Clete Boyer

Cletis Leroy Boyer
Born: Feb. 9, 1937 in Cassville, Montana
Died: June 4, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia
Debut: 1955 | Pos: 3B
H: 6'0" | W: 182 | B: R | T: R

>> Visit the Clete Boyer biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

Clete Boyer, a part of New York Yankees teams that won five consecutive pennants in the 1960s, died on June 4, 2007 in Atlanta, Ga. According to reports, he died from a stroke. He was 70.

His 16-year career included stops with Kansas City AL (1955-1957), New York AL (1959-1966) and Atlanta (1967-1971). He hit .242 in his career with 162 home runs and 654 RBI. One of his best seasons came in 1967 with Atlanta when he hit .245 with 26 home runs and 96 RBI.

In 1964 World Series, Clete played third base for the Yankees while his brother, Ken, played third for St. Louis. Both brothers hit home runs in Game 7 of the series. Another brother, Cloyd, pitched for St. Louis and Kansas City AL.

He played on New York teams that won the AL pennant from 1960-1964 and won the World Series in 1961 and 1962. He .233 in 86 at-bats in the World Series with two home runs and 11 RBI.

Former Yankees shortstop Bobby Richardson praised Boyer's fielding ability.

“He made only one bad throw to me,” Richardson said in an Associated Press story. “When I made the double play, I could just about close my eyes, put my glove up and the ball would be there.”

In June 1957, the Athletics sent him to New York as the player to be named later in a deal made in February 1957. That trade sent Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, Jack McMahan and Wayne Belardi, along with Boyer, to the Yankees for Irv Noren, Milt Graff, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Rip Coleman and Billy Hunter.

In November 1966, the Yankees traded him to the Braves for Bill Robinson and Chi-Chi Olivo.

Following his career as a player, Boyer wasd a coach for the Athletics and Yankees and a minor league instructor for the Yankees.