In my 3rd “Compare/Contrast” feature I will put two of the finest pure hitters the game has ever seen up against one another in Wade Boggs vs Tony Gwynn. These two players understood an atbat and had great instincts and approaches to an atbat that has since been unmatched, so lets get to it, shall we.

Player’s Profile

Wade Anthony Boggs was born on June 15, 1958 in Omaha, NE. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 7th round of the 1976 amateur draft. Wade made his debut on April 10, 1982against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MD. He would go onto play 18 seasons for 3 teams, the Red Sox, the Yankees, and then the Devil Rays.

Anthony Tony Gwynn was born on May 9, 1960 in Los Angeles, CA. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 3rd round of the 1981 amateur draft. Tony made his debut on July 19, 1982 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, CA. He would go onto to play 20 seasons and he played his entire career for one team, the Padres.

Career Accolades

In Wade’s 18 year career he made it to the postseason in 6 of those seasons and played in 2 World Series’ in 1986 with the Red Sox and in 1996 with the Yankees. He would lose the series in ’86 but 10 years later in ’96 he won his one and only World Series Championship in his career. During his career he made 12 all-star teams all consecutively from 1985-1996, led the American League in batting average 5 times during the years of 1983 and 1985-1988, on base percentage 6 times over the years of 1983 and 1985-1989, runs scored 2 times in 1988-1989, hits in 1985, doubles 2 times in 1988-1989, base on balls 2 times in 1986 and 1988, intentional walks 6 times from 1987-1992, times on base 8 times from 1983-1990, won 2 Gold Gloves in 1994-1995, and won 8 Silver Sluggers during the years of 1983, 1986-1989, 1991, and 1993-1994. Wade had many statistical great seasons but his best all-around season came in 1987 when he hit .363 AVG, 108 R, 200 H, 40 2B, 6 3B, 24 HR, 89 RBI, 105 BB, 48 SO, .461 OBP, .588 SLG, and a1.049 OPS.

In Tony’s 20 year career he made it to the postseason in 3 of those seasons and played in 2 World Series’ in 1984 and 1998, losing both times. During his career he made 15 all-star teams from the years 1984-1987 and 1989-1999, led the National League in batting average 8 times during the years 1984, 1987-1989, and 1994-1997, on base percentage in 1994, runs scored in 1986, hits 7 times during the years of 1984, 1986-1987, 1989, 1994-1995, and 1997, times on base in 1987, sacrifice flies in 1997, won 5 Gold Gloves from the years of 1986-1987 and 1989-1991, and won 7 Silver Sluggers during the years of 1984, 1986-1987, 1989, 1994-1995, and 1997. Tony also had many great offensive seasons but his best all-around season came in 1997 when he hit .372 AVG, 97 R, 220 H, 49 2B, 2 3B, 17 HR, 119 RBI, 43 BB, 28 SO, .409 OBP,.547 SLG, and a .957 OPS.

Career Numbers

Compare/Contrast

Wade put up multiple Hall of Fame type of seasons during his career in the years of 1983-1989, 1991, and 1995 and the same can be said for Tony during the years of 1984-1987, 1989, and 1993-1997. While both players had phenomenal careers, the way their careers were structured from a success standpoint were different. Wade had more success during the first half of his career where as Tony seemed to have more of a career in which his best years were spread out more in both the first and second halves of his career.

Both of these players were as an intelligent a hitter as you could have ever seen. Wade and Tony had uncanny instincts and wits when it came to their approach at the plate. They both could foul pitches off on purpose in order to extend an atbat and either work a walk or finally get that pitch that they could do something with. They both used the entire field and were masters of hitting the ball where it was pitched and Wade did take advantage of the Green Monster at Fenway Park as he could seemingly play “a game of pepper” with the wall.

The two biggest differences between the two players outside of playing completely different positions were speed and the willingness to take a walk. Tony used speed in his game much more than Wade as you can see from the amount of successful stolen bases in Tony’s career. On the other hand, Wade was more willing to take a walk especially in the first half of his career. Both were patient hitters as you cannot have career averages of around .330 – .340 without being patient but Tony was more of a hacker than Wade but in no way did it hurt his approach at the plate nor did it hinder his career in anyway.

From a defensive standpoint both were quality players to slightly above average fielders. Wade seemed to get better throughout his career with the glove but slowed down towards the end as far as range and whatnot is concerned. Tony did not have the greatest arm but as avid students of the game both he and Wade became better defensive players through hard work and training.

Growing up, playing Little League baseball, and getting to see these guys in the 1980s was a real treat. To put it simply they were two of the finest, purest, and intelligent hitters in the game. Since they have both now retired and both have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame there have been zero hitters that have their style or approach at the plate. The closest comparable player presently in the game today would be Ichiro Suzuki who is somewhat in the same ballpark when it comes to the philosophy of hitting.

Final Thoughts

Now onto the tough part of seemingly every “Compare /Contrast” feature, the winner. These two ballplayers were true “baseball players” with a high intellect for the great game. As much as I want to give Wade the victory due to the walks and a better OBP I look at how Tony incorporated speed into his game, was as tough as anyone to strikeout, and seemed to have a more spread out successful career as far as Hall of Fame type seasons are concerned. In the 3rd “Compare/Contrast” here at “The 1 Constant” I award Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn the winner by an extremely slight margin.