Boyer misses out on Hall of Fame election
Zachary Silver
@zachsilverEntrance to the National Baseball Hall of Fame may come the way for the late Ken Boyer one day, but 2022 will not be that year.
Boyer was not selected to Cooperstown after being up for discussion by the Golden Days Era Committee, one of 10 players under consideration by that committee -- which is comprised of members of the Hall of Fame, executives and veteran media members -- and 10 more up for debate by the Early Baseball Era Committee (pre-1950) this go-around.
Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva, and former Cardinals Jim Kaat and Minnie Miñoso were ultimately selected by the Golden Days Era Committee -- which evaluates players who starred between 1950-69 -- to be enshrined in 2022. Boyer's shortcoming in this year's discussion does not preclude him from being considered for the Hall of Fame by committee once again in future years.
Though Boyer was not selected, his accomplishments in St. Louis remain hallowed. A slick third baseman who won five Gold Gloves (including four in a row), 11 All-Star nods and, most notably, MVP in 1964, Boyer might be the best Cardinal to still not be in the Hall of Fame.
His 58.1 bWAR amassed as a Redbird is higher than Hall of Famers Enos Slaughter, Ted Simmons, Dizzy Dean, Lou Brock and Joe “Ducky” Medwick, among others. Boyer was central to the 1964 World Series team, leading the Majors with 119 RBIs in the regular season and smacking a pair of homers in the World Series -- a tide-turning grand slam in Game 4 and an insurance homer in the decisive Game 7 -- to come out victorious, along with Kaat, over the Yankees and his brother Clete, the opposing third baseman. He is the only player in franchise history to hit for the cycle twice.
Most indicative of his value: Boyer is the only player or manager (in this case both) to have his number retired by the club without being in the Hall of Fame.
Boyer’s influence continued after he relinquished his playing days. The Missouri native took over as manager early in the 1978 season, and though he never found the glory of others in the club’s strong managerial lineage, Keith Hernandez pointed to him as one of the most influential voices in his career. Boyer shepherded the club during Hernandez’s MVP season in 1979.
Boyer left his managerial post during the 1980 season -- a campaign that was ultimately finished under the leadership of Whitey Herzog, that led directly to the club’s winning ways across the remainder of the '80s.
Boyer passed away at the age of 51 in 1982 -- just over a month before his beloved Cards won the World Series -- after a battle with lung cancer. Two years later, his No. 14 was retired by the Cardinals.