Eddie Andelman gave us sports talk radio gold with his no-holds-barred interview of Wade Boggs in 1989

Picked-up pieces while begging the Tartan Army to come back every year …

⋅ New England’s sports talk airwaves have been far less interesting since Eddie Andelman retired in 2010, and there were tributes aplenty when Eddie died this past Monday. A pioneer of the genre, he was hilarious, kind, charitable, combustible, and eternally devoted to his family, the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Hot Dog Safari, and the Kowloon. Eddie was one of one.

He brought me into radio in the mid-1980s, and I’ll always remember some advice he gave during a commercial break in one of my first days.

“Dan, sometimes you think before you answer a question,” Eddie said. “Any kind of silence is bad for radio. Don’t think about what you’re going to say. Just start talking.”

Says a lot about sports talk radio, doesn’t it?

My favorite show with Eddie was a dinner-hour special at the USA Inn in Winter Haven, Fla., during Red Sox spring training in 1989. Ever embroiled in controversies, Wade Boggs was a favorite Eddie target and didn’t like Boston’s favorite blab-master. I told Boggs that Eddie was in town doing shows for three nights and wanted him as a guest. The future Hall of Famer smiled mischievously and said, “Can’t wait.”

On that fateful Friday night, our “studio” was a table in the middle of the Florida fleabag’s sprawling lobby. A handful of sunburned spring-breaking Sox fans served as our “live studio audience.”

Boggs arrived right on time (son of a military man, he’s never late), approached Eddie during a commercial break, and said, “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” as he shook Eddie’s hand and took a seat directly across the table from the rotund “Sports Huddle” legend.

“You’re going to have a good time,” promised Eddie.

“So are you,” Boggs said with a grin.

I was seated next to Eddie when he came back on the air and publicly welcomed Boggs to the show. I couldn’t help but notice that Eddie had taken car keys out of his pocket and had them clenched tightly in his right hand under the table (Eddie later told me he’d planned to use the keys as makeshift brass knuckles in the event Boggs lunged across the table at him).

“I’ve been harsh on you,” Eddie started. “Let me go back to some of my criticisms of you. I would take Kirby Puckett over you in a minute and here’s why …”

It was no-holds-barred stuff as Eddie launched into all of his patented rips of Boggs — won’t hit for power and drive in runs because it suppresses his batting average … won’t help out by occasionally playing first base … sits on his batting average at the end of seasons when he has a big lead in the batting title race … talks about himself in the third person.

On and on.

Related: Time to face facts: There’s no hope for these Red Sox

Boggs had answers for all of it. He more than held his own. And it made for great radio.

“I’ve been expecting to get traded ever since you came out and said Steve Lyons was going to replace me,” said Boggs. “Eddie, have you had a psychological evaluation lately?

“I don’t think people are out to get me. I’m just a third baseman who plays for the Red Sox. I’m no Larry Bird. I’m no Bobby Orr. I’m no John Havlicek. The only thing that upsets me is people taking cheap shots at me that don’t know me. People questioning my integrity. For somebody to say I’m not a team player!”

Boggs thumbed through a Red Sox press guide during the interview and bristled when Eddie made a joke about a ballplayer being in love with his own stats.

“Medical people read medical journals!” snapped Boggs. “Lawyers read briefs! Carpenters check up on their measurements! It’s just tricks of the trade. It’s not that I’m bragging. I’m a good bunter. If I were a selfish player, I’d bunt more to try to hit .400! I’m not up there to pad Wade Boggs’s stats … ”

He stopped himself.

“Let me rephrase that,” Boggs said with a smile. “I’m not up there to pad my stats.”

Everybody laughed at that one.

While Eddie was wrapping up the program, Boggs — a career .356 hitter at that moment — said, “Since you’ve dug at me for seven years, Eddie, I just want to say that the only thing we have in common is that I hit your weight. And now I hope that we never dig at each other again.”

It was a combative, informative, and delightful, 45 minutes of sports radio gold. And Eddie’s the only guy who could have pulled it off.

⋅ Quiz: 1. Name seven MLB pitchers who won the Cy Young Award in both leagues; 2. Name six active players who have led the American League in home runs (answers below).

⋅ It appears that the Red Sox’ plan to pick up another righthanded bat doesn’t involve spending big money. Romy Gonzalez this past week started a rehab assignment at Double-A Portland, three months after shoulder surgery, and Sox manager Chad Tracy said, “With the power potential and the thump in the bat, we’ve got to get him involved . . . we know the capability of the bat.”

Wow. Gonzalez has been a nice part-time player for Boston since 2024, but the notion that he’s going to move the needle for this lineup is an insult to the team’s loyal fan base. Gonzalez, who turns 30 in September, has batted .269 with 20 career homers over parts of five big league seasons. The 2024 White Sox lost 121 games after waiving him in January of that year. Gonzalez has gotten the most out of his talent, but it’s alarming that he was Boston’s cleanup hitter in two of three playoff games last October, and now appears to be the answer to the Sox’ slumping offense. There are your 2026 Boston Red Sox, ladies and gentlemen.

⋅ The Red Sox are 0-32 in all games when they trail by three or more runs, and 0-39 when they trail after eight innings.

⋅ Wondering if they’re holding on to Craig Breslow until they see what’s going to happen with MLB’s pending labor storm. Breslow is believed to be under contract at least through the end of the 2027 season, and if there is no season in ’27, why pay for two chief baseball officers? Wonder if Rocco Baldelli will be a candidate when the time comes.

⋅ Along the same lines, did you notice that the Phillies turned things around after firing manager Rob Thomson? Philly went from 9-19 to 40-35 (entering Friday) after making the change. In contrast, we have the last-place Red Sox, who’ve gone from eight games out of first place to 15½ games out since firing Alex Cora and six of his coachers (wait, I forgot, Jason Varitek was “reassigned”).

⋅ God bless former Yankee Paul O’Neill, who watched Andruw Monasterio don the hideous Wally head after homering against New York and said, “I get it, but the Red Sox are in last place.” Indeed. No team celebrates more than the last-place Red Sox.

⋅ If you look at All-Star balloting latest results, you’d wonder if the Red Sox are still in the American League. No Red Sox candidate made the top 10 at catcher, second base, shortstop, third base, designated hitter or outfield. Willson Contreras is No. 6 among first basemen. More evidence that FSG and Breslow have assembled a team without stars.

⋅ Ever a Washington guy, Red Auerbach met with every US president from Harry Truman to George W. Bush, but he would have been annoyed to hear Donald Trump’s claim that the 2025-26 NBA champion Knicks’ postseason run was “maybe the greatest of all time.” Red bristled whenever the 1970 and ’73 Knicks were thrust into “greatest team ever” conversations, and the sugar rush of recency bias that’s engulfed the Jalen Brunson champs has been way over the top.

The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III wrote, “With all due respect to Knicks greats like [Patrick] Ewing, Walt Frazier, and Willis Reed, Brunson is now the greatest Knick.” I was learning to live with this when I opened Monday’s New York Post and saw a headline accompanying Stefan Bondy’s column that read, “Cement A Legacy — Brunson worth of a statue at MSG… ” Steve Serby’s pre-parade column Thursday had a sub-headline of: “These Knicks stand alone as the single greatest NYC champion of all time.” Yikes. The 1927 Yankees, 1968 Jets, and 1969 Mets would like a minute.

⋅ Meanwhile, former Giants receiver David Tyree claims his “helmet catch” that ruined the Patriots’ 18-0 season in February 2008 remains the greatest New York sports moment, ahead of OG Anunoby tip-in to cap the 29-point comeback in the Knicks’ Game 4 win over the Spurs. “I’m No. 1 !” Tyree gleefully told the Post. “I’ll let everybody else argue. I would give him [Anunoby] No. 2 because I’m a Knicks fan.”

⋅ A word about the epic choke job pulled off by the young Spurs and their not-ready-for-prime-time coach, Mitch Johnson. If any Boston team did what the Spurs did, it would be sentenced to a lifetime of purgatory alongside the 1986 Red Sox. The Spurs lost to the Knicks in five even though they had leads of 10 or more points in the first and fourth quarters of every game! They were either tied or ahead in the final two minutes of every game. They scored only 12 fewer points than the Knicks over the entire series. They blew a 29-point lead to lose Game 4 and a 16-point lead to lose the finale. When it was over, they were poor sports, sulking into their locker room.

⋅ Marc Randazza, the attorney representing one of the dads who came up with the whopper about rolling tobacco-free cigars after Ipswich boys’ lacrosse players were suspended for smoking stogies at a post-graduation party, has also also represented Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones and white supremacist/neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin.

⋅ Bob Kraft is suing Foxborough because he thinks the town beat him out of some cash. Seriously? In the middle of this great World Cup vibe? Can it really be worth front-page headlines screaming that you are again at war with the town that’s the home of your cash-cow stadium? The lawsuit dropped just hours after MAGA Bob’s appearance at the White House’s for Sunday’s UFC event (Roger Clemens also attended).

Related: United States vs. Australia preview: A win sends Americans into knockout round with game to spare

⋅ Newton’s Veronica Burton is a study in the power of perseverance. Daughter of Steve (Ch. 4), sister of Kayla (NBC Sports Boston), Burton was originally drafted out of Northwestern by the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, went on to play for the Connecticut Sun, where she started only one game and struggled to find her place. Today, she’s averaging 14 points and 29.2 minutes per game for the Golden State Valkyries, one of the league’s best teams.

⋅ Congrats to Boston born-and-raised Marcus Craigwell, who on June 13 for BC High became the first Black head coach in Massachusetts boys’ lacrosse history to win a state championship.

⋅ Happy 80th birthday (this past Tuesday) to former Bruins player and broadcaster Derek Sanderson.

⋅ RIP former Red Sox righthander Wes Gardner, who died June 10 at the age of 65. General manager Lou Gorman traded for Gardner and Calvin Schiraldi before the infamous 1986 Sox season. Gardner played his college ball at Central Arkansas, which also gave the world Scottie Pippen.

⋅ Quiz answers: 1. Gaylord Perry (Indians, Padres), Roger Clemens (Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, Astros), Randy Johnson (Mariners, Diamondbacks), Pedro Martinez (Expos, Red Sox), Roy Halladay (Blue Jays, Phillies), Max Scherzer (Tigers, Nationals), Blake Snell (Rays, Padres); 2. Aaron Judge (Yankees, 2017, ’22, ’24), Jorge Soler (Royals, 2019), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays, 2021, tie), Salvador Perez (Royals, 2021, tie), Shohei Ohtani (Angels, 2023), Cal Raleigh, (Mariners, 2025).