Who Says He’s Just Average?

Before this year, Wade Boggs never hit more than eight home runs in a season. This year, he already has hit 17, and some people think he has the talent to become baseball’s first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski 20 years ago.

Says Ken Harrelson, who played with Yastrzemski: “My opinion is that Wade Boggs could come close to leading the league in home runs if he wanted to. Boggs can go upper deck in any stadium in baseball.”

Boggs says he doesn’t want to sacrifice batting average for homers, but the all-time home run hitter, Henry Aaron, has a better lifetime batting average than the all-time singles hitter, Pete Rose. Aaron hit .305; Rose stands at .303.

Seven of the top nine home run hitters in history won batting titles, including Ted Williams, the game’s last .400 hitter. When Babe Ruth hit .393 in 1923, he was four hits short of .400.

Does Boggs have enough power to win the Triple Crown?

Says Boston rookie Todd Benzinger: “In batting practice, he hits the ball farther than anyone we have, and I mean anyone--Jim Rice, Don Baylor, anyone. I’m convinced he could hit 30 or 40 homers a year if he wanted to.”

Add Yastrzemski: He averaged 16 homers a year for six seasons before hitting 44 in 1967, his Triple Crown year.

“That off-season,” Yastrzemski told Peter King of Newsday, “I just made the decision we needed some power. When I signed with the Red Sox, I made the promise to my parents that I’d graduate, and so I went back to school in my first six off-seasons. The winter of ’66 was the first one I used to really work out. They were intense workouts. I discovered I had some strength. Then I hit seven or eight homers in spring training. I told myself, ‘Even if I go 0 for 50 to start the season, I’m not going to change what I do.’ What made it plausible as the year went on is I wasn’t thinking about individual stats. I was just thinking about the pennant race.”

The Red Sox won the pennant.

Add Boggs: From United Press International: “Wade Boggs will do almost anything to improve his hitting. When a shipment of bats for George Brett arrived in Oakland for the All-Star game, the clubhouse guys prepared to send them back because Brett had dropped off the American League because of an injury. Not so fast, said Boggs, who reached into the box and took out one of the bats to keep for himself. ‘They have George’s soul in them,’ said Boggs, one of Brett’s best friends.”

Trivia Time: Who holds the record for striking out in consecutive plate appearances in a season? (Answer below.)

Said Dale Long after Don Mattingly equaled his homer record: “I’ve had the pleasure of the record for 31 years. I even got a $2,300 raise to $15,000 when I set the record. I’d like to add that to Mattingly’s salary and we’ll split the total.”

Mattingly’s salary is $1,975,000.

Today is a milestone date for two Angel announcers. On July 21, 1973, Philadelphia pitcher Ken Brett gave up Henry Aaron’s 700th homer as the Phillies beat Atlanta, 8-4. On July 21, 1975, Joe Torre of the New York Mets grounded into a record four double plays as the Mets lost to Houston, 6-2.

Trivia Answer: Sandy Koufax. In 1955, the 19-year-old rookie pitcher struck out in 12 straight plate appearances for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Quotebook

Larry Guest of the Orlando Sentinel: “My neighbor Wolfgang sez if Oral Roberts can raise the dead, why haven’t the L.A. Clippers hired him.”