Background and career
Wade Anthony Boggs (born June 15, 1958), nicknamed "Chicken Man", is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. He also played for the New York Yankees (1993–1997), winning the 1996 World Series with them, and finished his career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–1999). Boggs became the 23rd player to reach 3,000 career hits. His hitting in the 1980s and 1990s made him a perennial contender for American League (AL) batting titles, winning 5 in 6 years from 1983 to 1988. His .328 career batting average is the highest of any living former player. Boggs is part of the Red Sox Hall of Fame and the Rays Hall of Fame, and he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 in his first year of eligibility. 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. In 1997, he ranked number 95 on the Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. Boggs, a 1976 graduate of Plant High School in Tampa, Florida, resides in the Tampa Palms neighborhood of Tampa.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, the youngest of three sons of Winfield Kennedy Boggs Jr. and Sue Nell Graham, Wade had a regimented military upbringing. Winfield and Sue met in 1946 at a military base in Georgia. Winfield served with the Marines in World War II and flew for the Air Force in the Korean War, while Sue piloted mail planes in World War II. The Boggs family lived in several different places (including Puerto Rico and Savannah, Georgia) before settling in Tampa, Florida, when Wade was 11 years old. He attended Plant High School in Tampa, where he played baseball and was an All-State football player as a senior. Boggs played quarterback until his senior year, when he switched positions to avoid injury and thereby protect his baseball career. His success as a left-footed placekicker and punter earned him a scholarship offer from the University of South Carolina. He graduated from Plant High School in 1976 and was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round of the 1976 MLB draft on the advice of veteran scout George Digby. He signed with the club for $7,500.
Boggs climbed slowly through the Red Sox minor league system over a period of six years, despite maintaining a better than .300 batting average consistently after his first year. He later recounted, "when I was in the minor leagues, I was told that I have no power, can’t field and am too slow." Boggs played in the longest game in professional baseball history as a member of the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1981 against Cal Ripken Jr. and the Rochester Red Wings. It lasted for 33 innings over eight hours and 25 minutes. The game took place from April 18–19, 1981, concluding on June 23, 1981, at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. During his last year in the minor leagues with Pawtucket, he led the league with a .335 batting-average, 167 hits, and 41 doubles.
A left-handed hitter, Boggs won five batting titles starting in 1983. He also batted .349 in his rookie year, which would have won the batting title, but he was 121 plate appearances short of the required minimum of 502. From 1982 to 1988, Boggs hit below .349 only once, hitting .325 in 1984. From 1983 to 1989, Boggs rattled off seven consecutive seasons in which he collected 200 or more hits, an AL record for consecutive 200-hit seasons that was surpassed by Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki. Boggs also had six seasons with 200 or more hits, 100+ runs, and 40+ doubles. Although he did not win another batting title after 1988 (his batting title that year broke Bill Madlock's MLB record of four by a third baseman), he regularly appeared among the league leaders in hitting.
In 1985, Boggs recorded hits in 135 games, tying a major league record. He also had 240 hits and 72 multihit games, setting club records for both. In 1986, Boggs made it to the World Series with the Red Sox, but they lost to the New York Mets in seven games. He holds the record for batting average at Fenway Park, at .369. Boggs had a power surge in 1987, setting career highs with 24 home runs, 89 RBIs, and a .588 slugging percentage. He never hit half as many home runs in any other season. In 1992, Boggs slumped to .259—one of only three times in his career that he failed to reach .300.
After the 1992 season, Boggs became a free agent. He was heavily pursued by two teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Red Sox's arch-rival New York Yankees. He signed a three-year contract with the Yankees worth $11 million, after they added the third year to the contract that the Dodgers would not offer. Boggs earned All-Star appearances and batted over .300 in four straight seasons, while collecting two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. In 1996, Boggs helped the Yankees win their first World Series title in 18 years, against the Atlanta Braves, which gave him his only World Series ring. In game four, the Yankees rallied from six runs down to tie it, Boggs was called on to pinch hit in the 10th inning. Using the batting eye for which he was known throughout his career, he drew a bases-loaded walk from Steve Avery, forcing in the go-ahead run. The Yankees won 8–6, evening the series. 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.
