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A Visit from the Chicken Man MLB Hall of Famer Wade Boggs Wows Crowd at Law Foundation Holiday Benefit Luncheon By Brian C. Engelhardt, Esquire
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ade Boggs captivated the audience of nearly 500 people at the Law Foundation of Berks County/PICPA Reading Chapter Holiday Benefit Luncheon on the first Friday of December.
Boggs shared various stories delivered in an engaging and relaxed manner, all enhanced by his great sense of comedic timing. He also deftly fielded questions from me and my armchair interview partner, Holiday Benefit Luncheon Chair Mark Caltagirone, as well as from members of the audience.
Few in attendance may have been aware of the extent of the accomplishments that earned Boggs a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 following his 18-year career in Major League Baseball. Boggs spent his entire career in the American League while a majority of those at the luncheon likely root for the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League. Boggs played only 7 games against the Phillies after interleague play began in 1997. Some may have caught glimpses of Boggs playing in 12 All-Star Games, two World Series or an occasional nationally-televised game over the course of his 11 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, five seasons on The Dark Side (which was the view of Red Sox Nation) with the New York Yankees, then the two seasons for Tampa Bay Devil Rays (in the satanic era before the team changed its name to the plain old Tampa Bay Rays).
Among the gaudier statistics compiled by Boggs were 3,010 hits, compiling more than 200 in each of seven different seasons; a lifetime batting average of .328, 39th highest of all time; batting over .300 in 15 of the 18 seasons he played which was good enough to win five batting titles; 12 consecutive All-Star games, in which his collective batting average in them is .321; and so many more areas where he was an offensive leader. There are more. In the words of Casey Stengel, “You can look it up.”
“Boggs is as smart a hitter as I’ve ever seen. The next five or six years will tell the tale, but if he keeps up like he’s going now, he stands to be one of the greatest hitters of all time.” - Ted Williams after 1985 season in which Boggs batted .368, winning his second batting championship
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Most of the territory Boggs covered during his luncheon appearance related to baseball, including his recounting of his relationship with baseball great Ted Williams that began at least in concept when Boggs, experiencing problems with his hitting during his junior year of high school, read Williams’ book, “The Science of Hitting,” which his father loaned from a library. Taking Williams’ advice not to swing at pitches out of the strike zone resulted in Boggs significantly raising his batting average to .485 his senior year. Just a few years later, during Boggs’ first spring training camp with Boston in March of 1977, he introduced himself to Williams while they were waiting in line for a movie. It started a dialogue with Williams which covered not just hitting a baseball, but also hunting and fishing, as well as life in general. It was a dialogue that spanned 25 years until Williams’ death in 2002.
A Standing Ovation on Returning to Fenway, and “My World Series Championship for a Horse.”
Boggs shared heartfelt but humorous recollectons about his departure from Boston after the sudden death of owner Jean Yawkey. On his return to Fenway, after some boos and cheers in his initial at bat, the Red Sox faithful did give him a standing ovation. As to his time on “The Dark Side,” he shared several stories on his five seasons with the Yankees, with a high point of that episode of his career (aside from winning two Gold Gloves) being when he inexplicably ended up riding on the back of a New York City mounted policeman’s horse during the post-game celebration after the team clinched the 1996 World Series.
Big Night in Tampa and a Chicken Before Every Game.
Boggs related his memories of the evening of August 7, 1999 when he got his 3,000th hit while playing for Tampa, of which he was particularly fond because he had the company in the dugout of his son, Brett, who was then serving as the team batboy. Also that evening, Tampa manager Larry Rothschild kiddingly