Ken Boyer

At 51 years old, Ken Boyer has this physical status:

Kenton Lloyd "Ken" Boyer (May 20, 1931 – September 7, 1982) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman, coach, and manager who appeared on the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1969. Boyer was an All-Star for seven seasons (11 All-Star Game picks), a National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a five-season Gold Glove champion.

In 1964, he was named NL MVP after hitting.295 with 185 runs and leading the NL with 119 runs batted in and leading the Cardinals to the World Series championship.

He hit over.300 for five seasons and had over 20 home runs for eight seasons. He was the second third baseman to reach 250 runs in a career (.462), and the third baseman to drive in 90 runs eight times, and he was the second Cardinal since 1900 to reach the cycle twice.

He was second to Stan Musial (475) with Cardinal home runs when Boyer reached 255 runs; he set the team record for a right-handed hitter from 1962 until Albert Pujols retired him in 2007.

Boyer was also in double plays five times and in fielding average once, and he ranked as one of the top players in games (sixth, 3,682) and double plays at third base.

Early life

Boyer was born in Liberty, Missouri, and he grew up in Alba as the fifth of 14 boys. He attended Alba High School. Both seven boys played in professional baseball, with two of his brothers playing for the Cardinals in the early 1950s, and younger brother Clete became a sharp-field third baseman for the Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves.

Personal life

In April 1952, the boyer married Kathleen Oliver. The couple had four children, Susie, David (born December 28, 1955), Danny (born August 1, 1959), and Janie; but the couple divorced; David was drafted by the Cardinals in 1974 and played in their farm system until 1978. At the age of 51, a boyer died of cancer in St. Louis, but he had undergone laetrile therapies in Mexico in an attempt to combat the disease. He was buried in Friends Cemetery in Purcell, Missouri. He was survived by 12 of his 13 siblings and four children.

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Baseball career

In 1949, Boyer signed with the Cardinals and was first assigned to the Rochester Red Wings, where his brother Cloyd was his teammate. Ken did not appear in any games until the organization announced a roster spot for him at a lower level, where the Cardinals first tried him as a pitcher. He made a record of 5–1 with a 3.42 earned run average (ERA) in 12 games, batting.455; the following year, with the Hamilton Cardinals of the Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League, he posted a record of 6–8 in 21 games while striking.342. The Cardinals moved him to third base after seeing him play so well, and he batted.306 for the Omaha Cardinals of the Western League in 1951. In.319 (RBI) for the champion Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League in 1954, he batted in the United States Army from 1951 to 1953. After the 1954 season, Ray Jablonski was recalled by the Cardinals after they cut him off.

Boyer made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs on April 12, 1955, when he struck a two-run homer off Paul Minner in his eighth appearance and batted.264 with 62 RBI in his rookie season. He made his first of seven NL All-Star picks in 1956 and began at third base (first of five starts at third base) and led NL third basemen in assists (39) and double plays (37). He was moved to center field in 1957 to help rookie Eddie Kasko climb to third place, and he led all NL outfielders in fielding percentage, but he returned to third base in 1958, winning the first of four consecutive Gold Gloves and then batting.307 and scoring 100 runs for the first time. He also became the Cardinals' regular cleanup hitter in that year, a position he will continue to play for the remainder of his time with the team. His 41 double plays in 1958 equalled his second-highest total in NL history, but he fell just two short of Hank Thompson's 1950 league record; he also led the league in putouts (156).

In 1959, he began his Cardinal career as a captain and went from August 10 to September 12 of that year, his longest hitting streak in the major leagues since Musial's 30-game streak in 1950. Boyer, who batted.309 with 28 home runs and 94 RBI, and began a streak of six consecutive All-Star picks, starting the second of the two 1959 games; he ranked 10th in the MVP polls this season. In 1960–61 Boyer led the Cardinals in batting average (3.279 and.329), home runs (95 and 109), RBI (97 and 109), and total bases (310 and 314) and came in 6th and 7th in the MVP poll. In 1960, he led the league with 37 double plays and 346 assists in 1961. After batting.385, he was also named NL Player of the Month for September 1960. In the second game of a doubleheader against the Cubs on September 14, 1961, he hit for the cycle for the first time in MLB history, defeating the Cubs on their second game; his RBI double in the 9th inning tied the game. Boyer played two extra-inning home runs in a season in two separate years; he was the fourth Cardinal to reach two walk-off home runs in a season; he also played with Musial on June 11 and June 11, his fourth Cardinal to reach two walk-off home runs in a season; and a previous one in 1961. Boyer broke Rogers Hornsby's team record for home runs by a right-handed hitter with his 194th round-tripper, a 2-run shot off Billy O'Dell in the first inning of a 7-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants. He ended the season with 98 RBI, equaling his career high to that point, and he started both All-Star games, as well as leading the league in double plays for the first time with 34. Boyer was the second Cardinal to reach 200 home runs in 1962, his fourth home run to the New York Mets, connecting Al Jackson in the 4th inning. He was later named in the NL All-Star starting lineup, increased his RBI season total to 111 this year, and received his fifth Gold Glove award.

Boyer played his best season in 1964, keeping the Cardinals alive for a large portion of the season as he batted.350 in May and.342 in July, and then to the NL in his last All-Star appearance. In a 7-0 road victory over the Houston Colt.45s, he became the 19th player to reach for the cycle twice and the seventh to complete a natural cycle in major league history. Boyer's early in the season kept the team in contention, although they were still 54-51 and tied for fifth place on August 4; they were still a team of last place by August 23, but they won the NL pennant by a single game against the Philadelphia Phillies; Boyer batted.400 in five September games against the Philadelphia Phillies. In the 1964 World Series, he enjoyed his career with the New York Yankees, winning by a grand slam off pitcher Al Downing in Game 4 off the Cardinals' fourth baseman, which would have ended the game without any injury. His brother Clete, who was playing in his fifth consecutive Series with the Yankees, later admitted that he was excited for his brother because it was Ken's first series. As St. Louis won the World Championship 7–5, the first title since 1946, the n.. The game also homered Clete, the first time in World Series history where brothers have played together in a single game. Since hitting.295 with 24 home runs and leading the league with 119 RBI, Boyer became the first NL third baseman to do so after Heinie Zimmerman in 1917; he was also named The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year; and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for character and integrity. It was also his seventh straight season with more RBI, tying Pie Traynor's major league record for third basemen. Boyer hit exactly 24 home runs in each of four years (1961-1954, 60 homers in 1960) (32 home runs in 1960 and 33 home runs in 1965), setting a new record for the most consecutive years with the same home run total and at least 20 home runs; Fred Lynn of the California Angels and Baltimore Orioles tied for the first time since 1984; the record was tied by 1984. Boyer was born off the back of a 5–3 road loss to the Cubs on July 10, 1965, and he became the fifth Cardinals player to run in 1,000 runs on September 28 in the 9th inning of a 9–1 road victory against the Giants. Boyer began having back problems in 1965, but he led the league in fielding percentage (.968) for the first time in his career; he started batting just.260 with 13 home runs and 75 RBIs.

Boyer was traded to the New York Mets for Al Jackson and third baseman Charley Smith in October 1965. With the downtrodden Mets, he was trapped on a losing team but he's gone on to win many more career milestones. He scored his 1,000th run against the Giants in 5–4 17 innings; he ended the year batting.266 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI. In the 4th inning of a 7–4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on May 10, 1967, he registered his 2,000th career hit, a single off Milt Pappas, and in an 11–9 loss to the Cardinals on May 20, 1967.

With Boyer's batting.235, the Mets traded him to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for third baseman Bill Southworth, who suffered the remainder of the year in the minors, and catcher J. C. Martin. Over the course of the season, the boyer batted only.261 in ten games, but the White Sox cut him on May 2, 1968, after he batted only.125 in ten games.

On May 10, 1968, Boyer signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his return to the league, he hit.271 on his return to the league, and he appeared in his 2,000th game on September 7 in Cincinnati, which was a 4–2 loss. Boyer resurfaced with the Dodgers in 1969, but primarily as a pinch hitter. In his last game, he was playing as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning in August 9, 1969, a 4–0 loss to the Cubs. Boyer, who batted just 206 in 25 games this season, felt that his playing career was over and he wanted to become a mentor. The Dodgers urged him to return as a player for the 1970 season, recognizing that young players will be more likely to remember him as a veteran player than as a mentor, but Boyer refused to return as a coach rather than a mentor.

Boyer, a.287 hitter with 2,143 hits, 282 home runs, 1,141 runs, and 105 stolen bases in 2,034 games played, his best-played baseball team with two home runs in his 15-year career; he also batted.348 with two home runs in his seven All-Star and ten All-Star Game appearances (played in 7/8 games from 1959–62). His career average of.462 was ranked third among players with at least 1,000 games at third base, behind Eddie Mathews (.509) and Ron Santo (then at.478), and among NL players, he trailed only Mathews in assists and double plays at third base. The Boyers' 444 career home runs (282 by Ken, 162 by Clete) was the fourth most in major league history by two brothers, behind Hank and Tommie Aaron (768) and Dom (448). The Cardinals' 12 walk-off hits total remain a record for any player since 1950, equaled only by Lou Brock and Albert Pujols. Pujols threw his first home run in a 8–1 loss to the Cubs on April 28, 2007, breaking the record for right-handed hitters; he had tied the record six days earlier with a 3-run homer in the 12th inning at Chicago.

Post-playing career

Boyer became a manager in the Cardinals' minor league system, first leading the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League in 1970. He returned to the Cardinals as a coach under former teammate Red Schoendienst in 1971–72, before returning to the minors, heading the Gulf Coast League Cardinals (1973–78), Tulsa Oilers of the American Association (1974–76), and the Rochester Red Wings of the International League (1977–78). Keith Hernandez, Garry Templeton, Mike Easler, Tito Landrum, and Larry Herndon were among the minors he developed in the minors.

In early 1978, Boyer was named as the Cardinals' interim manager after Vern Rapp was suspended from the team at 6-11 (Jack Krol served as interim manager for two games). St. Louis went third place in third place at 86–76 this year, but Boyer was suspended 51 games into the 1980 season with a record of 18–33; Krol also served a game as interim boss before Whitey Herzog took over the reins. In three seasons, the boyer set a 166-190 record. He had intended to return to Rochester for the 1981 season, but lung cancer had forced him to leave the field.

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