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Kenneth George Boswell
New York Mets
Second Base
Born: February 23, 1946, Austin, TX
Drafted: Drafted by the New York Mets i the 4th round of the 1965 amateur draft, June 8, 1965
Major League Teams: New York Mets 1967-74; Houston Astros 1975-77
World Series Appearances: New York Mets 1969, 1973
Ken Boswell spent 11 seasons in the majors, seeing World Series action twice with the Mets in 1969 and 1973. Boswell was a September call-up in 1967, never to return to the minor leagues, and one of his best season statistically was his rookie campaign of 1968. In 75 games, Boswell batted .261 with four home runs and 11 RBIs while getting the majority of playing time at second base. He was a member of the 1969 Amazin' Mets team that won the World Series, and his five RBIs in the NLCS against the Braves led the team. Strong seasons followed in 1970 and 1971, with Boswell driving in a career-high 44 runs in 1970 and hitting a career-best 20 doubles in 1971. Consistently working on his infield defense, Boswell put together an 85-game errorless streak in 1970.
Ken Boswell spent 11 seasons in the majors, seeing World Series action twice with the Mets in 1969 and 1973. Boswell was a September call-up in 1967, never to return to the minor leagues, and one of his best season statistically was his rookie campaign of 1968. In 75 games, Boswell batted .261 with four home runs and 11 RBIs while getting the majority of playing time at second base. He was a member of the 1969 Amazin' Mets team that won the World Series, and his five RBIs in the NLCS against the Braves led the team. Strong seasons followed in 1970 and 1971, with Boswell driving in a career-high 44 runs in 1970 and hitting a career-best 20 doubles in 1971. Consistently working on his infield defense, Boswell put together an 85-game errorless streak in 1970.
He settled into a pinch-hitting role with the Mets in 1973, and was 3 for 3 in that year's World Series as a pinch-hitter against the Athletics. Dealt to the Astros following the 1974 season, Boswell would play three seasons in Houston before retiring. In 930 big league games, Boswell batted .248 with 91 doubles, 31 home runs and 244 RBIs.
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Vintage Sports)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. My second stop was the aptly named Vintage Sports table. I always appreciate a dealer with clear signage explaining their pricing method, and Vintage Sports had a marker in their selection of 1969 Topps cards laying out that cards without a sleeve were $1 and cards with a sleeve were $2. I had one "high number" in a sleeve, and that was a whopping $4.
I found 28 commons needed before moving on to my third stop. This was the 26th of 28 total cards bought from Vintage Sports, and the 61st of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day. Sleeved, this card cost less than $2 after a dealer discount.
The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is Boswell's rookie card, and his Topps 1968 All-Star Rookie trophy is front and center. Topps was high on the prospect given his success in the minor leagues and during his rookie season, as evidenced by the write-up and cartoon on the back of the card. The cartoon has an uncorrected error, as Boswell's home run at Dodger Stadium came on September 30, 1967, not during the 1966 season. Boswell connected off Don Drysdale (#400) for his first big league home run.
Accuracy Index: Boswell's card earns a +5. It's a great looking card, even if it's a Mets card.
1969 Season
Boswell played in 102 games overall with the Mets, making 91 starts at second base. He batted .279 with three home runs and 32 RBIs, but was hot for the Mets down the stretch. From his SABR biography, written by Mike Bender:
He hit .407 over his last 29 games, with 12 multi-hit efforts, including six in a row from September 9 through September 18 . . . Boswell had arguably the biggest hit in Mets history, up to that time, on September 10. His 12th-inning, two-out single scored the winning run in the first game of a doubleheader against the Expos - a win that put the Mets into first place for the first time in team history . . .
The Atlanta Braves, the Mets' opponent in the inaugural National League Championship Series, were scheduled to start three right-handed pitchers in the series. Boswell and the rest of Gil Hodges's (#564) left-handed platoon would start each of the games. It was a quick series. After going hitless and making an error in the first game, Boswell hit two-run homers (his first since mid-July) in Game Two and Game Three, driving in four runs, as the Mets completed an unexpected three-game sweep. He finished the series with a .333 average and a team-high five RBIs.
On the field one last time in '69, Boswell started against Jim Palmer (#573) at Shea Stadium in Game Three, the first World Series game in New York since 1964 and the first ever-Series game at Shea Stadium. Batting fifth, he had a single and run scored in three at-bats, as the Mets shut out the Orioles in a game best remembered for Tommie Agee’s (#364) acrobatics in the outfield. Boswell did not play in either of the final two games of the Series, both wins in the team’s final at-bat . . . The 1969 season was Boswell’s finest year. He set career highs in runs (48), triples (7), batting average (.279), and slugging percentage (.381), and tied his career high for stolen bases with seven.
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First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #402
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1969-77
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York #71
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 59 in the Beckett online database as of 1/25/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
