Boggs Strolls Into the Hall

From franchises that suffered for generations, including theirs, and from ballparks that helped define their game, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg arrived together at baseball’s Hall of Fame, elected Tuesday for induction into Cooperstown’s hallowed brick building.

Boggs, who amassed 3,010 hits and five batting titles in 18 seasons, 11 with the Boston Red Sox, was named on 91.86% of a record 516 ballots submitted by members of the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America, and so was elected in his first year of eligibility.

Sandberg played all but 13 games of a 16-year career with the Chicago Cubs, was lauded as a second baseman for both his deft glove and potent bat, and was elected in his third try. He drew 76.2% of the votes, 393 in all, six more than required.

Of those who fell short of the 75% needed for election, reliever Bruce Sutter came closest, but still was 43 votes short. Jim Rice, Rich Gossage and Andre Dawson were named on more than half the ballots, and could gather more support next year, when the freshly eligible class is headed by Orel Hershiser, Dwight Gooden and Will Clark. Pete Rose, who is banned from baseball and was not on the ballot, received nine write-in votes.

Boggs and Sandberg will be inducted during a July 31 ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In recounting his life in the game, Boggs described a seminal trip to the upstate New York burg with two minor league teammates, his fascination with Ted Williams’ book, “The Science of Hitting,” and the guidance of mentors such as Joe Morgan, Ralph Houk and Johnny Pesky.

But his voice shook at a mention of his father, Win, who is 79 and was nearby when the telephone rang Tuesday, welcoming him to the Hall of Fame.

Asked if he had signed his first autograph as a Hall of Famer, Boggs chuckled and said he hadn’t, but, “I’d have to probably sign my first one to my dad. I’m going to sign a picture to him and say, ‘I love you, Dad. We made it. HOF ’05.’ ”

It was Win who taught young Wade his glorious opposite-field stroke, one seemingly built for Fenway Park, where the left-handed batter routinely found the gap in left-center field or, farther, the looming Green Monster. Win insisted his son learn to throw right-handed, despite Wade being born a left-hander.

“He coached me in Little League and sort of mentored me all along, was there for every phone call in the minor leagues,” Boggs said. “My mother’s not here to celebrate with us. But he is. We’re enjoying it. The tears are flowing, but they’re tears of joy. He’s the man who made it all possible, and that’s my dad.”

Boggs, known for his ritual pregame chicken dinners and rigid preparation, retired after the 1999 season as a career .328 hitter. He had left Boston for the New York Yankees, where he won his only World Series, in 1996. The memory of Boggs on the back of a police horse, clinging to a helmeted officer, both of them galloping across the Yankee Stadium field after defeating the Atlanta Braves in six games, is one of the enduring images of his career.

“I felt so proud,” Boggs said, “to finally be called a World Champion.”

Sandberg retired twice, once during the 1994 season for a year and a half, and again, for good, after the 1997 season. After tending to personal matters outside of the game, Sandberg returned to hit 37 home runs and drive in 156 runs in his final two seasons to finish with 282 homers and 1,061 RBIs, probably cementing his election.

He said he twice had opportunities to play out contracts and leave the historically woeful Cubs, but could not.

“I didn’t want to go elsewhere,” Sandberg said Tuesday, “and have the Cubs win.”

Sandberg played in two National League championship series, in 1984, when he was the most valuable player in the league, and 1989. The Cubs lost both, though Sandberg batted .385 in them.

While he had unusual power for a second baseman even at cozy Wrigley Field, six times hitting at least 20 home runs in a season, and won nine Gold Gloves, the World Series never came.

“One of my goals for 20 years was to play in a World Series and win a World Series,” Sandberg said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for me in Chicago.”

Tuesday’s telephone call, though, helped.

“I would call it some kind of closure,” he said, “and tremendous satisfaction.”

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Hall of Fame voting

516 votes cast; 387 needed for election:

*--* Name Votes Per. Wade Boggs 474 91.86 Ryne Sandberg 393 76.2 Bruce Sutter 344 66.7 Jim Rice 307 59.5 Rich Gossage 285 55.2 Andre Dawson 270 52.3 Bert Blyleven 211 40.9 Lee Smith 200 38.8 Jack Morris 172 33.3 Tommy John 123 23.8 Steve Garvey 106 20.5 Alan Trammell 87 16.9 Dave Parker 65 12.6 Don Mattingly 59 11.4 Dave Concepcion 55 10.7 Dale Murphy 54 10.5 Willie McGee 26 5.0 x-Jim Abbott 13 2.5 x-Darryl Strawberry 6 1.2 x-Jack McDowell 4 0.8 x-Chili Davis 3 0.6 x-Tom Candiotti 2 0.4 x-Jeff Montgomery 2 0.4 x-Tony Phillips 1 0.2 x-Terry Steinbach 1 0.2 x-Mark Langston 0 0.0 x-Otis Nixon 0 0.0

*--*

x-By receiving fewer than 26 votes (less than 5%), these players are no longer eligible for election by the BBWAA.