Third Baseman,
St. Louis Cardinals
Age: 33 (May 20)
10th
season with Cardinals
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 190
Prior to 1964:
A Missouri
native, Boyer was one of 14 children (two of his brothers, Cloyd and Clete,
also played major league baseball). Capable of playing in the infield or
outfield, he was signed by the Cardinals out of high school in 1949. With
Lebanon of the Class D North Atlantic League he was utilized as a pitcher
thanks to his strong throwing arm and was 5-1 with a 3.42 ERA in 12 games. As a
hitter, he had a .455 average with three home runs. Moving to Hamilton of the
Class D PONY League in 1950, Boyer was given the opportunity to play at third
base and impressed with his defensive skills. He also batted .342 with 9 home
runs, thus ending the pitching experiment. Promoted to Omaha of the Class A
Western League in 1951, Boyer continued to hone his batting and defensive play
at third. He hit .306 with 28 doubles, 7 triples, and 14 home runs. Drafted
into the Army in 1951 he spent 1952 and ’53 in the military. Returning to
baseball in 1954, Boyer was next assigned to the Houston Buffaloes of the Class
AA Texas League where he hit .319 with 21 home runs and 116 RBIs. He played
winter ball in Havana until suffering a severe concussion due to a beaning. The
Cardinals traded starting third baseman Ray Jablonski to open a spot for Boyer
in the lineup for 1955. He had a solid rookie season, appearing in 147 games
and hitting .264 with 18 home runs and 62 RBIs. Boyer improved to .306 with 26
home runs and 98 RBIs in 1956 and was an All-Star for the first time. He
shifted to center field in 1957 to make room for rookie Eddie Kasko at third
and to add some batting punch to the outfield. The shift caused no defensive
lapse, as he led all NL outfielders in fielding percentage (.996). He also hit
.265 with 19 home runs and 62 RBIs. With Kasko injured in 1958 together with
the arrival of center fielder Curt Flood, Boyer returned to third base and
earned his first Gold Glove. He also hit .307 with 9 triples, 23 home runs, and
90 RBIs. It was more of the same for the next five years, and through 1963 he
had batted .296 with 218 home runs and 807 RBIs and had been selected to five
straight All-Star Games, including 1963 when all four St. Louis infielders
started for the NL (including 1B Bill White, 2B Julian Javier, and SS Dick
Groat). During the same stretch he received four Gold Gloves for his fielding
excellence at third base.
1964 Season Summary
Appeared in 162
games
3B – 162
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 707 [4]
At Bats – 628
[9]
Runs – 100 [7,
tied with Billy Williams]
Hits – 185 [10,
tied with Ron Santo]
Doubles – 30
[11, tied with Lou Brock, Hank Aaron & John Callison]
Triples – 10
[5, tied with John Callison]
Home Runs – 24
[9, tied with Hank Aaron & Frank Howard]
RBI – 119 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 70 [5]
Int. BB – 12
[8]
Strikeouts – 85
Stolen Bases –
3
Caught Stealing
– 5
Average - .295
[17]
OBP - .365 [10,
tied with Joe Torre]
Slugging Pct. -
.489 [12]
Total Bases –
307 [7]
GDP – 22 [2,
tied with Hank Aaron]
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 4
League-leading
RBIs were +5 ahead of runner-up Ron Santo
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 12, RBI - 54, AVG - .288, OBP - .354, SLG PCT – .470
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) vs. Milwaukee 5/16, (in 5 AB) at Houston 6/16
Longest hitting
streak – 11 games
HR at home – 12
HR on road – 12
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) at Philadelphia 7/25
Multi-HR games
– 1
Most RBIs, game
– 5 at Philadelphia 7/25
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 492
Put Outs – 131
Assists – 337
Errors – 24
DP – 30
Pct. - .951
Postseason: 7 G
(World Series vs. NY Yankees)
PA – 30, AB –
27, R – 5, H – 6, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 6, BB – 1, IBB – 0, SO – 5, SB –
0, CS – 0, AVG - .222, OBP - .241, SLG - .481, TB – 13, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH –
0, SF – 1
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star
(Started for NL at 3B)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Ken Boyer,
StL.: 243 pts. - 14 of 20 first place votes, 87% share
John Callison,
Phila.: 187 pts. – 2 first place votes, 67% share
Bill White,
StL.: 106 pts. – 2 first place votes, 38% share
Frank Robinson,
Cin.: 98 pts. – 35% share
Joe Torre,
Mil.: 85 pts. – 1 first place vote, 30% share
(1 first place
vote for Lou Brock, StL. who ranked tenth)
---
Cardinals went
93-69 to win the NL pennant by one game over the Cincinnati Reds &
Philadelphia Phillies. The team led the league in hits (1531) and batting
(.272). The Cards were in fourth place, 11 games behind the first-place
Phillies on Aug. 23 before winning six straight and going on to surge into second by
Sept. 20. The Phillies lost 10 straight games to fall out of the lead & the
Cards went 10-3 to finish the season and move ahead of the Phils and Reds,
clinching the pennant in the season finale. Won World Series over the New York
Yankees, 4 games to 3. Boyer faced off against his brother Clete, third baseman
for the Yanks. His game-deciding grand slam in Game 4 evened the Series at 2
games apiece.
Aftermath of ‘64:
1965 was a down
year for the Cardinals and Boyer, who battled a back injury, batted .260 with
only 13 home runs and 75 RBIs. In the offseason he was traded to the New York
Mets for LHP Al Jackson and third baseman Charley Smith. With the Mets in 1966
Boyer hit .266 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs. He started the 1967 season with
the Mets and was dealt to the Chicago White Sox, who were in the midst of a
torrid pennant race, in July. Altogether, he appeared in 113 games and hit .249
with 7 home runs and 34 RBIs. Released by the White Sox early in the 1968
season, Boyer signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers to provide veteran bench
strength and finished up his career with LA in 1969. Overall for his major
league career he batted .287 with 2143 hits that included 318 doubles, 68
triples, and 282 home runs, with a high of 32 in 1960. He also knocked in 1141
runs and scored 1104. With the Cardinals he hit .293 with 269 doubles, 61
triples, 255 home runs, and 1001 RBIs. He was a seven-time All-Star and
five-time Gold Glove recipient. Following his playing career, Boyer became a
coach and managed in the Cardinals’ and Orioles’ farm systems. He replaced Vern
Rapp as manager of the Cardinals during the 1978 season and stayed until he was
let go in 1980, having compiled an overall record of 166-190. He died of lung
cancer in 1982 at the age of 51. The Cardinals retired his #14. Boyer was
elected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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