Re: Wade Boggs in 1987, Someone Explain This

[EmpireWF]

Re: Wade Boggs in 1987, Someone Explain This

The HOFer hit 118 HR in his 18-year career in the big leagues.

1982-5
1983-5
1984-6
1985-8
1986-8
1987-24
1988-5
1989-3
1990-6
1991-8
1992-7
1993-2
1994-11
1995-5
1996-2
1997-4
1998-7
1999-2

Is there any logic behind his HR number in 1987?

Also, how he only got 16% of the MVP vote that year is nuts.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1987.shtml#ALmvp

Tony Fernandez had more votes based exclusively on his SB numbers (32) and even Paul Molitor's line was lesser than Boggs' except for the steals (45). They had 20% and 32% of the vote, respectively. :dunno:

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Power was up across the board in 1987, there was a massive HR spike.

3818 HR's in 1986
4458 HR's in 1987
3180 HR's in 1988

1987 was a really fun season, especially for a 10 year old kid who rooted for the Reds as Eric Davis was one of the guys who busted out. Look at that line! : http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/daviser01.shtml

That's also the year Davis was robbing HR's left & right with his wall jumps. Very exciting player for a 6-7 year period until injuries & coke ruined him. Had hall of fame talent.

It wasn't just light hitting guys like Boggs, Juan Samuel, & Kevin McReynolds who has career highs in homers, it was also the great power guys like Davis, Andre Dawson, etc as well. Just a wacky season, probably still my favorite year to date to watch baseball.

 

[dell71]

Also, how he only got 16% of the MVP vote that year is nuts.

Warner hit the nail on the head as far as his homerun total goes. As for his MVP status this is fairly easy. It was still an era when the way to win MVP was to bat .300 and be near the top of the HR and RBI leaderboard while playing for a team that at least contended for a division title. Using that criteria, Boggs only had one thing going for him, his league-leading BA (.363). As far as his team, the Sox finished with only 78 wins, 20 games out of first. They were also behind Molitor's Brewers and Fernandez's Jays in the standings. Plus, ESPN and Bill James hadn't quite ascended to their thrones (I know, both were around) so no one with a loud enough voice was championing Boggs' WAR, or OBP, or OPS, or anything else he did that year.

 

[jms493]

I am pretty sure I have this somewhere in my parents house

The gum that came with the pack is probably worth more

 

[dell71]

I am pretty sure I have this somewhere in my parents house

The gum that came with the pack is probably worth more

Maybe, but it might be a rare card. How many of his actually have his position listed as 1st Base-3rd Base. I dunno, just trying to find the silver lining for you.