Wade Boggs retired from Major League Baseball in 1999 with 3,010 hits, a career batting average of .328, 12 All-Star appearances and one World Series title during his 18-year Major League Baseball career. Boggs won five batting titles with the Boston Red Sox but didn’t win his first (and only) World Series championship until he signed with the rival New York Yankees. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 on the first ballot.
Boggs, now 54, lives in Tampa, FL where he serves as the assistant baseball coach at Wharton High School. He’s also an investor in a group called Go the Distance Baseball which purchased the famous Field of Dreams site in Iowa in hopes of developing it as a premiere tournament travel baseball destination. I caught up with Boggs in the dugout of another Field of Dreams, the Pepsi MAX legends game in Rochester, N.Y.
The first-ballot Hall of Famer talked about his favorite baseball memories, the AL East and of course his appearance on The Simpsons.
Amanda Rykoff: Why did you want to return to the legends game for a second year?
Wade Boggs: It gives you an opportunity to get back on the field and hear the fan applause. That’s the big thing that you miss when you leave the game is the applause and it makes you feel good. Plus all the legends and Hall of Famers that are here, it’s always fun to play with them.
Amanda Rykoff: Who are the current players you enjoy watching?
Wade Boggs: There’s a lot of great young talent around now. Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Miguel Cabrera, the first guy to win a Triple Crown since ‘67.
Amanda Rykoff: What hitter today reminds you the most of yourself?
Wade Boggs: Probably Ichiro.
Amanda Rykoff: What’s your best Boston memory?
Wade Boggs: The 1986 World Series. It didn’t come out the way we anticipated it but that was a fun year.
Amanda Rykoff: What’s your best New York memory?
Wade Boggs: Riding the horse in ‘96. That was a special night. That’s why we play. To win a World Series and be a world champion and that was a terrific night.
Amanda Rykoff: You played for three of the teams in the AL East. What are your thoughts on the division this year?
Wade Boggs: The amazing part about the Yankees is they’re doing it with guys that were backups on other teams and now they’re becoming stars in New York. It’s good to see that they’re holding their own while the stars are out.
Amanda Rykoff: How many people want to talk to you about your appearance in The Simpsons famous “Homer At the Bat” episode?
Wade Boggs: A lot of people ask me about it, actually. I was in Cheers also. I’ve done some acting in the past but I think The Simpsons was probably my best effort.
Photos by Bill Wippert/Invision for Pepsi MAX/AP Images.
