Available for Trade (3/14/2010) Cards I Need (12.10.2010)

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Bucket List 3000 hits: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

My next autograph is a player that is a bit more familiar to me. He spent a few years as a Yankee and helped them win their first World Series title since 1978. I have to say that Boggs may be one of the most interesting 3000 hitters. Boggs got his 3000th hit as a Devil Ray and at the time, he was the only hitter to get to 3000 hits with a home run. That is until this year when Derek Jeter changed that. But the spot where the HR ball hit is marked with a yellow seat in Tropicana Field.


So one of the most interesting stories with Boggs is his superstitious regiment. He would always eat chicken before a game. That's something I already knew but I later found out he took exactly 150 ground balls in practice, took batting pratice at 5:17 and ran sprints at 7:17. Before each at bat he would write the Hebrew word "Chai," which means life, in the dirt in the batter box. He is #1 on the list of most superstitious athelets on CBS Sport's web site.

There's also that 60-70 beer story that Jeff Nelson told about Boggs. I found a transcript of an interview Jeff Nelson did with ESPN radio here: 710 ESPN Steve Mason's Blog. Not only do they talk to Jeff Nelson about it but they call Paul Sorrento and he confirms the story. Essentially, on a cross country trip like New York to LA or Seattle to Boston, Boggs begins drinking beer at the start of the day and drinks all way til the end of the day. This is a man that has a .328 career batting average, multiple gold gloves and silver slugger awards and is a Hall of Fame member.

I was able to get a Wade Boggs auto for just under $20 which is a steal. His autos can go as high as $35 so he has a fairly affordable autograph. I'd say he's a must have for any personal collection. He is certainly one of the more interesting 3000 hit club members.