Boggs, Sandberg- Two of a kind for Hall of Fame

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Growing up, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were just like any other kids in love with baseball, playing imaginary games and dreaming.

"In the backyard, when you were playing Wiffle Ball, you always imitated all the great players," Boggs said. "I was always Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose. All those guys."

"I had a rope line for the home run on top of the garage, off the garage was a double, trees and picnic tables were the fielders," Sandberg said. "I played with a solid plastic golf ball. I remember putting my arms up in the air on a game-winning hit, 'Is it out of here? Yes!' And I was by myself."

Four decades later, those childhood dreams will culminate with the greatest of honors -- induction today into the Hall of Fame.

"The Hall of Fame is not something an athlete can set as a goal," said Boggs, a five-time AL batting champion for the Boston Red Sox who became just the 41st player elected on his first chance. "It's something that evolves."

Boggs, a left-handed hitter who also played for the Yankees and Tampa Bay, retired with 3,010 hits. He hit .300 or higher 15 times, finished with a .328 career average and was the only player in the 20th century with seven straight 200-hit seasons.

"It was just one of those things, when someone tells you can't do something, you go out and work twice as hard and try to hone your craft," said Boggs, who also won two Gold Gloves with the Yankees.

Sandberg, a high school shortstop who wasn't picked until the 20th round of the 1978 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies and was traded in January 1982 with Larry Bowa to the Chicago Cubs for Ivan DeJesus. When the Cubs acquired Ron Cey from the Dodgers to play third base in 1983, Sandberg became the starting second baseman and won the first of nine consecutive Gold Gloves.

On June 23, 1984, Sandberg went 5-for-6 against the Cardinals and drove in seven runs.

Sandberg won MVP honors that year, hitting a career-high .314 with 19 homers and 84 RBIs.