at the induction. While Tampa Bay recognized his accomplishments as a player and retired his #12 jersey, rumors speculated that the Devil Rays were paying Boggs to get inducted as a Devil Ray, as the Devil Rays had no players representing them in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Boggs ended up wearing a Boston Red Sox hat, and did get inducted that year.

On a lighter note, Boggs has done some acting, making television appearances on Cheers, The Simpsons, and Futurama. His superstitions have also been mentioned in print media, but some account them for making him one of the best hitters in baseball. Boggs' accomplishments were so good, that in 1999, he was ranked at #95 out of 100 in the One Hundred Greatest Baseball Players publication. He was also nominated for the All Century Team. Other accomplishments of Boggs' include:

12 Straight All Star appearances
2215 Games played as a third baseman (4th overall on 3rd baseman list)
.415 On-base percentage (tied for 23rd)
1412 Walks (ranks 22nd)
578 Doubles (ranks 16th)
3010 Hits (ranks 24th)
1513 Runs (ranks 55th)
9180 At-bats (48th)
2440 Games played (57th, tied with Tony Gwynn)
Had seven straight 200 plus hit seasons (1983-1989), the most in American baseball
Hit .300 plus fourteen times, every season but one