Clete Boyer

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1955-1971)

Clete Boyer was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1971 for the Kansas City Athletics, the New York Yankees, and the Atlanta Braves, a span of 17 seasons. In 1,725 career games, he hit .242 with 1,396 hits, 162 home runs, and 654 RBI. Clete Boyer was a Gold Glove.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .242
HR 162
RBI 654
H 1,396
OPS .670
PIV -3,292
Position
Third Baseman
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'0" / 165 lb
Born
2/9/1937 in Cossville, MO, USA
Died
6/4/2007 in Lawrenceville, GA, USA
MLB Debut
1955-06-05
Last Game
1971-05-23
Awards
Gold Glove

Full name: Cletis Leroy Boyer

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Career Batting Statistics

Clete Boyer — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,725 5,780 645 1,396 200 33 162 654 41 470 931 .242 .299 .372 .670 -3,292

Career AVG .242 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .299 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — 6.1% below league average.

Career SLG .372 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .670 vs. league average .696 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Clete Boyer Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1955 KC1 AL 47 79 3 19 1 0 0 6 0 3 17 .241 .258 (-7%) .332 (-19%) .393 (-36%) .726 (-28%) -350.5
1956 KC1 AL 67 129 15 28 3 1 1 4 1 11 24 .217 .258 (-16%) .331 (-14%) .397 (-30%) .728 (-23%) -459.3
1957 KC1 AL 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1959 NYA AL 47 114 4 20 2 0 0 3 1 6 23 .175 .256 (-32%) .323 (-34%) .392 (-51%) .715 (-43%) -777.4
1960 NYA AL 124 393 54 95 20 1 14 46 2 23 85 .242 .255 (-5%) .323 (-12%) .387 (+4%) .711 (-3%) -308.4
1961 NYA AL 148 504 61 113 19 5 11 55 1 63 83 .224 .258 (-13%) .328 (-6%) .399 (-13%) .727 (-10%) -809.2
1962 NYA AL 158 566 85 154 24 1 18 68 3 51 106 .272 .257 (+6%) .326 (+2%) .393 (+5%) .719 (+3%) 357.1
1963 NYA AL 152 557 59 140 20 3 12 54 4 33 91 .251 .246 (+2%) .308 (-5%) .371 (-2%) .680 (-3%) -338.2
1964 NYA AL 147 510 43 111 10 5 8 52 6 36 93 .218 .250 (-13%) .312 (-14%) .377 (-20%) .690 (-17%) -1363.7
1965 NYA AL 148 514 69 129 23 6 18 58 4 39 79 .251 .245 (+2%) .310 (-2%) .371 (+14%) .682 (+7%) 501.7
1966 NYA AL 144 500 59 120 22 4 14 57 6 46 48 .240 .248 (-3%) .309 (-2%) .376 (+2%) .685 (avg) -30.7
1967 ATL NL 154 572 63 140 18 3 26 96 6 39 81 .245 .242 (+1%) .306 (-5%) .357 (+18%) .663 (+8%) 636.5
1968 ATL NL 71 273 19 62 7 2 4 17 2 16 32 .227 .236 (-4%) .298 (-8%) .340 (-8%) .638 (-8%) -331.5
1969 ATL NL 144 496 57 124 16 1 14 57 3 55 87 .250 .248 (+1%) .320 (+2%) .369 (avg) .689 (+1%) 202.4
1970 ATL NL 134 475 44 117 14 1 16 62 2 41 71 .246 .253 (-3%) .325 (-6%) .385 (-1%) .711 (-4%) -324.7
1971 ATL NL 30 98 10 24 1 0 6 19 0 8 11 .245 .249 (-2%) .316 (-6%) .365 (+20%) .682 (+8%) 104.0
Career · 16 seasons 1,725 5,780 645 1,396 200 33 162 654 41 470 931 .242 — — — — -3,292

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Clete Boyer — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
30 95 5 21 6 1 2 14 9 18 .221

Playoff Batting by Year

Clete Boyer — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1969 NLCS ATL 3 9 0 1 0 0 0 3 2 3 .111
1964 WS NYA 7 24 2 5 1 0 1 3 1 5 .208
1963 WS NYA 4 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 .077
1962 WS NYA 7 22 2 7 1 0 1 4 1 3 .318
1961 WS NYA 5 15 0 4 2 0 0 3 4 0 .267
1960 WS NYA 4 12 1 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 .250

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1725 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Clete Boyer — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home853270831164369318.237
Away872307333475393337.245

Last 10 Games — Batting

Clete Boyer — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1971-05-23 ATLNYNL 401100000
1971-05-22 ATLNYNL 501000110
1971-05-21 ATLNYNL 401000101
1971-05-20 ATLWSNL 503000211
1971-05-19 ATLWSNW 433002301
1971-05-18 ATLNYNW 411001300
1971-05-17 ATLNYNW 512001101
1971-05-16 ATLPHIL 411000001
1971-05-15 ATLPHIW 411001301
1971-05-14 ATLPHIW 310000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Clete Boyer — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 63 40 107 122 8 32
3B 1439 1387 1470 3218 168 315
OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
SS 186 150 325 470 22 96

Season-by-Season Fielding

Clete Boyer — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1955 KC1 2B 10 5 12 11 2 1
1955 KC1 3B 11 6 7 17 0 1
1955 KC1 SS 12 5 13 13 1 4
1956 KC1 2B 51 34 94 110 6 31
1956 KC1 3B 7 6 6 14 0 3
1957 KC1 2B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1957 KC1 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1959 NYA 3B 16 9 9 27 1 0
1959 NYA SS 26 22 40 63 1 14
1960 NYA 3B 99 93 102 219 11 24
1960 NYA SS 33 20 55 78 6 20
1961 NYA 3B 141 138 151 353 17 36
1961 NYA OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1961 NYA SS 12 8 19 20 0 5
1962 NYA 3B 157 156 187 396 22 41
1963 NYA 2B 1 1 1 1 0 0
1963 NYA 3B 141 138 165 309 23 32
1963 NYA SS 9 9 18 34 2 8
1964 NYA 3B 123 120 118 278 13 28
1964 NYA SS 21 19 46 61 3 13
1965 NYA 3B 147 140 134 354 16 46
1965 NYA SS 2 0 3 0 0 0
1966 NYA 3B 85 84 87 226 11 12
1966 NYA SS 59 59 114 170 7 26
1967 ATL 3B 150 148 166 291 14 30
1967 ATL SS 6 3 11 18 1 5
1968 ATL 3B 69 67 74 135 4 17
1969 ATL 3B 141 135 139 275 15 18
1970 ATL 3B 126 123 107 268 18 21
1970 ATL SS 5 5 6 12 1 1
1971 ATL 3B 25 24 18 56 3 6
1971 ATL SS 1 0 0 1 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Clete Boyer Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Second Base 63
Third Base 1439
Shortstop 186

Awards & Honors

Clete Boyer — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1969 Gold Glove 3B

Award Voting History

Clete Boyer — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1967 Most Valuable Player NL 21th 6.0 280 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Clete Boyer (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Ken McMullen
    .248 avg, 156 HR
  2. 97
    Brandon Inge
    .233 avg, 152 HR
  3. 94
    Jim Spencer
    .250 avg, 146 HR
  4. 91
    Alex Gonzalez
    .243 avg, 137 HR
  5. 91
    Alex Gonzalez
    .245 avg, 157 HR
  6. 87
    Frank Bolling
    .254 avg, 106 HR

Clete Boyer: the record in brief

Clete Boyer played a first major league game on June 5, 1955 and a last one on May 23, 1971. The season rows list, in order, the Kansas City Athletics (1955 to 1957), the New York Yankees (1959 through 1966), and the Atlanta Braves (1967 to 1971). At 6'0" and 165 pounds, Boyer is listed as a third baseman. The bio says Boyer batted and threw right-handed. Boyer was born on February 9, 1937, in Cossville, MO, USA. The bio records the death on June 4, 2007, in Lawrenceville, GA, USA. Boyer's full given name, per the bio, is Cletis Leroy Boyer.

Boyer finished with 1,396 hits from 5,780 at bats in 1,725 games, which works out to .242, along with 162 homers, 654 RBI, and 41 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .299 clip and slugging .372, Boyer finished with a .670 OPS. Boyer hit .242 while the league hit .251 over the same span, a figure close to average. The home run peak was 26 in 1967 with the Atlanta Braves. The hits column peaks at 154, in 1962.

Frequently Asked Questions about Clete Boyer

What years did Clete Boyer play?
Clete Boyer played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1971.
Was Clete Boyer a pitcher?
No. Clete Boyer was a position player (Third Baseman).
How many home runs did Clete Boyer hit?
Clete Boyer hit 162 career home runs with 1396 hits.
What was Clete Boyer's career batting average?
Clete Boyer batted .242 over his career, with 1,396 hits in 5,780 at bats.
How many RBI did Clete Boyer have?
Clete Boyer drove in 654 runs in his career.
Is Clete Boyer in the Hall of Fame?
No. Clete Boyer has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.