Wade Boggs (1982-1999)
Chicken
“[M]ight be the purest hitter in baseball. No
one has yet found a way to get him out consistently.”
- a 1984 scouting report.
Wade Boggs won five batting titles and batted .328 for his career, averaging 200 hits per season. He entered the 3,000 hit club in his last season by belting a home run – the only player to have a homer as their 3,000th hit. He was a veritable hitting machine, yet his power numbers were slight – only 118 homers in his career. He rarely struck out.
Yet few players were as superstitious as Boggs. His nickname of “Chicken” referred to his habit of eating chicken before every game. He fielded exactly 150 balls and took batting practice the exact time before every contest.
Ken Boyer (1955-1969)
Captain
“Kenny Boyer was a pillar of strength in the Cardinal
organization. It was kind of understood that Kenny took care of the players
coming into the organization.” - Stan Musial
Ken Boyer came from a great baseball family – two brothers also played in the major leagues and three other brothers played in the minor leagues. He was the captain of the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals of 1964. He won five Gold Gloves and the 1964 MVP. During much of his career, he was overshadowed by other third basemen, such as Brooks Robinson, Eddie Mathews and Ron Santo. When he retired, he was among the all-time leaders in slugging, assists and double plays by third basemen. He also tied the then-record of 90 or more runs batted in for seven seasons held by Pie Traynor.
Ron Santo (1960-1974)
Pizza
“Ron Santo towers far above the real standard of the real Hall of Fame.”-
Bill James
The greatest third baseman in Chicago Cubs history is also one of the most beloved among the Windy City’s fans. Ron Santo finished his career with 342 home runs, five Gold Gloves and batted over .300 four times, yet he and many talented teammates never made it to the post season. Those teammates included Ernie Banks and Billy Williams. Probably the most remarkable fact of Santo’s career was that he played with a silent disease, diabetes, which was diagnosed at age 18. He was told not to expect to live beyond age 25. Nearly 50 years later Santo is still alive and is a regular on all of the Cubs radio broadcasts.
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