#19 – 3B Ken Boyer
Here we have another Cardinals’ great hitter that is lower than I would have thought initially. Boyer was without a doubt one of the best to ever man the hot corner for the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent 11 years in a Cardinals’ uniform, and posted a slash of .293/.356/.475.
What stands out for Boyer is consistency, as throughout his career as a Cardinal he routinely played 140-160 games a year and only hit under 15 homers once in his entire career with the team, with that being his final year with the club in 1965.
Boyer as a Cardinal had several outstanding seasons, especially in the early 60s. Boyer’s best seasons came in 1960-1961. In 1960 Boyer posted his career best wRC+ at 144, he had a slash of .304/.370/.508 with 68 extra base-hits (32 homers, 26 doubles, and 10 triples) and 97 RBI.
FanSided
It was a great season for Boyer no doubt, although he only finished 6th in MVP voting that year. The very next season, Boyer had another good year, but in terms of wRC+ it was not his best year, as he finished at 137 that year, being the second best number of his career.
That year, Boyer finished with 61 extra base-hits (26 doubles, 24 homers, 11 triples) and 95 RBI. Boyer also scored 109 runs, which was his career high mark in that category. This season was still not able to net Boyer an MVP award.
However in 1964, his slash of .295/.365/.489 and OPS nearly 1oo points less than his ’60-’61 numbers, netted him the NL MVP award. All in all, Boyer was one of the best Cardinals’ hitters of all time, especially at third base.
Next: Silent George