Baseball Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Gary Sheffield, along with former major leaguer Orestes Destrade, will headline the annual Baseball, Bourbon and Cigars event on March 20, in Ybor City.
Hosted by the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, the event will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at JC Newman Cigar Co., the nation’s oldest family-owned cigar factory. The evening will celebrate Tampa’s baseball heritage and feature a panel discussion led by Tampa Bay Rays broadcaster Andy Freed.
Boggs, a Tampa native, played the majority of his career with the Boston Red Sox before winning a World Series with the New York Yankees, in 1996, and finishing his career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
Sheffield, drafted in the first round by the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1986, played 22 seasons in the majors, hitting 509 home runs and winning a World Series with the Florida Marlins, in 1997.
Destrade, known as the “Big O,” played for the Yankees, Pirates and Marlins before spending five seasons in Japan’s Pacific League. He later worked as a broadcaster for the Rays.
Other former players scheduled to attend include Dave Magadan, Steve Foucault, Anthony Telford, Robin Fuson, Jason Michaels, Matt LaPorta, Nick Masset and Andy McGaffigan.
The event will include bourbon and whiskey tastings and opportunities for autographs.
The Florida Sports Hall of Fame, founded in 1961, honors athletes with ties to Florida and supports youth sports programs. Its exhibits, housed at the MidFlorida Events Center, in Port St. Lucie, feature memorabilia from sports figures such as golfer Jack Nicklaus, football coach Bobby Bowden and tennis star Chris Evert.
