wade boggs is in my hall of famer collection

the summer of 1983 was a special time for me. in terms of baseball alone, it was my last year of little league, wherein i hit a home run and made the all-star team, and we had a good run that fell just short of moving on the to state tournament. in terms of my baseball fandom, the dodgers were playing well, on their way to an nl west title and a disappointing loss to the phillies in the nlcs, and i was also fully immersed in card collecting. there were three rookie cards to find that summer in packs of topps, fleer, and donruss - ryne sandberg, tony gwynn, and wade boggs.  my friends and i opened a lot of packs that year!  today, all three are in my hall of famer collection, but i'll address wade boggs first.  here's his entry in my collection:

that's a 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel numbered 30/49.  here's the back:

of the three 1983 rookies, i followed boggs the least, but i still paid attention to him and collected his cards as his mastery of hitting was impossible to ignore. my high school baseball coach made us read the 1986 sports illustrated interview with boggs, don mattingly, and ted williams. it was pretty interesting, and i like to think that this card gives a good look at the downward swing that williams and boggs were talking about.  for the record, we also had a hitting coach who really stressed the hips movement that williams was preaching in that article. it didn't help me much, though, as i was definitely only a warning track power kind of hitter. i did hit to all fields though!

i also like that the card represents boggs' 1989 season, which was the first year that i saw him play in person. by that time, he already had 5 batting titles to his name, along with 6 straight seasons of more than 200 hits.  unfortunately, he didn't do much in the game that i saw (it was the same game that i referenced in my jim rice hall of famer collection post), as he went 1 for 4 and even had a rare strikeout against jim abbott that night.  i also saw boggs play 10 years later, when he was with the devil rays in a game at the hubert h. humphrey metrodome in minneapolis.  in that game, he went 1 for 3 (hit number 2,960) with a walk. so, i didn't get to see a 3 for 4 hitting display, but it was still pretty cool to be able to see this guy hit in person.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

hank greenberg - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

hal newhouser - 1993 front row premium all-time greats autograph

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

wade boggs - 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel 30/49

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

ron santo - 2004 topps retired signature autograph

greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph

 

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.