In fact, if you take Boyer and put him in Wrigley Field he would have far exceeded Santo. Santo’s stats away from Wrigley were pretty pedestrian. The difference, as you mentioned, was that Santo was a folksy (if gruff) and much beloved announcer for the Cubs. The most current sportwriters remember about Boyer (if anything) was that he was an unsuccessful manager of the Cardinals in the late ’70′s, who died very young. They don’t remember what he meant to those Cardinals teams in the early ’60′s, most especially the 1964 team.

In spite of the comments above, I don’t wish to belittle Santo’s accomplishments. He was a very good player and deserves his accolades. But so does Boyer.

The sad thing is that Boyer doesn’t really have any advocates among the St. Louis writers. Even Rick Hummel, the dean of St. Louis baseball writers, seems not to want to look at Boyer as a HOFer, which I’ve never quite understood. With more and more players being booted into the old-timers category, it will be that much harder for Boyer to get in, which is not only a shame, but a travesty.

The 2013 season can’t get here quickly enough. Without hockey, I’m dying