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Cletis Leroy Boyer
Atlanta Braves
Third Base
Born: February 9, 1937, Cossville, MO
Signed: Signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent, May 31, 1955
Major League Teams: Kansas City Athletics 1955-57; New York Yankees 1959-66; Atlanta Braves 1967-71
World Series Appearances: New York Yankees 1960-64
Died: June 4, 2007, Lawrenceville, GA (age 70)
One of 14 children born to the Boyer family, seven boys and seven girls, Clete Boyer was one of three of the Boyer boys to play baseball in the majors. Older brother Cloyd Boyer pitched for the Cardinals and Athletics in the early 1950s, and Ken Boyer (#379) was an 11-time All-Star and the 1964 National League MVP. Clete Boyer was a steady-fielding third baseman who played for parts of 16 seasons in the major leagues and another four seasons in Japan.
Died: June 4, 2007, Lawrenceville, GA (age 70)
One of 14 children born to the Boyer family, seven boys and seven girls, Clete Boyer was one of three of the Boyer boys to play baseball in the majors. Older brother Cloyd Boyer pitched for the Cardinals and Athletics in the early 1950s, and Ken Boyer (#379) was an 11-time All-Star and the 1964 National League MVP. Clete Boyer was a steady-fielding third baseman who played for parts of 16 seasons in the major leagues and another four seasons in Japan.
Originally signed by the Athletics, Boyer didn't come into his own until the early 1960s with the Yankees. In an infield including Bobby Richardson at second base and Tony Kubek at shortstop, Boyer provided steady defense with some occasional pop at the plate. He'd win World Series rings with the Yankees in 1961 and 1962, batting a career-high .272 in 1962. Boyer would hit at least 10 home runs in six of his eight seasons with the Yankees, including 18 home runs in both 1962 and 1965. He was dealt to the Braves before the 1967 season, and he'd slug a career best 26 home runs with 96 RBIs in 1967. Boyer, long in the shadow of Brooks Robinson (#550) in the American League, won his only Gold Glove in 1969 with the Braves. He'd play four seasons for the Taiyo Whales between 1972 and 1975 and serve as the team's coach in 1976. Boyer would return to the majors as a coach with the Athletics (1980-85) and Yankees (1988, 1992-94), working with his former teammate Billy Martin (#547).
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
The Card / Braves Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Building the Set / Card #427
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 135th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little more than a dollar.
Boyer had been with the Braves for two full seasons by the time this card was released, but Topps used the cartoon on the back of the card to remind collectors he had been acquired from the Yankees in exchange for Bill Robinson (#313) on November 29, 1966. Chi-Chi Olivio also went to the Yankees with Robinson, but he gets omitted from the cartoon.
Accuracy Index: Boyer's card scores a fairly standard, at this point, +5.
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Boyer's sole Gold Glove season despite years of above average defense at third base. He led all National League third basemen with a .965 fielding percentage. In 144 games with the Braves, Boyer batted .250 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs. He batted just .111 in the first NLCS, in which the Braves fell to the Mets in a three-game sweep.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #121
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1957, 1959-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2008 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy #3460
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 259 in the Beckett online database as of 11/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
As mentioned above, this was Boyer's sole Gold Glove season despite years of above average defense at third base. He led all National League third basemen with a .965 fielding percentage. In 144 games with the Braves, Boyer batted .250 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs. He batted just .111 in the first NLCS, in which the Braves fell to the Mets in a three-game sweep.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #121
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1957, 1959-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2008 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy #3460
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 259 in the Beckett online database as of 11/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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