Thomas Winton Boggs (October 25, 1955 – October 5, 2022) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player and college baseball coach. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

as a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

for the Texas Rangers (1976–1977, 1985) and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

(1978–1983).

Playing career

Boggs attended Lanier High School in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. In 1974, his senior year, he was named his district's player of the year as he pitched to a 0.73

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA). The Texas Rangers selected Boggs in the first round, with the second overall pick, in the 1974 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut with the Rangers on July 19, 1976. Boggs was traded to the

on December 8, 1977, in the first four-team trade in MLB history, which also involved the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

and a total of eleven players changing teams. The Rangers sent Boggs, Adrian Devine, and Eddie Miller to the Braves. The Rangers received Al Oliver and Nelson Norman from the Pirates and Jon Matlack from the Mets. The Pirates acquired

Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch American, Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Blyleve ...

from the Rangers and John Milner from the Mets. The Mets got from the Braves

Willie Montañez Guillermo Montañez Naranjo (born April 1, 1948) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels (), Philadelphia Phillies (–, ), San Francisco Giants (–), A ...

and from the Rangers Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson who was sent to New York to complete the transaction three months later on March 15, 1978 Boggs suffered from a recurring

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

injury during the 1982 and 1983 seasons. After the 1983 season, the Braves gave Boggs his unconditional release. Boggs signed a minor league contract with the Rangers in 1984. He spent the 1984 season in the minor leagues and won a roster spot with the Rangers

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

of the 1985 season. The Rangers sent Boggs to the minor leagues on May 12.

Coaching career

Concordia University Texas hired Boggs as their head baseball coach on May 14, 2009. He won his 300th game in March 2020, and led the Concordia Tornadoes to 325 wins in 13 seasons.

Personal life

Boggs was born in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...

. His grandparents took him to baseball games at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

. Boggs and his wife, Suzette, had two children. In December 1983, Boggs was indicted for gambling, a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than ad ...

charge, along with 22 other people involved in a gambling ring in

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur. DeKalb County is inc ...

. The criminal charge delayed the completion of his contract with the Rangers the following year. He pled guilty and was sentenced to a $1,000 fine and one year of probation. Boggs died from cancer on October 5, 2022, at age 66.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boggs, Tommy 1955 births 2022 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Atlanta Braves players Gulf Coast Rangers players Pittsfield Rangers players Sacramento Solons players Tucson Toros players Richmond Braves players Oklahoma City 89ers players Tulsa Drillers players Baseball players from New York (state) Concordia Tornados baseball coaches Sportspeople from Poughkeepsie, New York Baseball players from Austin, Texas Deaths from cancer in Texas American sportspeople convicted of crimes