Five-time American League batting champion Wade Boggs ranks with Tony Gwynn of the National League's San Diego Padres as the greatest pure hitters of their generation (1980s through 1990s). In his 18-year career, Boggs racked up 3,010 hits for a career average of .328. This was accomplished in the pre-steroids, doctored-baseball era when baseball parks had more generous dimensions and were more pitcher-friendly than they were today.

Boggs was a member of the 1986 American League Champion Boston Red Sox and the 1996 World's Championship New York Yankees team. The third baseman, who won a Gold Glove for fielding excellence with the Yankees, played in 12 consecutive major league All Star Games from 1985 through 1996. In 2005, he was voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility and was enshrined as a Red Sox player.