ST. PETERSBURG, FL: Baseball Hall of Famer and former Tampa Bay Rays star Wade Boggs is inducted ... [+]
When Wade Boggs took the field to warm up, he looked around and soaked in what he described as a remarkable time in his career and in his life.
He could feel the energy as fans were making their way into Tropicana Field for what would be the first game in the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, who were then known as the Devil Rays.
“I came out to do my wind sprints and I am like, I knew Tampa Bay would do this,” he said Sunday, after being inducted into the Rays’ Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural class, which also includes the late Don Zimmer (inducted April 2) and Carl Crawford, who will have his day August 26. “I grew up here. Tampa Bay is my home. I am so proud of Tampa and once we got the team in 1998, it made me prouder. I was in on the ground floor.”
It was March 31, 1998 when the Rays took the field for the first time. Tampa Bay was thrilled to have Boggs, a Tampa native, five-time batting champ and 12-time all-star, playing for their team. An 11-6 loss to the Tigers in front of 45,369 was a mere footnote on a memorable day, one made even more memorable thanks to the native son hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning for the first runs in team history. (Tampa native Fred McGriff, who will join Boggs in Cooperstown later this month, also homered for the home team.)
The 65-year-old Boggs, who was on the receiving end of a ceremonial first pitch from Ted Williams on that day 25 years ago – Tampa native Al Lopez, Stan Musial and Monte Irvin also participated in ceremonial first pitches – said he dreamed of someday playing on his home turf.
The Omaha native moved to Tampa in 1969 and lit up the ballfields of Bayshore Little League and Plant High School before embarking on a career that saw him hit .328 with 3,010 hits in 2,439 games. Boggs always wanted to return to Tampa and the seeds for a homecoming were planted in the winter of 1995 when Major League Baseball announced Tampa Bay was awarded an expansion franchise that would begin play in 1998.
Boggs, who played 11 years with the Red Sox before signing as a free agent with the Yankees following the 1992 season, did not have his option for 1998 picked up by New York. He felt there was an agreement between Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Rays owner Vince Naimoli – “I think Mr. Steinbrenner and Mr. Naimoli had a little chat” — to allow him to become a free agent and pursue his 3,000th career hit in a Tampa Bay uniform.
“I wanted to come back here to play,” said Boggs, who had 2,800 hits when he signed with the expansion club, and who thanked the late Naimoli, general manager Chuck LaMar and manager Larry Rothschild for bringing him home. “It was a dream come true to play at home. I wanted my family, my friends to see me. I am not winning batting titles or Gold Gloves at the end of my career, but I was going for something that was very special and I wanted my family and friends to be a part of it.”
Family and friends were a part of it on August 7, 1999 when Boggs drilled a pitch from Cleveland lefty Chris Haney into the right field seats to become the first of three players (Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez) to homer for his 3,000th hit.
“It was the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “I knew that 3,000 meant so much because, after 10 years, I had 2,000 hits. I said, ‘Wow,’ it’s a possibility and that’s what I am going to look down the road at.”
Boggs, who retired after a 1999 season in which he hit .301 at age 41, remained with the team and served as an assistant to LaMar in 2000 and was a hitting coach in 2001. He was even in the broadcast booth.
“I was fortunate to wear many hats,” said Boggs, who was enshrined in Cooperstown in 2005. “But the hat that I will wear now and that I am most proud of, that will be the hat of the Tampa Bay Rays Hall of Fame.”
