Little League Graduate Wade Boggs Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

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Newly elected Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs collects another hit. (Photo courtesy Boston Red Sox.)

A singles hitter with a .328 lifetime average over 18 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Mr. Boggs is the 19th player to be elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot. He finished with 3,010 hits.

In a recent interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Mr. Boggs said:

“You just sit back and reflect on the Little League days and growing up in Tampa and going, ‘Who would ever have thought at 46 years of age, on Tuesday, Jan. 4, you were going to get a phone call saying you're either in the Hall of Fame or you're not.’ Just to be mentioned as a Hall of Fame candidate is a compliment, to be included in the likes of Henry Aaron and Ted Williams and all the great players who are in the Hall of Fame. And now that that day is finally upon us, you just sit back and reflect that there are only 258 people in the Hall of Fame. I think there are almost 16,000 people who have played the game. And the difficulty in reaching the Hall of Fame is probably, put into words, one in a hundred million. You're better off winning the lottery than you are making it into the Hall of Fame when you first start out as a Little Leaguer.”

Mr. Boggs credits his success to his father, Winfield, who was his coach during Little League play.

Also elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame was former Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who was a guest in 2000 at the Little League Baseball/Major League Baseball Players Alumni Golf Classic at the Williamsport Country Club.

The induction ceremony in Cooperstown is scheduled for July 31.