Will Chipper Jones surpass Wade Boggs?
Written by Joe Veno on June 20, 2009 – 1:58 PM -Chipper Jones will be a Hall of Fame 3B. Clearly.
Wade Boggs is already in the Hall. And clearly should be.
Anyone going to dispute either of their cases?
But who will be better when all is said and done?
Right now, Boggs has the obvious advantage of already having the better resume. While Jones still has some catching up to do, you know, because he is still playing.
Advantage Boggs in that regard.
But Jones is still going strong, still producing at a high level. He is currently hitting .301/.418/.500, all at age 37. The guy just doesn’t slow down. Well, aside from the injury derailments.
But when Chipper Jones plays, he puts up great numbers. Not just great, but historically great. And that is a whole nuther level of great 
As for Wade Boggs, he put up a WARP1 of 110 over his illustrious 18 year career. His OPS+ was 130, actually lower than Jones’ 145. And normally, Jones would decline some. And he probably will over the final few years of his contract. But since Chipper is such a great player, and still playing well, then I am not so sure it will make such a huge difference in his final rate numbers.
Boggs had a luxury that Chipper did not have. Since Boggs was such a great hitter, he took full advantage of the Green Monster at Fenway. I am not so sure that I should penalize a player too much for taking advantage of something that resides in the opposite field. Because it is very impressive that a hitter can go the other way so often. So I won’t hold that against him much.
But…
He did benefit from it. Who is to say that Chipper Jones wouldn’t have fallen in love with that wall had he played in Boston throughout most of his career? And Chipper could have utilized it from both sides of the plate, something that would have been a great sight to see.
Did you know that Wade Boggs only slugged .395 on the road over his career? And most of that career was at Fenway. Road numbers are not the only numbers that should be looked at, but Boggs clearly benefited from Fenway Park.
However, Chipper has been great over the latter half of the decade in a league that everyone seems to be better against: the National League. So Boggs never had that advantage. We are confident in saying that the NL is weaker. And since Jones plays in the NL, then the advantage is there for his taking, and has been. The NL hasn’t always been weaker though, it just seems that way the past few seasons.
So both have arguments that help and hurt them offensively. Boggs benefited from Fenway. Chipper has benefited from a weaker league for about four or five years.
So what about the defensive side of the ball?
Well, both played the same position, which makes them easy to compare. But how well did they play it?
According to “Fielding Runs Above Average,” Boggs saved about 133 more runs than the average defender over his career. Very good.
Jones has “saved” 106. But has a few more years. Although range is generally lost, not gained when one ages. So I wouldn’t count on Jones making up that ground.
Advantage: Boggs
Intangibles? Who knows. Chipper won a ring, and has always been great. Boggs won a ring, but had a lot of help from that great Yankees dynasty.
Toss-up on the unknown intangible argument. Figured I would at least explore that a little, and try to open up some discussion in regards to it.
So offensively, Chipper gets the edge. He has hit everywhere, leaving no signs that anything at Turner Field helped him significantly, while Boggs definitely had the aid of Fenway. Although again, give credit to Boggs for being so adept at using the opposite field.
Defensively, Boggs seems to be at an advantage. Pretty clear, too.
It is very possible though that Jones will come very close to the career accomplishments of Wade Boggs. And one could even argue that had Boggs played in a neutral park, he would have been the lesser player of the two.
But arguing about who was greater, out of two bonafide great players, really isn’t logical.
They were both great. But just for purposes of discussion: Who will be greater once Chipper retires?
Tags: Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chipper Jones, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Wade BoggsPosted in Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Historical, New York Yankees | 11 Comments »
June 21st, 2009 at 10:21 AM
The question is: will Chipper’s 3000th hit be a home-run like Wade Boggs’. Actually the real question is will Chipper get to 3000 hits. I sure hope so.
June 21st, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Not sure about 3000. But that is it? No more about the subject even though this guy is your hometown hero?
June 21st, 2009 at 4:33 PM
I was on my phone at the time, hard to type. I have more. The AL wasn’t superior for most of the time that Boggs played. Especially the pitching. So that’s not really advantage Boggs. Boggs and Chipper are both great players and we’ll have to wait and see how Chipper’s career ends.
On an unrelated subject, I really hate the Red Sox. And whoever that home plate umpire was today.
June 21st, 2009 at 4:43 PM
I just meant that the AL was superior in recent years which benefited Chipper because he played in the supposed “inferior” league. Not that Boggs had an advantage in that regard.
I have actually heard someone use that argument against Maddux in the 90’s, stating that the NL was weaker. But there is no evidence that it was weaker THEN, just weaker now.
I was just giving you a hard time anyway, haha. You didn’t have to post again…
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Is there statistical evidence that Boggs used the green monster to his advantage?
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Um, maybe. I just don’t have it
But as mentioned his home slugging was much better than it was on the road. And people I have talked to always bring it up.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:44 PM
The Green Monster does benefit right-handed hitters more than left-handed hitters. A right-hander pulls a ball that would normally be a routine fly ball out and it’s an extra base hit. For instance, Jason Bay (who pimps the Green Monster like it owes him money, convenient for him to be in Fenway for a contract year) has a .581 average on fly balls hit to left field. No player who plays in another park has close to a .581 average on fly balls to any part of the park.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 PM
I tend to agree. But left-handed hitters that can go the other way have been known to be superior at Fenway. If Drew would take this into account more often, he would do the same. But currently there is no lefty on the Red Sox that does this well. Ortiz CAN, but is obviously a pull hitter. Drew CAN, but gets pull happy.
For example: Joe Mauer would absolutely thrive at Fenway. Like no other.
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Yes, it’s all about playing smart and using your surroundings. If you’re a left handed hitter and you intentionally use the monster to your advantage as Boggs did, more power to you.
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:16 AM
So you are saying that Boggs was such a great hitter that he could bang doubles off the monster routinely? I realize his numbers at Fenway are much better than the road but is the explanation as simple as that?
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:21 AM
I am not so sure the explanation is that “simple.” I wish I had the resources to attack it statistically, but I do not. I have heard multiple people state that Boggs went the other way *a lot*. And while I don’t like to use “hearsay” on a lot of baseball related topics, I really have nothing else to go on when regarding this.