He stands tall and alone on the edge of Cooperstown, looking to those who knew him best to help him this year. No matter what, you won't hear him moan or complain.
Ken Boyer -- who starred with the St. Louis Cardinals from the mid '50s to the mid '60s -- won five Gold Gloves, earned six All-Star selections and led National League third basemen in double plays five times. At the plate, he hit 23 or more home runs and knocked in at least 90 runs in seven straight seasons. He was the NL Most Valuable Player in 1964 when the Cardinals won their first world championship in two decades.
Once likened by Joe Garagiola to Gary Cooper in "High Noon," the soft spoken Boyer is up in front of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans committee for election into those hallowed halls. Like Cooper, Boyer could use a little help from his friends.
This year could be Boyer's best chance at election, but like Cooper in "High Noon," the odds are against him.
Ken Boyer played the game at a time when there were still heroes in the game. Teammate Stan Musial, who is in the Hall of Fame, said "The ballplayers know he's a good one, but nobody else does."
"When Kenny took over as captain of our team," former Cardinal catcher and broadcaster Tim McCarver said. "He was the boss of our infield. He was the guy everyone looked. He was the guy who really filled that role if that role needed to be filled...
"Kenny Boyer was a pillar of strength in the Cardinal organization. It was kind of an understood thing that Kenny took care of the players coming into the organization. He took people under his wing -- it was kind of like a father image."
Musial's comments sum up the problems with Boyer. The players knew how good he was and that may the key to his election this year.
A career that spanned 15 years, Kenny played in 2,034 games, hitting 282 home runs, 1,141 RBIs, and has a lifetime batting average of .287.
Bill James, "baseball's most interesting iconoclast," has ranked Boyer as the 12th best third baseman of all time. James has stated in the past that both Boyer and former Cub, Ron Santo, both belong in the Hall of Fame.
And while Boyer was known to take care of the players, it is time for the players to take care of Boyer. He deserves, and has earned, their support. But, will they back him up and get him into Cooperstown this year?
Among the Cardinals, those who knew him best and serving on the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee are: Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, Orlando Cepeda, Musial, Steve Carlton, Red Schoendienst, broadcaster, Joe Garagiola and sportswriter Bob Broeg. It will be these men that he will look to for help.
It's not like Boyer hasn't earned his spot in the Hall of Fame on his own. If you are recognized by most experts as the 12th best man to ever play third base in the 100-plus years of the game, shouldn't that get you in?
Here's a look at the evidence.
Inside the numbers of Kenny Boyer
* Led the league in RBIs in 1964.
* NL MVP 1964.
* Gold Glove winner five times.
* All Star seven times.
* Led third basemen in double plays five times.
He also was in the top 10 in:
* MVP Voting (4 times)
* NL HRs (4 times)
* NL Avg. (5 times)
* NL OB% (5 times)
* NL Slg% (4 times)
* NL Runs (4 times)
* NL Hits (5 times)
* NL doubles (3 times)
* NL triples (4 times)
* Base on Balls (5 times)
* Stolen bases (2 times).
A look at Boyer compared to Hall of Famer, third baseman, Brooks Robinson.
Robinson is clearly the greatest defensive third baseman of all time and he earned it. Here's a look at the season averages of Ken Boyer vs. Brooks Robinson, which you may find interesting.
* Boyer averaged a 135 games played per season, Robinson averaged 123.
* Boyer scored an average of 73 runs a year, 20 more runs per season than Robinson who averaged 53.
* Boyer averaged 142 hits per season, Robinson averaged 123.
* Boyer hit 19 home runs per year, Robinson averaged 11 home runs.
* Boyer averaged 76 RBIs per season, Robinson averaged 59.
* Boyer had the better eye, getting 47 walks per year, Robinson had averaged 37.
* Boyer's lifetime batting average is .287, 20 points higher than Robinson's .267.
Hall of Famer, Red Schoendienst once said, "He wouldn't moan or groan or complain about anything, that's the way he played the game too."
It's been 20 years since Boyer past away with lung cancer in September of 1982, and the Cardinals saw fit to retire his No. 14 jersey in 1984.
It's "High Noon" and Boyer stands alone and awaits for the townspeople to back him up and finally put him into Cooperstown.
If they don't, you won't here him moan or complain even if he was still here.. He wasn't that kind or person. To those of us who knew him best, he still walks tall in our hearts forever.
=======
Notes: Information for this article was gathered from
The National Hall of Fame web site @(www.baseballhalloffame.org)
Baseball Reference.com @
(www.baseball-reference.com),
and the Baseball Library @(http://www.baseballlibrary.com)
Other sources, information and quotes were taken from the editors of "Total Baseball," "The Biographical Encyclopedia," Mike Eisnbath's excellent book, "The Cardinals' Encyclopedia" and Bob Broeg's and Jerry Vickery's edition of the "St. Louis Cardinals' Encyclopedia."
» Raymond Mileur is the webmaster of The St. Louis Cardinals' Birdhouse @ http://thestlcardinals.homestead.com
Also by Raymond Mileur
» Billy the Kid Ignored by the Hall of Fame
» More submissions
Copyright © 2003 by Raymond Mileur. Posted February 18, 2003.
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