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POLL: Ken Boyer and the Hall of Fame

Posted by Andy
Ken Boyer is a Veterans Committee candidate for the Hall of Fame in 2012.

The Hall of Fame debate starts below, but first a few words on the baseball card to the left--1962 Topps #370. This is a classic Topps set featuring a wood grain design (which was revived 25 years later in the 1987 Topps set as well as this year's Heritage set.) The striking thing to me about this card is how "St. Louis Cardinals" is abbreviated, plus the position listed as "3 BASE". Both are short forms that I have never seen before. Anyway--my two favorite aspects of this card are the "peeled back corner" effect that gives the card a cool third dimension, and the simple black/white coloring of the player's name.

Anyway, here are the quick stats on Boyer:

  • A 7-time All-Star third baseman
  • 1964 NL MVP winner in his last great season, plus MVP votes in 7 other seasons
  • Had 2 HR and 6 RBI during his team's 1964 World Series championship
  • 5-time Gold Glove winner
Click through for the debate on Boyer.


For Ken Boyer in the Hall of Fame
  • From 1959 to 1964, Boyer was a top player in baseball. Over that period, among players with at least 2000 plate appearances, he's in the top 20 for OPS+:
    Rk Player OPS+ PA Age Pos
    1 Mickey Mantle 179 3211 27-32 *8/97
    2 Hank Aaron 167 4043 25-30 *98/453
    3 Willie Mays 164 4018 28-33 *8/635
    4 Frank Robinson 159 3767 23-28 973/85
    5 Eddie Mathews 148 3933 27-32 *5/73
    6 Norm Cash 147 3011 24-29 *3/97
    7 Harmon Killebrew 147 3764 23-28 *753/9
    8 Orlando Cepeda 143 3790 21-26 *37/95
    9 Roger Maris 142 3396 24-29 *98
    10 Willie McCovey 142 2222 21-26 37/9
    11 Jim Gentile 141 2819 26-30 *3
    12 Al Kaline 137 3565 24-29 *98/75
    13 Rocky Colavito 132 4068 25-30 *97
    14 Joe Adcock 131 2822 31-36 *3/7
    15 Bob Allison 131 3753 24-29 *983/7
    16 Ken Boyer 129 4000 28-33 *5/6
    17 Billy Williams 128 2765 21-26 *7/98
    18 Roberto Clemente 127 3596 24-29 *9/8
    19 Frank Howard 126 2291 22-27 *9/73
    20 Floyd Robinson 126 2441 24-28 *97/8
    Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
    Generated 11/7/2011.
    Note that he's the second-rated 3B on there, was older than most of the players, and had more plate appearances than most everybody else.
  • Although he didn't put up many league-leading numbers, Boyer generated a ton of gray ink (top-10 finishes) in categories such as batting average, runs, total bases, RBI, etc.
  • Boyer was great on both offense and defense. Among position players, Boyer is 120th all-time, and that breaks out as 137th on offense and 149th on defense--it's fairly rare for a player to rank so highly in both categories. All the All-Star selections, Gold Gloves, and MVP votes confirm it.


Against Ken Boyer in the Hall of Fame
  • I think any time a player is in the hands of the Veterans Committee, one must at least consider the notion that sportswriters didn't consider the player worth during his regular eligibility. That doesn't mean they handled it correctly, but it may be an indication that the player is truly undeserving.
  • Among third basemen with at least 5000 plate appearances, Boyer is tied for just 20th in career OPS+:
    Rk Player OPS+ PA From To
    1 Mike Schmidt 147 10062 1972 1989
    2 Eddie Mathews 143 10101 1952 1968
    3 Chipper Jones 141 10166 1993 2011
    4 George Brett 135 11624 1973 1993
    5 Home Run Baker 135 6660 1908 1922
    6 Wade Boggs 130 10740 1982 1999
    7 Ron Santo 125 9396 1960 1974
    8 Bob Elliott 124 8190 1939 1953
    9 Scott Rolen 123 8188 1996 2011
    10 Bill Madlock 123 7372 1973 1987
    11 Ron Cey 121 8344 1971 1987
    12 Heinie Zimmerman 121 5740 1907 1919
    13 Troy Glaus 119 6355 1998 2010
    14 Darrell Evans 119 10737 1969 1989
    15 Richie Hebner 119 7016 1968 1985
    16 Sal Bando 119 8288 1966 1981
    17 Stan Hack 119 8506 1932 1947
    18 Heinie Groh 118 7035 1912 1927
    19 Howard Johnson 117 5715 1982 1995
    20 Ken Caminiti 116 7125 1987 2001
    21 Ken Boyer 116 8268 1955 1969
    22 Harlond Clift 116 6894 1934 1945
    Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
    Generated 11/7/2011.
    His tie with Ken Caminiti is a bit eerie due to other similarities--a career year yielding an NL MVP award, a quick drop-off, and an early death (though Boyer died from cancer; I've never heard anything drug-related.)
  • After that MVP 1964 season, Boyer completely fell off the map, due largely to a back injury. He played 100 games in just 3 more seasons and was basically league average with a 101 OPS+ the rest of the way. Given that he also had a fairly late start in MLB at age 24, he had a pretty short successful run (at least compared to a typical HOFer.)

Tell us what you think in the comments below, and have a vote in the poll.


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