 Welcome to another edition of yes, we're here. I'm Jack Curry and today I'm joined by a Hall of Famer Wade Boggs Who is also a world series champion with the New York Yankees and Wade before I get to the baseball questions Just wanted to ask you how you and your family have been managing during these challenging times Well, they are challenging but we're Gradually and slowly getting back into the grind of things, but it's it's crazy times. It really is I'm happy to hear that your family is doing well. I've thought about you in this way Your passion was hitting your life was hitting if you were a player right now in these uncertain times How would you be keeping yourself ready for an opening day that you don't know what the date is yet? well, actually we went through that in 94 and When but silly because we didn't know whether to go home or stick around New York or And we weren't allowed to work out. So that was that was kind of difficult and we didn't know if we were gonna have a period to work out when we came back and Then coming into the spring training of 95 We had scab players and we were locked out and we didn't we didn't really know if the owners We're gonna have scabs the whole year and we were gonna sit out the whole year But I was going to the going to the high schools and the colleges and taking batting practice and staying ready and Coincidentally, we only had probably ten games of spring training that year and spring training was two weeks and We made up a majority of the games Throughout the course of the season in 95, but but yeah guys are just the uncertainty and and The one big thing that's hanging over their head right now is a CBA and that's This is something that it's sort of uncharted waters that they haven't had to deal with and Unlike the work stoppages and the strikes that we had when I was playing they've been virtually Bargain-free To where they can continue to play and not really worry about a work stoppage or Or things of that nature, so it is difficult to not know when hey When when are we gonna get back to to having that grind and and probably the worst thing for any of the players or the pitchers and they said something about carrying a and and added Five guys to the roster make it 30 or something and they're all pitchers and that that makes kind of a little bit more sense than Having a 25-man squad and pitchers trying to go out and throw a hundred pitches right off the get-go Wait you had a career in which you notched 3000 and 10 hits you hit that home run for the raise you kissed home plate at what point in your career Did you think 3000 was an attainable goal? probably after ten years I had two thousand hits and I was healthy at the time and knew that I wanted to play another ten years, so I I felt if I could get two thousand in the first ten I could get a thousand in the next ten that would that wouldn't be a That wouldn't be a problem, but Coincidentally only playing another eight years and having my career come to an end, but Probably after after ten years, I could start to see some of the light at the end of the tunnel to where wow I got two thousand after ten Let's let's let's make a run at this three thousand gig I Interviewed your dad win once career military man very tough very tenacious He said he taught you to bat left-handed when you're five years old And then he said the swing that you had as a little leaguer is the swing that we all Subsequently saw as you got your way through the major leagues How is that even possible that little eight nine ten-year-old Wade Boggs had had that same swing that we saw peppering The green monster with doubles we saw with the Yankees doing what you did for the Yankees well, and actually Aldi I got pictures when I was 18 months old in Puerto Rico and taking a swing and and Kirk Gowdy and and her Joe Gargiola and Tony Quebec rather show Ted Williams a picture and Ted said wow That's a perfect swing. I don't know who that kid is and it was a game at Fenway Park and And Joe Gargiola said well that kid's coming to the plate right now, and it was me but I've always I've always had one swing and it's always Since as far back as I can remember when I was five six years old. I had one swing and and Coincidentally the the one thing that sticks out in my mind is the ability to go to left field So when I was drafted in 76 the perfect team for me to go to was Boston because of the green monster had I been drafted by the Yankees It would have been someone of a dip difficulty to make that adjustment but I had to make that adjustment when I went to the Yankees in 93 and and Chained just tweak my swing a little bit, but All the way back Since I can remember seven years old that I've had the same swing You mentioned making that adjustment and going to the Yankees There were many adjustments you had to make you you're a five-time batting champion with the Boston Red Sox You're you're part of that fierce Yankee Red Sox rivalry What was it that compelled you to want to sign with the Yankees and come to New York? Mainly to stay in the American League. I had an offer from the Dodgers to go out West and I really didn't want to switch leagues at the time and and That was really the only offer that I had obtained and and the 24 hours I had been a free agent. I hadn't been a free agent very long in the market and I was down in Palm Beach With my agent and he said that Joe Malloy was on the phone and he wanted to meet with us And I went oh my gosh the Yankees and my agent Alan Nero and I met with Joe Malloy at mr. Steinbrenner's Hotel they're on the causeway and Offered me a three-year deal to go to to go to New York and and I went Well, I've got to go out and call my wife and make sure that she's okay with it and I came running back in and and signed with New York and and It was one of those that God throws you a little curveball and you got to make a decision and it was a great decision on my behalf It obviously ends up being a terrific fit for you a terrific fit for the Yankees I know there was some pain in 94 and some pain in 95 But what was the feeling of joy? When you get to 96 and how special that team was and what that team was able to accomplish Well, I hadn't been back to the world series since 86 and we ran into Buzzsaw Oakland a team and 88 90 so playoffs were were kind of elusive for me Going through 91 and 92 and then 93 we played well, but not really too much of playoff caliber and then 94 our team was just unbelievable and then 95 we We're all cocky and going to the West Coast and had a two-game lead on Seattle and thinking that well we're going to the next round and and then eventually Seattle beat us three straight there, but 96 was just such a fairytale year all the way around and We had like personalities on the team and we got along together and and these were the the neatest things that I take from my days in New York We're we're they they weren't the Bronx Zoo They were so far from the Bronx Zoo that you could ever imagine we'd we'd go into Minnesota and and go to Manny's Steakhouse and we'd have 21 22 guys going to dinner and It was it was just enjoyable and we all we all play practical jokes on each other and and and just that the camaraderie that we had as a total unit as a team Is is probably the reason that we were so successful Wait, I know some of the roster change from 95 to 96 But I remember being in that clubhouse in Seattle in 95 you had tears in your eyes McDowell had tears in his eyes buck showalters Faith was was on his desk Don Mattingly There was a feeling of pain that he talked about to me recently. How does 95? motivate you guys into what 96 became? Well, there was a huge transition from 95 to 96 Buck was fired or let go rather and then Joe Tory came aboard Donnie retired and Tina Martinez comes over from Seattle and There were a few other additions throughout the course of the 96 season, but there were a lot of additions that That the guys weren't around in 95 and and we had a really good team in 95 And I remember sitting in the training room in Seattle and Donnie looks over at me and goes I'm done. I'm retiring and I said, oh, there's no way you I said You just hit 467 in the playoffs and and you're back to playing The the caliber of baseball that you're you're accustomed to and he said no, this is it I'm hanging it up and and I'm done and we were in there crying together and it was probably that emotional Having 86 that emotion having 90 94 Build up inside of you and then 95 build up inside of you now you make it to the World Series in 96 You get a little chip on your shoulder and that was the thing that I was carrying around and 96 like I said, which is it was so special You've accomplished so much in your career I've mentioned some of the statistics here But I imagine that one of the questions you get asked most often and I'm going to ask it right here and right now too as you win the World Series Suddenly we see Wade Boggs and he's on the back of a mounted horse trotting around Yankee Stadium with the Officer what prompted you to do that? Jack I can honestly tell you that I've never gone back to look at the video on how I got up on that police force I want that I want that memory just to to be etched in there and and and just in my own mind and my own fantasy world that that some somehow magically I appeared on that horse, but When we were dog piling after the last out and and we had We're screaming and and all the fans were were just I called it They were so polite and just standing in their seats and not charging the field and taking The bases up or stealing our hats or stealing grass or something like that They just all stood and applauded but we decided to take a victory lap around Yankee Stadium and and and sort of give Thanks to the fans that were there and and and salute them and the next thing I know I'm down the left field line on a police horse and have no idea, but it's it's probably the One of the smartest moves that I've never calculated and trying to make a move because that the picture is is sort of iconic with with what year When Yankee fans look at it and say oh, that was 96. I know that Wade you're wearing a baseball Hall of Fame polo shirt right now very appropriately You're in a place that some of the youngsters from that 96 team have now followed you Mariano Rivera a year ago Derek Jeter his ceremony would have been this year. They pushed it to 2021 I know how focused you are as a player and I know that watching young players You must have seen something special in Jeter and Rivera as they were rising. What did you think about the two of them when they were so young? Well, I I always I always Called Derek. He was the fifth beetle Because every time we would we would come out of the clubhouse or something everybody would just go absolutely go nuts So it was George Paul John Ringo and Derek. So that was basically what I called Derek a majority of the time while I was there But you could just see that how you knew Mariano was going to take over the closer role the way he performed it And 95 and 96 to set up John wetland. So you knew that he was become A supreme closer at the time because he was he was unhittable. He would come in for the seventh and eighth inning to set up uh John wetland and No one would come close to getting the hit off of him and he had one pitch Which I till this day, I still haven't figured out how he got away with that but Just just the the presence that uh, Derek and and mariano The way they carried themselves on the field and off the field you knew that they were going to be superstars in eventual Hall of Famers You talked before about the reasoning For coming to new york and how you wanted to stay in the american league Once you you got there and you saw what stick michael and buck showalter and the rest of the Yankee organization were doing It was paul o'neill. It was you. It was jimmy key Oh, my gaego was there. There were other players that they added there was clearly a culture shift Let's get some veterans in here. Let's let some guys who are serious about winning We we've lost for too long. We've had some bad apples here Let's turn this around. How soon after you got there. Did did you sense that culture change? I sense that culture change in spring training because when I got there Uh, I walked in and and buck sort of had a puzzling look on his face and and like what are you doing here? I've hated you for so long being on the other side and playing against buck and west haven when I was in the minor leagues and then eventually playing against him when he was In new york and and managing in third base and third base coach and all of that but Like you said the the culture changed and they were consistently in the in the cellar They needed to revamp a couple positions Get some veteran leadership and they're not that that donny didn't have the veteran leadership but so many players came and went that Uh They needed they needed to start building a nucleus and that nucleus was going to be built around Dynamatically that's that's that's the first and foremost and what with donny is the the nucleus Going out and getting a spike going and getting apollo neal and and various players like this that all have similar personalities and and and nobody nobody wanted to be on the back page and and I think that that was another thing that that our Our clubhouse we had we had very few rebels in our clubhouse and and that was one of the things that the boston writers had said that Wade boggs will be on the the back page of the new york papers all the time And we left that for the mezz we sort of said well Let's just go out do our thing and and the mezz will take up the back page But when you look at just some of the guys that came over there the jack mcdowell's and And various various guys like that Is one of the reasons we all got along because we had so much in common Wade there's so many things I could talk about when I talk about your hitting prowess. I've mentioned the five batting titles 328 average 415 on base percentage This is my favorite. It comes from a stat guru ryan spader from june 9th 1985 to june 6 1986 a 162 game span You hit 401. It wasn't a calendar year, but it was a year's worth of baseball Do you have a statistical achievement from your career that boggles your mind or is it that one because that's pretty amazing Well, that that's the one that I I I would throw up in ted's face that I did hit 401 and and uh He reminded me that it wasn't in a calendar year and I said yes, sir. I I understand that but Probably probably the the one statistical thing that that I'm really proud of and I I sort of put it in the category of Never be broke Is the 200 hit hunter walk four straight seasons in a row? that's that's the thing of of When you when you sort of look back at it in my Playing days and and say wow. He was such a disciplined hitter It takes a lot to get 200 hits, but it takes a lot to get a hundred walks And to do both of those in a in a season and get on base over 300 times four years in a row That that was the reason I let off and and to get on base score runs And so that's that's probably one of the things that I accomplished that I'm probably most proud of You've mentioned ted Williams a couple of times Is there a piece of advice or maybe it's more than one piece of advice that he left you with that when you're talking to young hitters now That you try and pass on to them Yeah, probably the one thing was was don't use high High-labeled monofilament When you're bass fishing don't use 20 30 pound monofilament And use 10 pound test We would always talk about fishing we would for some reason never talk about hitting because our philosophies were extremely different And he would come down to the minor leagues when I was in the minor leagues in 77 78 79 80 and and he would talk to players and and And he would try to preach the hips out of hands and pull the ball and and I had The charlotte out there and it took a few years after Me being in the big leagues and winning a couple batting titles that ted sort of came around but We had such different philosophies and and I would hit the ball to left field and he wanted to pull the ball and And I said ted what works for me may not work for you and what works for you really doesn't work for me especially in philmway park So from ted williams I have to ask you a michael jordan question and researching this interview. I went back to 1994 I don't remember writing this so I doubt that you remember telling me this But i'm standing by your locker and this was the spring where jordan was trying to be a baseball player And espn flashed a graphic across the screen at that time in spring training You were 0 for 13 jordan was 0 for 12 And your quote was ah i'm compared to michael jordan now the only thing is i've got 24 more hundred hits I was compared to michael jordan. He hasn't played baseball in 16 years. It's like they're saying we're the same caliber player I think i would be better off not looking at it that way Do you even remember that and how proud you were of your hitting that this this kind of harmless tv graphic ticked you off at that moment Well did really tick me off I thought we were talking about our basketball prowess and and what what kind of a shot I uh a jump shot that I had from the three-point range, but uh normally when when You're gonna stick up for yourself and and People try to compare you to it. It's sort of like comparing Mike trout to tim tebow And saying that this is this is the player that tim tebow is going to be he's going to be just like mike trout and my my answer to all of those questions are Hey, put your time in put up the numbers Then let's start comparing you. This was the thing that I said that he never He had never played a major league game yet. He'd never been in a major league uniform and Had that grind 155 160 games and now I'm sitting there and and Taking spring training. I'm over 13. I'm taking it serious and now they're comparing michael jordan to me But if you're gonna be compared to anybody, I'll I'll be compared to mj anytime As I close this out, I'm actually going to bring up one of your old buddies john flarity So I was texting with him today And flashed said now you turn 62 next month He said yes, I do time time to train And you came back this year as a dh half a season because that's what it looks like they're going to play about 80 games Flash said you'd hit 280 What do you think about his assessment? Well with the amount of times that I would walk I would hit over 300 That would be the the thing I I've been coaching high school baseball for 20 years now here in tampa and and every every season I get in the cage and start hitting the ball around a little bit but uh I'd give it a go. I'd give it a go. It'd be fun 62 year old wade boggs is hitting 300. I think that's a mic drop right now We really appreciate your time and I hope you and your family continue to do well and hope to see at a ballpark soon Thank you jack. It is a pleasure and and everyone stay safe and be well