Persistence About to Pay Off 3,000 Times Over

In the era of prolific power, the imminent arrival of Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn at 3,000 hits underscores the ongoing value of prolific persistence.

Or as Boggs put it:

“With Mark [McGwire] and Sammy [Sosa] and all those other guys hitting all those home runs, Tony and I kind of get washed to the beach, but I think we’ve gotten to the point in our career where we’ve proved that it’s OK to say to a Little Leaguer, ‘Hey, you don’t have to hit the ball over the fence, it’s OK to hit a line drive.’ ”

Conceivably, no two players have hit more over a similar number of years. They are the quintessential contact hitters of the last two decades, dominating their respective batting races since both made their debuts in 1982. Gwynn has won eight National League titles, Boggs five American League crowns.

They began the 1999 season first and third among active players in career batting average separated by Mike Piazza. Gwynn was at .339 and Boggs .329.

They were first and second in hits, first and third in doubles and first and second in strikeout-to-walk ratio, with Boggs first in the latter two categories.

“Our careers have paralleled each other for so long that it’s fitting we both do it in the same year,” Boggs said during a national conference call in which Gwynn also participated.

He referred to 3,000 hits, which they may get on the same day, let alone in the same year. Boggs has 2,992 hits, and Gwynn 2,991. They are striving to be the 22nd and 23rd players to attain a milestone that guarantees admission to the Hall of Fame, and they will be the sixth duo to do it in the same season.

Of course, Cal Ripken Jr. is not far behind at 2,968. If the Baltimore Oriole third baseman reaches 3,000 this year it will be the first time three players have done it in the same season.

Both Boggs, the Tampa Bay Devil Ray third baseman, and Gwynn, the San Diego Padre right fielder, would like to be the first of the three to reach 3,000, but both also said that it is appropriate they are closing in at the same time, although Gwynn would probably have been there several weeks ago if he hadn’t gone on the disabled list twice because of a calf injury.

Gwynn grew up in Long Beach emulating Rod Carew, who was then playing for the Angels. But, Gwynn says, “as a guy who hit similar to the way I hit, Wade set the standard. When he came into the game there were a lot more contact hitters than there are now, and he came right out of the box with seven consecutive 200-hit seasons.

“I mean, I was having success in the National League, but not at the level he was. He became the guy I wanted to be like. He was the guy you had to chase.”

In those early years with the Red Sox, Boggs said he fed off George Brett, the Kansas City Royal third baseman who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last Sunday and is the godfather of Boggs’ son, Brett.

“George was the ultimate,” Boggs said. “He was sliced bread. He had the perfect swing and he hit for far more power than I ever did. Whatever they threw George, he was on it every time, and every time I took batting practice I would say to myself, ‘OK, I’m George Brett.’ ”

But in time, Boggs added, he also developed a bond with Gwynn.

“I never felt we were competing against each other,” he said. “I never had to pick up a box score and worry that he passed me [in the batting race]. We were allies more than adversaries, and I always felt that it helped my stock if Tony did well because we were similar hitters. We had to put line-drive hitters on the map, and that’s what we’ve done.”

“I had one style and took it to the max. I said if Pete Rose can do it [this way], so can I, but there were always cynics. I was always told I’d never hit third in the big leagues or be the type player who could play third base in the big leagues because I didn’t hit home runs. I’d hit .365 with 200 hits and I’m still trying to figure out why I was a failure.”

Another left-handed hitter, Ted Williams, has been on the national stage recently with emotional appearances at the All-Star game and Hall of Fame ceremonies.

Boggs said he read Williams’ “The Science of Hitting” when he was a high school junior and took from it, and subsequent meetings with Williams, the importance of patience and discipline, the confidence to go deep in the count.

Gwynn has talked with Williams many times and said the one thing he consistently stressed is that it is OK, against familiar pitchers, to look for a pitch in a certain zone and put your best swing on it without worrying about the results. The approach has allowed Gwynn to pull more inside pitches with power and “made me a better hitter.”

But basically, he added, “what Wade and I have done over the years isn’t very glamorous. We grind it out for 162 games and hope somebody likes the results.”

What has there been not to like?

Gwynn is 39, Boggs 41. Neither plays 162 anymore. Nor is the future entirely certain, although both continue to cope with the generation gap when healthy and in the lineup. Boggs, with improved vision through laser surgery, is batting .288, Gwynn .310.

During the Hall of Fame weekend, George Brett bemoaned some of the attitudes displayed by current players--quick to shower, quick to leave the clubhouse after games, the perception that only money matters.

“There are so many great young talents,” said Boggs, citing Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez, among others. “These guys have to carry on the legacy because they bring a tremendous approach that will hopefully rub off on some of the young kids I see coming up with a know-it-all attitude after hitting .230 in the minors. We need to get back to some of the old-school approach because I think old school has sort of died and that when Tony and Cal and myself get out of the game, it will have gone by the wayside entirely.”

Passion, said Gwynn.

Guys like Jeter, Garciaparra and Rodriguez may have enough of it to play long enough at a high enough level, he said, to join Boggs, Ripken and himself in planting their flags, as Boggs put it, on the Everest that is 3,000 hits.

“With the kind of salaries today, guys don’t have to play that long [before being financially set],” Gwynn said. “To get to 3,000, you’re going to have to want it, you’re going to have to have a passion for the game.”

And the ability to drop some line drives among the bombs.