I Just Don't Like Wade Boggs - Redux

Yeah - I had nothing for today but one of the benefits of blogging for over 2 years is the ability to just pick stuff from the past. So today please enjoy as I rant against Wade Boggs once again.

I don’t deny that Wade Boggs has a great case to make the Hall of Fame but I do say that his election will lower the bar at third base for future Hall of Famers.

The case for Wade to make the Hall of Fame rests on the following accomplishments:

1. 3,010 career hits – no player ever to get 3,000 hits has failed to make the Hall of Fame (except Pete Rose of course). It is considered a “magic” number. (23rd place all time in hits)

2. .328 career batting average (34th all time)

3. 10 All-Star Games

4. 7 consecutive seasons with at least 200 hits

We’ll come back to these numbers but first let’s compare what Wade Boggs has done vs. the other 3rd basemen who have been elected to the Hall of Fame. To date 10 third baseman have been elected although only five have been elected by the Baseball Writers of America. Let’s see how Boggs stacks up against these five.

George Brett: During his career with Kansas City Brett averaged 19 HR’s, 95 RBI, a .305 batting average and 95 runs scored. Brett was a 12 time All-Star and also the 1980 AL MVP. Brett was also a top producer in the post season where in 9 series he hit .337 with 10 home runs. During Brett’s career he averaged 369 total bases per season.

Sorry but I would take George Brett over Wade Boggs any day of the week.

Eddie Matthews: During his career Eddie Mathews averaged 35 HR’s, 98 RBI, a .271 batting average and 102 runs scored per season. Matthews hit 512 career home runs and had a career .885 OPS.

Batting average notwithstanding – Boggs doesn’t stack up against Eddie Matthews.

Brooks Robinson: During his career with the Oriole Brooks averaged 15 HR’s, 76 RBI, a .267 batting average and 69 runs scored. Robinson was a 15 time All-Star and a 16 time Gold Glove winner. In 1964 Brooks beat out Mickey Mantle for the AL MVP and in 1970 Brooks was the World Series MVP.

When you think third base – you think Brooks Robinson and not Wade Boggs. Not even close.

Pie Traynor: During his career Pie average 5 HR’s, 106 RBI, a .320 batting average and 99 runs scored. Pie’s career ended in 1937 meaning that even though he played in the dead ball era – he still almost matched Boggs average of 8 HR’s per year.

Sorry Wade – give me a guy who can average 106 RBI and 99 runs scored over a guy who averaged 67 RBI and 100 runs scored anytime.

Mike Schmidt: During his career Schmidt average 37 HR’s, 107 RBI, a .267 batting average and 101 runs scored. Mike had a career .907 OPS was a 12 time All-Star and won 10 Gold Gloves. In addition to his 548 HR’s he also won 3 NL MVP awards (and was in the top 10 in MVP voting 10 times).

Mike Schmidt is widely acknowledged at the best all-around 3rd baseman in history. Wade Boggs wasn’t even in the same league (literally - Schmidt played in the NL).

So Wade would be lowering the bar with his election by the Baseball Writers of America. For those who like to hang their hat on Wade’s batting average – consider that of the six we just talked about Mike Schmidt had the worst batting average but is considered the best player while Wade had the best batting average but would be the least of the 3rd basemen examined.

Now let’s take a closer look at those numbers we mentioned at the beginning.

3,010 hits – 23rd place all-time. Very impressive but consider that 500 home runs has always been a magic number but recently people have been mumbling about Fred McGriff getting to 500 and not deserving Hall of Fame election. Why McGriff and not Boggs?

Let’s take a closer look at those 3,010 hits. The only person who got fewer bases out of their 3,000 hits than Boggs was fellow slap singles hitter Rod Carew. Keep in mind that Fred McGriff is in 43rd place for total bases all-time while Boggs is only in 59th. Even two of Boggs old teammates from the Red Sox – Jim Rice and Dwight Evans – had many more total bases than Boggs.

.328 career batting average which is 34th all-time. Ten people ahead of Boggs have better batting averages but yet are not in the Hall of Fame. Sure those ten include Joe Jackson and an active player like Todd Helton but it is proof that a high batting average is not a guaranty of election.

10 All-Star game appearances. At first glance this looks impressive but keep in mind that there wasn’t much competition for Boggs during this time. Scott Cooper - his replacement in Boston even made the team twice - in 1993 and 1994 (take a look at his numbers those years for a good laugh).

7 consecutive seasons with at least 200 hits. Can you say statistical anomaly? Ted Williams never had a 200 hit season – would anyone ever suggest that Boggs was a better hitter? Truth is most of Boggs’ hits were slap singles. Sure he was good at making contact but is that justification for Hall of Fame induction? I don’t think so.

Now I know that Boggs will probably get in simply based upon the 3,000 hits but to me he simply wasn’t anything special. You would be surprised how many fans in Boston who had the best chance to see him play feel the same way.