Player Profile: Wade Boggs

I have 203 cards of Wade Boggs. This one is from 1997 Circa.

Playing career: Wade Boggs was one of the greatest hitters of the 1980s, winning five batting titles between 1983 and 1988. Overall, in eighteen seasons with the Red Sox, Yankees and Devil Rays, he hit .328 with 3,010 total hits, 118 HR, 1,513 runs scored and 1,014 RBI. He was an All-Star twelve seasons in a row. 

My memories: By the time he came to the Yankees he was no longer the hitting machine that he once was, but he was still a very productive member of the lineup. He was also underrated as a defensive third baseman. Boggs is best-remembered by Yankees fans for his tenth-inning, bases-loaded walk to complete the comeback from 6-0 down in Game 4, and for riding a police horse around Yankees Stadium after Game 6. However, he actually hit so badly in the postseason that he was benched in favor of Charlie Hayes, which was why it was Hayes and not Boggs who got to catch the final out in Game 6.

Where he is now: He has been coaching baseball at Wharton High School in Tampa for over a decade.

Interesting stories: Boggs was always a magnet for attention and controversy. The Margo Adams affair (Boggs getting sued by a former mistress) was one of the first baseball player scandals that I was aware of as a young fan. There were his numerous superstitions, most famously eating chicken before every game, but also running sprints at 7:17 every day and drawing the Hebrew word “Chai” in the batters box every at-bat.

Google Autocomplete results: He is second when you type Wad, between Wade Barrett, a wrestler, and Wade, referring to basketball player Dwyane Wade. There do not appear to be any other prominent Wade Boggses.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Brian Bogusevic.