TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

September 7, 1982, 7 time All Star, 1964 World Series Hero, NL MVP and 5 time Gold Glover winner Ken Boyer passes away.

This quiet but dominant All-Star third baseman was a splendid fielder and consistently productive and clutch hitter. Signed as a pitcher by the Cardinals for $6,000, his poor pitching and strong hitting prompted his move to third base. He played brilliantly there for most of his 11 years in St. Louis. He won five Gold Gloves and led third basemen in double plays a record-tying five times. In eight different seasons, he hit over 20 homers, and combined with brother Clete for 444 HR. (Only the Aarons and DiMaggios hit more homers than the Boyers.) Ken's 255 as a Cardinal put him second only to Stan Musial.
After solid rookie and sophomore years, to Boyer's dismay he was sent to centerfield for most of the 1957 season, and GM Frank Lane criticized the soft-spoken Cardinal as an "unaggressive player." The arrival of Curt Flood in 1958 allowed Boyer to return to third base. It was during Solly Hemus's tenure as Cardinal manager that Boyer was named team captain. Hemus said, "Boyer is the guy everybody walks up to in the clubhouse and talks to." He led by example and through subtle prodding.

In 1959, Boyer went on a 29-game hitting streak, the longest in the majors since Stan Musial's 30-game string in 1950. In 1960 and '61, he led the Cardinals in batting, HR, and RBI, hitting a career-high 32 homers in 1960. He twice hit for the cycle, once in 1961, and again in 1964. His 1964 MVP season (.295, 24 HR, 119 RBI) was climaxed by his clutch performance in the World Series against the Yankees. In Game Four, he stroked a grand slam off Al Downing to give the Cardinals a 4-3 win, and his seventh-inning shot in Game Seven off Steve Hamilton catapulted the Cardinals to a 7-5 win and the world championship.

Boyer slumped in 1965 and was traded to the Mets for third baseman Charlie Smith and pitcher Al Jackson. His glittering career ended four years later with the Dodgers. He was a Cardinal coach in 1971-72, and took over as manager early in 1978. In 1979, he led the Redbirds to a third-place finish, but after winning only 18 of 51 in 1980, he was replaced by Whitey Herzog. Boyer died of lung cancer in 1982, and his uniform number 14 was retired by the Cardinals in 1984.

Todays Podcast

September 7, 1911 — At Boston’s South End Grounds 24-yer-old Pete Alexander, winning a rookie-record 28 games, pitches the Philadelphia Phillies to a 1 – 0 win over Boston’s 44-year-old Cy Young. Alexander gives up just one hit. Alexander’s 31 complete games, 367 innings pitched, and 7 shutouts lead the National League. The American League has its own rookie sensation, lefty Vean Gregg, who breaks in for Cleveland with a 23-7 record and miserly 1.81 ERA. Gregg will win 20 his first three years, then win just 28 in the next 12 years.

Next month, the 44 year-old veteran Braves hurler will end his career after 22 seasons with an astonishing 511 victories, a major league record unlikely to be broken.

September 7, 1916 — At the Polo Grounds the New York Giants defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers and Nap Rucker, 4-1 to start their major league record 26-game winning streak. The ‘Jints’ start the span two games under .500 and make up nine games in the standings, but remain in fourth place during the entire streak.

September 7, 1927 – After blasting three home runs in a doubleheader split with the Red Sox the day before, Babe Ruth hits two more in a 12-10 win, giving him a record-tying 5 in 3 games. He leads Lou Gehrig 49 homers to 45.

September 7, 1945, Washington’s Joe Kuhel hits the season’s first and only home run by a Senators’ player at Griffith Stadium. Even Kuhel’s shot fails to clear the fences.

September 7, 1955 – – Whitey Ford continues his mastery with his second consecutive one-hitter, beating the A’s, 2 – 1. Jim Finigan hits a 2-out single in the 7th for the A’s only hit. Ford is the 5th major league pitcher to throw consecutive one-hitters. In his last start, ‘Slick’ held the Senators hitless, with the exception of a seventh inning bloop by Carlos Paula.

September 7, 1961 — Roger Maris lays down a bunt and also belts his 55th homer of the year in the 3rd inning as New York beats the Senators, 7 – 3. All of Washington’s scores come in the 6th on an inside-the-park homer by Tito Francona, off Bill Terry. When asked by writers after the game why he bunted, a testy Maris replies, “Trying to win the game, you stupid cocksucker. Why do you think.”

September 7, 1974 — Graig Nettles will be suspended for ten days after stuffing his bat with six superballs, that are collected by Tigers catcher Bill Freehan when the piece of lumber is shattered on a disallowed infield hit. The Yankee third baseman, who said the doctored bat was given to him by a fan in Chicago, hit a home run in his first at-bat for the game’s only run in Larry Gura’s’ 1-0 Yankee victory over Detroit at Shea Stadium.

September 1978, the Boston Red Sox lead was just four games over a charging Yankee team who arrive in Boston for a crucial 4-game series, which would become known as the “Boston Massacre”. The Yanks dominate game one with a 15 – 3 rout as Willie Randolph accounts for five of the runs. On July 24, the Red Sox held a 14 game lead in the AL East but played only 25 – 24 ball leading up to this series. The Yankees, in that same time frame had won 35 of 49. When the bloodshed was over on September 9th, the Yankees pounded out 42 runs and 67 hits. Boston managed just nine runs and 21 hits. The Sox also committed a dozen errors. The Yankees won all four games by an average margin of over eight runs.

September 7, 1978 — In a 9-4 victory over the Montreal Expos, New York Mets backstop John Stearns establishes a new mark for National League catchers with his 25th stolen base. Johnny Kling swiped 24 bases catching for the Cubs in 1902.

September 7, 1998 – In the first inning at Busch Stadium, Cardinal first baseman Mark McGwire ties Roger Maris’ single-season home run mark hitting his 61st in a nationally-televised Labor Day game against the Cubs. Big Mac hits his historic homer on his dad’s 61st birthday.

September 7, 2007, Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers became just the sixth player in baseball history to hit at least 20 doubles, triples, and home runs in the same season. Granderson slugged his 20th homer in the seventh inning against the Mariners at Comerica Park. He will be joined by the Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins in a few days.

The Tiger leadoff man joined Frank Schulte, Jim Bottomley, Jeff Heath, Willie Mays, and George Brett in the exclusive club.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: BOB ELLIOTT

Ken Boyer 1964

Joe Torre 1971

Mike Schmidt 1980, 1981, 1986

Terry Pendleton 1991

Ken Caminiti 1996

Chipper Jones 1999

Kris Bryant 2016

Player 1st-PlaceVotes Team Share

Bob Elliott................. 9......... BSN............ 61%

Ewell Blackwell.......... 2......... CIN............. 52%

Johnny Mize............... 2......... NYG........... 43%

Bruce Edwards.......... 3......... BRO........... 42%

Jackie Robinson........ 1......... BRO........... 32%

Larry Jansen.............. 1......... NYG........... 27%

Pee Wee Reese......... 2......... BRO........... 24%

Dutch Leonard........... 1......... BRO........... 10%

Willard Marshall......... 1......... NYG............. 6%

Dixie Walker............... 1......... BRO............. 4%

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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