Ray Mileur
December 28, 2004
It's time to give Boyer his due
By Ray Mileur
He stands tall and alone on the edge of Cooperstown.
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 base-men in double plays
five times.
At the plate, he hit 23 or more home runs and knocked in at least 90
runs in seven consecutive seasons. He was the N.L. Most Valuable
Player in 1964, when the Cardinals won their first world championship
in two decades.
Once liken 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 Cooperstown. Like Gary Cooper
in the movie, Boyer could use a little help from his friends.
This year could be Boyer's best chance at election. In 2003 with the
new voting process that included allowing the living members of the
Hall of Fame to vote, there was much confusion on the ballots and
how to vote. Hopefully now that the players have a better understand
of the voting process it will improve Boyer's chances of getting elected
this year.
Like Cooper in High Noon, the odds are stacked against him. He played at a time when there were still real heroes in the game. His memory has faded away except for those who knew him best.
Teammate and Hall of Famer Stan Musial said, "The ball players know he's a good one, but nobody else does."
Stan the Man's comments sum up the problems in the past with Boyer, a quiet man who stands alone at the footsteps of the Cooperstown. The players knew how good he was and that may be the key to his election this year.
In a career that spanned 15 years, Boyer played in 2,034 games, hitting 282 homers with 1,141 RBIs and had a lifetime batting average of .287. His leadership was an additional consideration not included in those stats.
"When Kenny took over as captain of our team," former Cardinal catcher Tim McCarver said, "he was the boss of our infield. He was the guy everyone looked to. He was the guy who really filled that role if that role needed to be filled."
Bill James has ranked Boyer as the 12th-best third baseman of all-time. James has said in the past that both Boyer and former Cub third baseman Ron Santo belong in the Hall of Fame.
Just as Boyer was known for taking care of players who came into the Cardinal organization, it is time for the players to take care of Boyer. He deserves and has earned their support, but it remains to be seen whether they will back him up and get him into Cooperstown this year.
Among the Cardinal family that knew him best, these people are on the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee: Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, Orlando Cepeda, Stan Musial, Steve Carlton, Red Schoendienst. St. Louis native Joe Garagiola is on the committee as a former broadcaster, as is longtime St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg. Boyer's chances of going to Cooperstown rest largely with help from these men.
Boyer is deserving based on his standalone numbers, but it also is worth comparing him to Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, the greatest defensive third baseman of all-time and obviously a deserving Cooperstown member. Consider these season averages;
Boyer averaged 135 games played per season compared to Robinson's 123.
Boyer scored an average of 73 runs a year, 20 more than Robinson.
Boyer averaged 142 hits per season, 19 more than Robinson.
Boyer hit 19 homers per year, eight more than Robinson.
Robinson's 59 RBIs per season is far below Boyer's 76.
Boyer had the better eye, walking 47 times a year -- 10 more than Robinson.
And for those who don't think Boyer's lifetime batting average of .287 is high enough to get into the Hall of Fame, consider that it is 20 points higher than that of Robinson. It has been 20 years since Ken Boyer past away with lung cancer. The Cardinals saw fit to retire his No. 14 in 1984.
Schoendienst said of Boyer: "He wouldn't moan or groan or complain about anything. That's the way he played the game, too."
It's High Noon and Boyer stands alone and awaits for the townspeople to back him up. If they don't, then youwould not hear him moan or complain if he were here. He was not that kind; he didn't play the game that way. To those of us who knew him
best, he still walks tall. I hope he just won't walk alone.
Perhaps he'll finally call Cooperstown home.
