Boggs, Wade A.
Baseball
b. June 15, 1958, Omaha, NE
Baseball's best hitter during the 1980s, Boggs won five AL batting titles in a six-year period, from 1983 through 1988, and set a major league record by collecting more than 200 hits in seven consecutive seasons.
The left-handed-hitting Boggs joined the Boston Red Sox during the 1982 season, when he was used in the outfield, at first base and third base, and as a designated hitter. He batted .349 in 104 games.
The following year, he became the team's starting third baseman and won his first batting title with a .361 average. After slipping to .325 in 1984, he won four titles in a row with averages of .368, .357, .363, and .366.
Boggs hit .300 each of the next four years, dropped all the way to .259 in 1992, then went to the New York Yankees as a free agent. In five years with the Yankees, Boggs hit over .300 four times, including a .342 average in 1994. His final major-league season was with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998.
Blessed with an excellent eye, Boggs rarely struck out and drew a lot of walks. He led the league in walks with 105 in 1986 and 1265 in 1988, in runs scored with 128 in 1988 and 113 in 1989, and in doubles with 45 in 1988 and 51 in 1949. He was also the league leader in on-base percentage in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989.
Though not a particularly good fielder in his early years, Boggs turned himself into a fine defensive third baseman through hard work. He was named to The Sporting News AL All-Star team at the position in 1983, from 1985 through 1988, and in 1991.
Boggs, who is married, got some unwelcome publicity in 1988 when a California woman, Margo Adams, filed a $6 million breach of promise suit against him, alleging that they had had a four-year affair. Boggs admitted the affair, but said it had lasted for only two years. The suit was dismissed in 1989.
