During their primes, Rocky Colavito in the American League and Ken Boyer in the National were prominent run producers. At one point, the Tigers and Cardinals considered swapping them for one another.
Late in their careers, Colavito and Boyer became teammates _ with the White Sox, who got them for a pennant chase, and with the Dodgers, who hoped they’d boost a popgun attack.
An American League home run and RBI leader, Colavito was 91 when he died on Dec. 10, 2024.
Urban and rural
A son of Italian immigrants, Rocco Colavito grew up in a Bronx tenement. His father, who came to America after serving in the Italian army during World War I, was a truck driver. When Rocky was 9, his mother died, and his older sister ran the household.
Colavito was a Joe DiMaggio fan. According to the book “Don’t Knock The Rock,” Colavito “copied DiMaggio’s wide open batting stance. When he was privileged to see his idol play, he made mental notes of DiMaggio’s every movement, his every mannerism, and tried, on the field and before the mirror in the small bedroom he shared with his two older brothers, to make them his.”
In 1950, Colavito, 17, tagged along with some sandlot pals to a tryout with a Cleveland Indians scout. Colavito’s strong throwing arm earned him a contract and he entered the Cleveland farm system in 1951.
Kenton Boyer grew up in rural Missouri. His father was a laborer. His mother did laundry for others. Their home lacked electricity and indoor plumbing during Ken’s formative years, according to a 2016 biography of Boyer.
His father instilled Ken and his brothers with a passion for baseball. “Fifty-cent baseball gloves were typical gifts on Christmas Day,” biographer Kevin D. McCann noted. “Spring couldn’t come soon enough to use them and they often ran outside to play catch in the snow. When authentic baseballs were scarce, they threw homemade ones made of string and put together by their mother, or simply hit corncobs with a bat.”
In 1949, the year he turned 18, Ken Boyer impressed his favorite team, the Cardinals, in a series of tryouts. They signed him and sent him to the minors.
(All seven Boyer brothers played professional baseball. Clete, Cloyd and Ken reached the majors. Len, Lynn, Ron and Wayne stayed in the minors.)
High performance
Right-handed batters with power, Colavito and Boyer became big-leaguers in 1955 _ Rocky, an Indians outfielder; Ken, a Cardinals third baseman _ and it didn’t take long for them to achieve prominence.
With Cleveland, Colavito twice led the American League in extra-base hits. He and Harmon Killebrew each clouted a league-high 42 home runs in 1959. In a game at Baltimore that year, The Rock slammed four home runs. Boxscore
(The only other American League players with four-homer games: Lou Gehrig, 1932 Yankees; Pat Seerey, 1948 White Sox; Mike Cameron, 2002 Mariners; Carlos Delgado, 2003 Blue Jays; and Josh Hamilton, 2012 Rangers.)
Two days before the 1960 season opener, general manager Frank Lane (who, when he was with the Cardinals, traded Red Schoendienst and tried to deal Stan Musial and Ken Boyer) sent Colavito to the Tigers for American League batting champion Harvey Kuenn. “I traded a hamburger for a steak,” Lane said.
(For the multitudes of irate Colavito fans in Cleveland, Lane’s comment “may be remembered longer than Marie Antionette’s ‘Let them eat cake,’ ” Boston Globe columnist Harold Kaese suggested.)
Colavito totaled 45 home runs and 140 RBI for the Tigers in 1961 and followed that with 37 homers and 112 RBI in 1962, the year he led the American League in total bases for the second time.
Meanwhile, Boyer excelled for the Cardinals. With the exception of 1957, when he temporarily was moved to center field, Boyer had 90 or more RBI and more than 20 home runs each season from 1956-62. In that seven-year stretch, he hit better than .300 five times and won multiple Gold Glove awards.
Blame game
Following the 1962 season, frustration was high among Tigers and Cardinals followers. Neither team had been in a World Series since the mid 1940s. More was wanted from Colavito and Boyer.
Colavito’s critics pointed to his .236 batting average with runners in scoring position in 1962.
As for Boyer, he struck out 104 times in 1962 _ the first Cardinal with 100 whiffs since Steve Bilko in 1953. (By comparison, Colavito, with his 37 homers, fanned a mere 68 times in 1962, and never totaled 100 strikeouts.)
“The boo birds probably would shed few tears if Ken Boyer were dealt,” The Sporting News noted in October 1962.
A Colavito-for-Boyer deal seemed to some a good fit.
With Willie Horton in the wings, the Tigers considered Colavito expendable. With Stan Musial nearing retirement, the Cardinals needed a corner outfielder.
According to Boyer’s biography, asked in October 1962 about a possible deal for Colavito, St. Louis general manager Bing Devine said, “We’ll take a hard-hitting outfielder, but I don’t think Detroit would be willing to let Colavito go.”
The Cardinals instead made a trade with the Cubs for right fielder George Altman, who wasn’t the big bopper they expected.
Talk of a Colavito-for-Boyer deal was renewed during the 1963 season. In the Detroit Free Press, columnist Joe Falls wrote, “From all you hear, it looks as if The Rock will be wearing another uniform by the time the 1964 season rolls around _ a National League uniform, at that. The best bet is he will go to the Milwaukee Braves or St. Louis Cardinals in a deal for Eddie Mathews or Ken Boyer.”
According to Bob Burnes of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the Cardinals lost interest when the Tigers wanted a player in addition to Boyer.
Lowering their sights, the Tigers sent Colavito, Bob Anderson and cash to the Kansas City Athletics in November 1963 for Jerry Lumpe, Ed Rakow and Dave Wickersham. After a season with the A’s, Colavito returned to Cleveland in 1965 and led the league in RBI (108) and walks (93).
Meanwhile, Boyer enjoyed a career year with the 1964 Cardinals, driving in a league-high 119 runs, belting a grand slam in the World Series and helping the Cardinals become champions. He was named the National League Most Valuable Player Award winner.
Twelve months later, Boyer was shipped to the Mets.
To the rescue
Managed by Eddie Stanky, the 1967 White Sox relied on starting pitching (Joe Horlen, Gary, Peters, Tommy John), a strong bullpen (Bob Locker, Hoyt Wilhelm, Wilbur Wood), defense and speed (Don Buford, 34 steals; Tommie Agee, 28).
Run production was a weakness. No one on the 1967 White Sox hit 20 home runs or produced 65 RBI. Yet, in late July, the White Sox were atop the American League standings.
If they could add a proven run producer or two, the White Sox figured to enhance their chances of winning the pennant.
On July 22, 1967, the White Sox got Boyer, 36, from the Mets. A week later, they picked up Colavito, 34, from Cleveland.
The deals reunited Boyer and Colavito with Eddie Stanky. Stanky was Boyer’s first manager in the majors with the 1955 Cardinals, and he coached with Cleveland when Colavito was there in 1957-58.
Boyer hit .377 in his first 15 games with the White Sox. Against Cleveland’s Luis Tiant, Boyer’s two-out single tied the score in the ninth, and Colavito’s two-run homer in the 10th won it. Boxscore
The next night, Boyer stroked four hits and scored twice, and Colavito contributed three hits, three runs and a RBI in another win at Cleveland. Boxscore
Asked to assess the value of Boyer and Colavito, Stanky said to the Chicago Tribune, “They’ve given us extra-base punch, but just as important is the big psychological lift. You can sense this on the field and in the clubhouse.”
Boyer belted a Mike Marshall slider for a game-winning homer against the Tigers at Detroit. Boxscore
A week later, after Boyer and Colavito helped in a win versus the Athletics, Stanky told the Tribune, “I don’t know where we’d be without them, but we can’t expect Ken and Rocky to do it all by themselves. We need a couple of other fellows to start picking us up with their bats.” Boxscore
The support, however, didn’t come. The White Sox batted .215 in August and .213 in September. They fell out of first but stayed in the race.
On Sept. 13, in the 17th inning of a scoreless game against Cleveland, Boyer singled with one out. Buddy Bradford ran for him, moved to second when Bobby Tiefenauer’s knuckler eluded rookie catcher Ray Fosse, and scored the winning run on Colavito’s single. Boxscore
Two weeks later, Boyer hit a home run against Sam McDowell in a 3-1 victory that put the White Sox a game out of first. Boxscore
If the White Sox won the pennant, Boyer would face the Cardinals in the 1967 World Series, but Chicago lost its last five games and the Red Sox emerged as American League champions.
Colavito and Boyer combined to produce 50 RBI for the 1967 White Sox.
Finishing up
In March 1968, the Dodgers obtained Colavito. Two months later, they added Boyer. Though the Dodgers had stellar pitching (Don Drysdale, Don Sutton, Claude Osteen and Bill Singer), the hitters lacked pop. Their home run leader was Len Gabrielson (10). Their top RBI producer was Tom Haller (53).
Playing in the National League for the first time, Colavito struggled (.204, three homers). Boyer did better, batting .271. Though he only had 221 at-bats, he ranked third on the Dodgers in RBI (41).
The last hurrah for Boyer and Colavito as teammates came on June 3, 1968. Each had a RBI in a 2-0 win versus Bob Veale and the Pirates. Boxscore
A month later, the Dodgers released Colavito and he finished the season, his last, with the Yankees. Boyer played one more year with the 1969 Dodgers.
Both men became major-league coaches _ Colavito with the Indians and Royals; Boyer with St. Louis _ and Boyer also managed the Cardinals.