CLETE BOYER

He could just as well have been named glove or bat or jersey. Cletis LeRoy Boyer, or Clete, had a first name that was meant for a ballplayer - every young boy can remember their first pair of cleats worn while pursuing their Big League dreams. Although it is said that his contemporary and teammate Mickey Mantle has the name that combines the correct formula of alliteration, double syllables and even spells 'key man' (Mickey Mantle), it is the name 'Clete' that conjures up images of baseball played in the summer by young boys on sandlots all over Small Town America.

Born February 8 (or 9 - both have been listed), 1937 in Cassville, Missouri, Clete and his four brothers all had a shot at the big time. Three: Clete, Cloyd and Ken each played in the majors, brothers Len and Ron played in the minors. Clete came to the Kansas City A's in 1955 as an eighteen year old, with no minor league experience. Primarily collecting bench slivers, Clete played a total of 124 games at second base and shortstop for the K.C. Athletics from 1955 until he was traded to the Yankees early in the 1957 season. After spending almost three seasons in the Yankee farm system, he was called up late in 1959. Although he didn't show too much at the plate, his defensive skills caught the attention of the Yankee brass and he became the regular Yankee third baseman the next season, 1963.

Mention the '60's to most baby boomer Yankee fans and they will recall fondly the period 1960-1964, the last stretch of team greatness until the late '70's. During that 5 year period, many of us grew up with this team. Skowron (later Pepitone), Richardson, Kubek and Boyer. This was the infield for those powerhouse Yankee teams. So Clete arrived on the scene at the right time, enabling him to go down in history as a member of one of the Yankee's (if not baseball's) fabled infield combinations.

Clete had the good fortune of joining the Yankees when Stengel, Howard, McDougald, Houk, Ford, Bauer, Mantle, Berra and others from the glory days of the '50's were still active. Also significant is that the Yankees won five consecutive AL pennants beginning in 1960 (1960-1964) and two World Series titles (1961-1962) with Boyer guarding the hot corner. What a thrill it must have been for the 22 year old Boyer; quite a jump from his KC days. It was Ralph Houk, as his manager in 1961 (having succeeded Casey Stengel), who gave back to Clete some of the pride and confidence that had been taken away by Stengel in the 1960 World Series. In the second inning of the first game of the 1960 World Series, Stengel had sent in a pinch hitter for Clete, (an action that Clete never forgave him for).

As a member of the Yankees, he had the best seat in the house, observing, as well as participating in, many historic baseball moments.

• In a game in Yankee Stadium on May 23, 1963, ironically against Clete's old team, the KC A's, a rare error by Clete enabled the A's to tie the game. That set up some 11^th inning heroics for the Mick. Not only did he slam a four-bagger to win the game, it would become the longest of Mantle's career, bouncing off the third deck of the facade.

• The most exciting competition between two players chasing a legendary record has to be Maris' and Mantle's pursuit of Ruth's cherished season HR record during the 1961 during the magical season of 1961. More so that McGwire and Sosa, since #7 and #9 were teammates, always appearing in the same game, Roger batting third, Mick batting fourth, providing those fans in attendance the chance to potentially see the lead change hands or grow larger/closer with each at bat. Now imagine yourself a member of the Yankee team for all 162 games of that 1961 season, just as Clete was, witnessing first hand the exhiliration, as well as the tremendous pressure, on both of his teammates.

When given the opportunity to play as a regular in 1960, appearing in 124 games, Clete made the most of it, hitting 14 home runs and 20 doubles, while batting .242 (which incidentally is his career average also). Clete had at least 500 plate appearances with the Yankees during each of the seasons 1961-1966, establishing himself as a defensive star to whom all subsequent Yankee third baseman found themselves compared. Until Graig Nettles joined the Yankees, there was no comparison. In fact, all third baseman of the era were routinely measured against Clete and Brooks Robinson when the subject of defensive prowness was discussed.

In the 1964 World Series, the Boyer brothers, Clete and Ken (for the St. Louis Cards), appeared on a major league field together for the first time, each playing third base for their team. Unfortunately for Clete and his Yankee teammates, it was brother Ken who had the better Series, leading the Cards with both his glove and his bat. Clete was only able to manage a .208 average with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI's in seven games.

Clete's career continued in the NL after the 1966 season, playing third base for the Atlanta Braves, 1967-1971. He took full advantage of the NL pitchers never having faced him before, establishing career highs in HR (26) and RBI (96). He also led NL third baseman in fielding percentage. In 1969, the Braves won their division title but lost to a team of history, the Mets. For his part, Clete was named to The Sporting News "NL All Star Fielding Team." He also won a Gold Glove, beating out two other fair third basemen in their own right: brother Ken, who won it in 1963 and the Cub's Ron Santo, who had won it from Ken in 1964 (and also 1965-1968), not relinquishing it until Ken's brother Clete re-claimed it for the Boyer family in 1969.

While with the Braves, Clete participated in a very unusual play. Former Braves catcher Bob Uecker tells the story of when knuckleballer Phil Neikro struck out a batter with Uecker behind the plate. Ueck never touched the third strike; it hit him on his shinguard and bounced out to Clete at third base, who threw out the runner at first. Talk about a weird assist for Boyer: 2-5-3 on a strike out!!

In the 1971 season Clete found himself in a contract dispute with the Braves and left major league ball, instead joining the Japanese Leagues 1972-1975. Playing for the Tokyo Taiyo Whales for four years, he established himself as a fair hitter (.257, 71 HR, 218 RBI) while serving as a player, player-coach and one of the few American managers in the Japanese Leagues. During the 1973 season he was reunited with his Yankee teammate Joe Pepitone, who signed with the Tokyo Yakuruto Atoms, sharing an apartment with him.

In Season of Glory, written by Ralph Houk and Robert Creamer about the 1961 New York Yankees, one of history's best baseball teams, Clete's former teammate and manager, Ralph Houk, says about his third baseman: " After Clete played awhile, there were arguments over who was better - Boyer or Brooks Robinson. To me, Boyer was as good a fielding third baseman as I've ever seen. He could go to his left or to his right, he could play deep, he could play in close. Hed stay in front of hard hit balls. He had great hands, he had that outstanding arm. I think he had a better arm than Brooks, although he didn't get rid of the ball as well. And of course, he wasn't as good a hitter as Brooks-But his fielding, that just spoke for itself".

On March 19, 1999, 'The Clete Boyer Collection', which included memorabilia that Clete had consigned through a Staten Island auction house, was put up for auction. Included in the items available was his 1961 World Series ring, along with various autographed items obtained from Mantle, Maris, DiMaggio and Kubek.

Clete with the author. >

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