Quote:Best Season, 1987
Boggs won his third straight batting title (.363) and collected exactly 200 hits. He also drew 105 walks while striking out just 48 times. He lashed 40 doubles, six triples, and 24 home runs (by far his career-standard). Hitting mostly leadoff, he drove in 89 runs and scored 108 times. In '88 he won his fourth straight batting crown.

Milestones
Boggs collected his 3,000th hit on August 6, 1999, one day after Tony Gwynn had reached the milestone. Boggs became the first player to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit.

Hitting Streaks
28 games (1985, when he hit .402 with 20 runs scored); 25 games (1987, hit .458 with 23 runs, 14 extra-base hits, 12 RBI, and 22 walks); 20 games (in 1986, when he went 34-for-84 for a .405 average)

Very Superstitious
Boggs' methodical approach to hitting was an extension of his methodical personality. The quirky Boggs was one of the most superstitious players baseball has ever seen: he awoke at the same time every morning, ate chicken before every game (Jim Rice nicknamed him "Chicken Man"), and took exactly 150 ground balls during infield practice. For night games, Boggs stepped into the batting cage at 5:17 and ran wind sprints at 7:17. (Trying to hex him, a scoreboard operator in Toronto once flipped the stadium clock directly from 7:16 to 7:18.) Before each at-bat Boggs would draw the Hebrew word "Chai" in the batter's box, and his route to and from the playing field was so precise that by late summer his footprints were often clearly visible in the grass in front of his home dugout.

Do-Over!
Boggs was part of a bizarre scenario on September 18, 1993, when the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 4-3, because a fan ran onto the field. With New York trailing, 3-1, with two outs and a man on first in the ninth inning, Mike Stanley hit a fly ball to left that apparently ended the game. Umpire Tim Welke, however, had called time when a fan bolted onto the field, giving Stanley a second chance. He singled on the next pitch. That was followed by a hit by Boggs, a walk to Dion James, and a single by Don Mattingly which drove home the tying and winning runs.

FACTOID
Boggs hit .344 for his career with runners in scoring position. He also batted .363 with the bases loaded.

Replaced
Bogg's .349 average in his '82 rookie season prompted the Red Sox to trade Carney Lansford, who had won the batting title the previous season. Lansford's departure opened the door for Boggs to play third base.

Quote:Wade Boggs pitches one scoreless inning of relief for the Yankees in a blowout loss to the Anaheim Angels. Boggs threw 16 knuckleballs and one fastball that clocked 74 mph. "I was Phil Niekro and Charlie Hough all rolled into one," said a beaming Boggs.