My Wade Boggs Tribute

Wade Boggs is in the Hall of Fame. I will always remember Wade quite fondly because it brings back some of my earliest days at Fenway. In fact, I remember it as if it was yesterday....(cue flashback music).

It was springtime 1988. I had arrived in Boston last fall and was about to embark on my first Fenway ball game. We got good bleacher seats, which cost $6 in those days. It was sometime in April and I think the Orioles were in town.

But there was a buzz in the air. Just a few days ago, the story had broke that Boggs had cheated on his wife and some woman had filed a palimony suit against him. The hoity-toity sports columnists said such behavior was unbecoming a Red Sox star and Boggs should be traded. It was a fortunate case of good timing that we happened to be going to the ballpark that day. What would happen when Boggs came to bat? How would the hometown crowd treat him?

Going through the Gate C turnstiles, we could hear snatches of conversation around us. It was all: Boggs, Boggs, affair, Boggs. When they announce the lineups, Boggs gets a mixed reception, maybe a few more boos than cheers. True to 1988 Boston management style, the hit machine bats third that day.

When Boggs comes up to bat, the crowd starts murmuring. Remember this is my first time in the bleachers and the crowd is somewhere between the Star Wars cantina and Hogs and Heifers before the Upper West Side started going there. But then, a bunch of about 10 inebriated guys behind us start this chant that has since been etched into my brain. With one hand holding their beers and the other cupped around their mouths they yell out:"DON'T TRADE WADE BECAUSE HE GOT LAID!!!!!"

People laugh. But others start chanting it as the drunkards repeat their plea. It starts getting louder:

"DON'T TRADE WADE BECAUSE HE GOT LAID!!!!!!!!!!"

By the time Boggs is up to his sixth or seventh pitch, the whole bleachers section is screaming it.

"DON'T TRADE WADE BECAUSE HE GOT LAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Boggs swings the bat and, true to form, knocks a single off the wall. Everyone is happy. Every time he comes up to bat, and a couple of other times when he's involved in a play, the chant starts again. Naturally, the expensive seats never join the bleachers' call to action. A couple weeks later Wade and his wife go on TV and he announces he's addicted to sex. Well, what guy isn't?

And even Nomar would laugh at Boggs' weird rituals. He made a chai symbol in the ground every time he was in the on deck circle. Boggs is not a Jew. He also ate chicken before every game. Every day he would arrive at Fenway the same time, take BP at the same time, and ran sprints at the same time.

Another Boston management gem: In 1991 Boggs had his first sub-.300 year. Management declared him washed up, even though the Sox finished last that year under the immortal manager Butch Hobson. Boggs signed with NY and returned to All-Star form. In fact, I think he won his Gold Gloves as a Yankee. He rode the police horse during the 1996 World Series win (the horse, thankfully, did not trigger Boggs' sex addiction). I remember him saying, "Ten years ago this slipped through my fingers. It's not going to slip through my fingers again." Oooooooooohhhh, that hurt!

Some hoity-toity sports columnist, probably the same one who said he could be traded, once mentioned that Boggs could have hit way more home runs and RBIs than he did. Actually, I think that's true, especially at Fenway. A lefty with his power and hitting skills could easily hit more than 20 dingers each season, but he probably didn't want to hurt his average. Ironically, his stats and OBP would be perfect for Boy Theo right now.

But I'm happy for Wade. And Wade, I was one of the ones who begged the Red Sox:

DON'T TRADE WADE BECAUSE HE GOT LAID!