Emotional Boggs, Sandberg join Hall of Fame

Member of 3,000-hit club, longtime Cubs star blown away by honor

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

Wade Boggs earned 91.9 percent of the vote when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

updated 2:06 p.m. ET Aug. 1, 2005

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Wade Boggs cried when he acknowledged his father, who turned a scrawny kid into one of the game’s toughest outs by teaching him that inside-out swing.

Ryne Sandberg was simply Ryno — smooth, stoic and flush with reverence for the game.

Four decades after they once dreamed of baseball greatness, Boggs and Sandberg were inducted Sunday into the Baseball Hall of Fame to the raucous cheers of thousands of Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cub fans.

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“There were many stops along the way,” said Boggs, who began playing minor-league baseball in Elmira, N.Y., in 1976. “But today that train has pulled into Cooperstown, and I’ve found this family here at the Hall of Fame. My wife and I believe this is the beginning of another baseball journey.”

Boggs, who batted left-handed, was an undersized hitter who didn’t attract much attention even though he finished his senior year at Plant High in Tampa, Fla., on a 26-for-33 tear. He was drafted in the seventh round by the Red Sox and then spent five-plus seasons in the minors before finally forcing Boston to promote him in 1981 after he led the International League in batting.

“Life is about obstacles,” said Boggs, who also played for the Yankees and Tampa Bay. “Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to what happens. Baseball is just a game. You should always play the game with passion, play the game with heart, and play the game you love, and possibly one day your dreams can come true just like mine did.”

Boggs learned the trademark inside-out swing that produced 3,010 hits from his father, Winfield, a fast-pitch softball star. He learned well, going on to hit .300 or higher 15 times and finishing with a .328 career average. He was the only player in the 20th century with seven straight 200-hit seasons.

And when it came time to pay tribute to his 80-year-old father, Boggs broke down as his dad, too, brushed away tears.

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“Daddy, I wouldn’t be up here without you, my mentor, my idol,” Boggs said. “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad. That’s why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game, and you taught me how to play it right. Without you, I wouldn’t be here. Thank you, dad.”

The tears continued when Boggs remembered his deceased mother, Susan.

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