SPORTS
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Clete Bojer (riffit.) Vanfcees
and Ken Boyer (below) of Cards
learned fielding in cornfield
and competitiveness in a family
of seven brothers all athletes.
V.; iv-:
1 "''':'AV.V;Vv--t .. '.
IT WAS SUCH a thrill when my hus
band and I saw our first World'
Series last year. You see, six of our
sons have played professional, baseball
and maybe a seventh will soon.
Well, Vernon and I were sure the Dodgers
would0winotneoNutionul'wLea'gue pennant, so we
wyt to Los Angeles, thinking our boy Cletia
would be there soon with the New York Yankees.
With us there were our youngest boy, Leonard,
16, and Wayne, ouFNo. 2boy, and; his wife-Lois.
Of course, -the Dodgers lost out to San Fran
cisco anb who Kelp.ed' beat them but our own
St. Louis Cardinals and our boy Kenton who plays
third' base! So we went up to San Francisco and',
being, smalltown folks, we got to the ball park
a good hour-and-a-half before the game. But
there was a mix-upabout our tickets, and, would
you believe it, we didn't get inside the park until
thefifth inning. Even then we had to sit apart
and behind the Giants'-dugout, too!
We wer.en-'t upset about the mix-up, but we
were concerned that Cletis might worry about
us when he didn:t see us in the seats he had
saved for us. But we got stnaig-htened out and
in th'e sixth inning, of' a tight game Cleti'ai also
a third ba's'em'an; came to bats and r.igh't arn'on'g
all those Giant fans- w.e scne'amed and' yelled' for
a hit. "Well, SleWa- hit: one-all' night
W'ay.ne yelledi: "I dbnH th'irik' it's gg eit."
But adtsa'Rta "h jies-itist M-s.gpmgi to aiemi
the fence!" Dad has heand so ma'ny sma'sh-es' by
our boys that he can tell" th'ese tM'nas-. Siwte
enough, it was. a ho.m'e run-, and. the Van'kees
went on to win, 6'-2.
At a time like that y.ou can!t help r.emem'beqing,
how it allostarted. Back in the '30s we h'ad a f-ar.m
near Alba, Mo., a town of about 300, and the boys
had to help out with chores before they could
piay baseball. During the Depression they had
to get part-time jobs, too. We had six girls and
seven boys, so they had to bring most of their
money home.
Put they had lots of fun, too. We were darn
lucky to be "living right across the road from a
big cornfield. Vernon and the older boys laid out
a baseball diamond there. If our kids weren't in
the house, we knew where we could find them
plajiing- ball across the road.
We hardly ever had extra money around, but
Vernon managed to keep the kids in gloves and
bats. The gloves enly cost about 50 cents apiece,
but they were like gold to the kids. Vernon was
plumb tired when he came home from work, but
he'd find time to practice with the boys. He gave
them plenty of work on grounders and fly balls.
The boys always seemed to get along well. I've
just been finding out about some of the pranks
they pulled. Once Cloyd, our eldest, and Wayne
saved up- to buy a bike which, in those days,
meant more than-a car does to spoiled kids today.
Well, Ken couldn't resist snitching a ride on that
bike. When Cloyd and Wayne caught him, they
really shook him up.
I also just learned how the younger boys
learned to swim : the older ones would take them
to the swimming hole, a deep old mine shaft; and
toss them in. Oh, if I had known!
As they grew up, the Boyers play.ed'on the Alba
Aces. They used to have games with .the Baxter.
Springs (Ofcla.) team which had'prettj-uni'for.ms
because they were sponsored by. a m'in'e-company.
They also had a lot of cousins namedi Mbntlte
moludkvgc Mickey
WE WoEre dite-'hard' St. Louis Gar.din'a'l. ftfn'st
Fwlk-s in -A-lba used- to go in groups to St.
kou-is-, seme 30.0 miles' away,. Wfe liked" them be
otfuse of Ga'bby Steeet, who was their- manager,
mid l(ter nad-io announces. The Yan'kees' used" to
be the most hated team in A'lba, but- now that
Wwee of- m.y boy.s ar.e wor.king. for them, I'd say
they were the N"o. 2 team around here.
Runt Mar.r used to scout for the Cards, and he
signed our first four boys. The Cardinals could
have had Cletis, too, but he got a nice bonus from
Kansas City, then a Yankee farm team, and. defi
nitely isn't sorry he's with the World Champs.
Cloyd was always a big inspiration to his
younger brothers. I'll never forget what he said
when we took him to the railroad station at
Lamar for his first trip to spring training. Cloyd
told Wayne and Ken: "Some day we'll all be
taking this train to camp together."
The big brothers were always helping the
smaller ones. They gave them advice, balls, gloves,
and bats. Cloyd developed a sore arm in the
majors, and they say he would have stayed a
lot longer if he had switched from pitching to
the outfield because he was a good hitter.
But even when Cloyd was having trouble, he
helped Ken. When Ken reported to the Cards for
the first time, Cloyd took him aside after each
workout and gave him tips, then pitched a lot of
extra batting practice for him. Cloyd is pitching
coach now for the New York Yankees minor
league teams, and I know he's still helping out
young fellows.
I guess you'd call Wayne the bookworm of the
family. He got as high as Class A baseball before
he decided to become a dentist, but he never, lost
the Boyer love of the game; today he manages
a kids' team in Kokomo (Ind'.). Whenever we-see
Wayne, we set him working on our teeth. After
all, what's the use of hawing a dentist in the
family unless y.ou put him to work?
Another boy, Lynn, was a real good first base
man with: the Cardinals' fiar.m system but broke
Ms wr.ist and then hns collar-bone. So he went to
Pittsbwog. Teachiens College in Kansas, and now
teawhes in Walker, Mo., not fr from 'Us. He
coaehes basbetba'H and' loves be teach baseball- to
th'e lads-.
Ronn.ie signed wth the New Yank- Yartkees
fawn sjistem last summe, se that made si pro
fessionals in the fanil.y. Lenwie would- ma'ke the
sev.enh, yu kmw. BvwbaTa, 14, and Mat:cella,
10, and out ba'by are still at home, too. All the
g.ils have been cheerleaders for the Boyer boys
when they played here. Pansy and some of our
other girls would also get out in the cornfield
and play ball with their brothers, and I want you
to know they were pretty good, too.
VERNON AND 1 are so grateful to baseball. It
made a big difference to our sons. We
couldn't afford to send them to college, yet
Wayne and Lynn were able to get degrees after
their baseball careers ended. And the boys have
been just as helpful to us in the big leagues as
when they were little ones helping me with the
canning and anxious to get out to play ball.
Do you know what happened to Ken's $6,000
bonus for signing with the Cardinals? Well,
Vernon had been doctoring for a heart condition
10
Family Wttklv.July 7, 1963