On Thursday night, the Red Sox honored Wade Boggs by retiring his number 26.

Boggs, of course, opened his big-league career by spending 11 seasons in Boston. Though he never won a title with the Red Sox (that would come later, with the Yankees), he finished with a .338/.428/.462 slash line during his time there. Coincidentally, Boggs also had one of the longest hitting streaks in franchise history, making Thursday's ceremony nothing if not a well-timed one, given Jackie Bradley Jr.'s ongoing stretch.

Perhaps the oddest part about the Red Sox's decision to retire Boggs' number is that it came nearly two decades after the Devil Rays did it. Boggs, obviously, recorded his 3,000th hit while with the D-Rays, but he set the stage for that accomplishment with his time in Boston, and later New York.

For the curious, Boggs' No. 26 is the eighth retired number in franchise history, joining the likes of Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and Pedro Martinez. As for which Red Sox legend is next, you can bet a certain someone in attendance -- a feller by the name of David Ortiz -- will join the club in the coming years.