MLB Hall of Famer Wade Boggs Looks Absolutely Jacked, Stuns Fans With Bodybuilding Physique
Wade Boggs was one of the greatest pure hitters in Major League Baseball history, but nobody ever confused him for a power hitter. Now more than 25 years after his final MLB game, the 68-year-old Baseball Hall of Famer is going viral after posting a shirtless photo from a fishing trip, looking absolutely jacked. Boggs shared the photo on August 10 with the simple caption, “Just another great day on the water,” but it was his physique rather than the fishing that quickly became the story.
Just this past May, Boggs said he was cancer free after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2024.
Boggs appears noticeably jacked in the photo, particularly through his chest, shoulders and arms. The post caught the attention of fans, former teammates and the guys who used to pitch against him.
Fellow Hall of Famer Jim Palmer even joined in, joking that the front office might not have complained about Boggs’ lack of power if he had looked like this during his playing days.
For longtime baseball fans, there is something especially amusing about seeing Boggs looking this muscular.
Wade Boggs Was One of Baseball’s Greatest Hitters, But Not a Home Run Threat
Boggs spent 18 seasons in the majors from 1982 through 1999. He spent his prime years in Boston before playing for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And there was that short stint as a mercenary for the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Softball Team.
He was an extraordinary hitter. Boggs finished his career with 3,010 hits, a .328 batting average and a .415 on-base percentage. He won five American League batting titles, made 12 All-Star teams and was eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
Power, however, was never really his game.
Despite collecting more than 3,000 hits, Boggs finished his entire career with only 118 home runs. For comparison, he had 578 doubles and routinely built his reputation by spraying the baseball around the field rather than trying to launch it over the fence.
That makes the sight of a 68-year-old Boggs sporting a physique like 98 McGwire even more unexpected.
The Legendary Wade Boggs Chicken Diet
Long before meticulously planned athlete diets became commonplace, Boggs was famous for having one particular non-negotiable meal.
Chicken. Before every game.
The routine became so synonymous with Boggs that he earned the nickname “Chicken Man.”
Boggs also timed parts of his pregame routine down to the minute. According to MLB, he would take batting practice at 5:17 p.m. and run wind sprints at 7:17 p.m. ahead of 7:30 games. He also drew the Hebrew symbol “Chai,” meaning life, in the dirt before his at-bats.
Boggs later explained that the rituals helped put him into the proper mental state and block out distractions.
But even the legendary chicken habit may not be the wildest piece of Wade Boggs lore.
And Then There Is the Infamous 107-Beer Story
Boggs has also been associated with one of the most outrageous drinking stories in professional sports history.
For years, the legend was that Boggs consumed an almost incomprehensible number of beers during a cross-country road trip while playing in the majors. Various versions of the story circulated, with the numbers changing depending on who was telling it.
Then Boggs seemingly made the legend even crazier.
Actor Charlie Day revealed while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Boggs told him the actual number was 107 beers over the course of a day, including a staggering 73 beers during a flight from Boston to Los Angeles.
The story became so ingrained in pop culture that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia built an entire episode around it. In the Season 10 premiere, “The Gang Beats Boggs,” the characters attempt to recreate the legendary drinking feat on a cross-country flight, with Boggs himself appearing in the episode.
Between the chicken, the obsessive superstitions, 3,010 career hits and perhaps the most famous beer story in baseball history, Boggs was already one of the sport’s most colorful legends.
Now, at 68 years old, he can apparently add getting unexpectedly jacked in retirement to the list.
Boggs certainly didn’t hit many home runs during his playing career, but judging from his latest fishing photo, the Hall of Famer has found his power stroke in retirement.
Image embed via X @chickenman3010
