About Ken Boyer
Kenton Lloyd Boyer (May 20, 1931 – September 7, 1982) was an American professional baseball third baseman and manager. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1969. Boyer was an All-Star for seven seasons (11 All-Star Game selections), a National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a Gold Glove winner in five seasons. He was named the NL MVP in 1964 after batting.295 with 185 hits and leading the NL with 119 runs batted in, and leading the Cardinals to the National League pennant, their first in 18 years. In the World Series, he drove in six runs (leading all Cardinal batters) and hit a pivotal grand slam in Game 4 that helped them even the series before they won it in seven games for Boyer's first and only championship. He hit over.300 for five seasons and hit over 20 home runs for eight seasons. He became the second third baseman to hit 250 career home runs, retiring with the third highest slugging percentage by a third baseman (.462); he was the third after Pie Traynor and Eddie Mathews to drive in 90 runs eight-times, and remains the only Cardinals player since 1900 to hit for the cycle twice. When Boyer hit 255 home runs, he was second to Stan Musial (475) with Cardinals career home runs and held the team record for a right-handed hitter from 1962 until Albert Pujols passed him in 2007. Boyer also led the NL in double plays five-times and in fielding percentage once, and retired among the all-time leaders in games (sixth, 1,785), assists (sixth, 3,652) and double plays (third, 355) at third base. The Cardinals retired Boyer's number 14 in 1984 and he was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014. Boyer made his major league debut with the Cardinals on April 12, 1955, in a 14–4 road loss to the Chicago Cubs, hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning off Paul Minner as his first hit, and batted.264 with 62 RBI his rookie season.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.