Doubles

The Baseball-Reference.com homepage has a feature showing photos of twelve major league ballplayers whose careers took place anytime from 1871 until today and the photos rotate throughout the day.  I occasionally take a look at them, particularly those from the early days of baseball, click on their stats, and often look at their biographies.

Yesterday the photo on the left was featured.  It's of George Gore, major league batting champ in 1880.  The picture immediately reminded me of Wade Boggs (right), five time batting average leader with the Boston Red Sox during the 1980s.

Looks weren't their only similarity.

Both hit left handed and threw right.

George Gore played for three National League teams from 1879 through 1892; the Chicago Cubs for eight seasons, then going to the New York club, the Giants, for 4 1/2 years, and finishing with St Louis.  Wade Boggs played for three American League teams from 1982 through 1999; the Boston Red Sox for eleven seasons, then going to the New York club, the Yankees for five years, and finishing with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Gore played in an era where the seasons were shorter (75 to 130 games) and his career ended four years before Boggs so total career stats look different, but their ratios are very similar.

Gore's best years began in his second season with the Cubs and lasted for seven years (1880-86), while Boggs' best years began in his second season with the Red Sox and lasted for seven years (1983-89).

Over those seven years, Gore had an average OPS+ of 155 and Boggs averaged 153.  Both had three seasons after their peak years with OPS+ above 120.

Both were doubles hitters, Gore with 294 two-baggers, 94 triples, and 46 home runs, while Boggs piled up 578 doubles to go along with 61 triples and 118 homers.  Gore doubled in 4.6% of his plate appearances (PA) and Boggs in 5.4%.

Of Gore's 1612 hits, 25.2% went for extra bases, while 25.0% of Boggs' hits were for extra bases.

Both knew how to work the count.  Over his career Gore walked 717 times while striking out 332 and Boggs walked 1412 times while whiffing on 745 occasions.  If you're keeping score, Gore walked in 11.9% of his PAs while striking out 5.4% of the time, while Boggs strolled to first base in 13.1% of his PAs and striking out in 6.9%.

The biggest differences between the two:

Boggs played third base and rates as a very good defender.  Gore was an outfielder and current analytics say he was average but it's hard to make definitive judgments based on the quality of fielding data in the 1880s.

Gore seems to have been the faster runner.  Based on my own observations Boggs wasn't that slow but he had terrible instincts as a baserunner.

"Piano Legs" Gore had the more colorful nickname.

I can't find anything regarding whether Gore ate chicken before every game.